Like, a lot.īioWare reports that roughly twenty percent of Mass Effect players play as FemShep (seriously, guys, you’re missing out on some great voice acting by Jennifer Hale). It may sound cheesy, but just as people draw strength from books and music, I do credit this series, in part, for helping me get through a rough patch. Aside from having a gripping story, beautiful artwork and some of the smoothest gameplay I’ve ever encountered, Mass Effect came into my life during a rather difficult time. To say that I am emotionally invested in Mass Effect is an understatement. While there are default models for both the male and female Shepard, players have the option to customize their Shepard’s appearance – from eyebrow size to nostril width. Thanks to the exceptional writing team at BioWare, the story choices are so diverse that it is rather unlikely you will ever meet another Mass Effect player whose story perfectly matches your own (executive producer Casey Hudson claims Mass Effect 3 will take in over a thousand storyline variables from your ME2 save game). The choice in gender changes nothing about the story and very little about the dialogue, but everybody’s Commander Shepard is a little bit different. The player has the option of playing Shepard as a woman (commonly known as “FemShep”) or a man (there are many monikers I prefer “BroShep”). In the Mass Effect series, you play Commander Shepard, a high-ranking military officer and humanity’s last hope against an ancient machine race called the Reapers. If you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about, let me get you up to speed. What, just because Eowyn (another blonde!) can use a sword, she can’t find her way around the kitchen, too? To say that a space-faring badass like Commander Shepard can’t wear makeup or get her hair done equates to saying that being a hero requires her to sacrifice her femininity. How about Buffy, or Samus, or Starbuck? Who says that you can’t save the day and look pretty, too? It’s like that scene in the extended Two Towers, where Aragorn chokes his way through a bowl of Eowyn’s soup.
You might find the implication that pretty blonde women can’t be heroes to be downright closed-minded. The whole situation drips with male gaze, and it’s just unfair. Replacing her with a younger, saucier version feels unnecessary and antithetical to everything that makes Commander Shepard great. Commander Shepard exists within a galaxy in which her merits matter far more than her makeup. She was not born of the need for another fantasy object. She’s a tough, do-or-die galactic soldier, for goodness’ sake. The appeal of playing Shepard as a woman is that she isn’t some buxom, pouting space bunny with inconvenient armor. You might find the whole idea of a sultry blond Commander Shepard to be ridiculous. If so, you likely fall into one of two camps. Over the past few weeks, you may have found yourself preoccupied with the color of Commander Shepard’s hair.
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