One claim that Mikula makes is that when a man plays as Lara "His experience of the game thus encapsulates the patriarchal rhetoric of 'control' and 'care', by a male subject of a female object. Ironically, even when offered empowerment to view themselves in the position of the subject and see Lara as the object of their 'control' and 'care', with her exaggerated sexuality subjected to their disciplining gaze"(Mikula 183).
This claim bases itself off of the basic instinct of a man to protect the woman. I do not agree that all woman need protecting and that it is solely the man's job to protect and care for women, but it does play on the male's instinct to be the protector and provider. In a lot of cases this is true, but it is not entirely true, and this video game is a way to let men act on this urge to feel "manly" and protect something, even if it isn't real. I think it shows that women can be strong, and despite that fact that she is "hot" and says sexual things, she does things that many men cannot do. She is the ideal woman to many men, but there is nothing wrong with this, because it is a video game and it is not real, and most people that play games know that it is not real.
I agree with this. It gives men a sense of control that they may not have with a woman in real life. They feel comforted by the fact that they can protect Lara.
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