I just came across an old, but still relevant, post at The Border House about how some men are uncomfortable shooting women in video games.
Chivalry, as most of our readers likely know, is sexist. It is based, as Holly Green said, on the idea that women are weak and need a man to protect them. Obviously this is extremely condescending and untrue–women don’t need special protections any more than men do. This logic has been used to actually deny women rights, with the excuse that it is “for their own good.” Friedhamster exposes this line of thought when he compares killing women in a game to how killing children is all but banned in games: how insulting is it to imply that women and children are somehow equal, similarly helpless and in need of protecting? (Answer: extremely insulting!)
Worth a read, here’s the link.
More recently they have a post about “slut plate” armour that female avatars wear. I’m definitely following this blog from here on in!