NONE of the Pandora-tans were overly-sexualized.
No, not sexualized at all; this is what women wear habitually in many parts of the world. Practical dress. Still, probably better than the ones that may be construed to be little girls.
You however, seem to be deriving something else from them that most people AREN'T. :unsure:
Assuming purposefulness, a mascot exists to, in some way, promote a product or movement, either to the converted or to newbies. So, when choosing a mascot, one must consider the possible messages a variety of viewers may construe. Perhaps this does not apply to your country, but, where I live, there has been, throughout my adult life, a low level of paranoia/hysteria about paedophilia (and, therefore, an excuse, along with terrorism, for mass-surveillance and censorship -- there was a controversy when
all of Wikipedia was temporarily blocked because of one dubious image). Given this environment, a community made up mostly of male nerds (*one hand goes up*) discussing the use of a female mascot, with all the examples, so far, being either half-naked or of dubious pubescence, would
not look good to any (relatively naive)
reasonable person unfamiliar with the obsession with
moe (and other crap) in some of the less mainstream and/or seedier and/or dweebier sections of the web.
Do you honestly think this community will identify more readily with the digital embodiment of mysoginy & disgustingly offensive alpha male bullshit? If anything, I think you have your demographics switched around...
I did not mean to
literally use Duke Nukem as a mascot, but some other male (indeed, I think an animal or magical creature would be better still, as they are unlikely to offend anyone -- unless it is a pig or a cow or...*), but even if I did, there is nothing particularly misogynistic about Duke Nukem's mere appearance: the alleged misogyny is displayed by actions within Duke Nukem 3D, like interactions with strippers etc.. The Duke looks like a stereotypical action hero (i.e. not a bad mascot, as he was/is) or a wrestler. Similar (less misogynistic?) characters include Serious Sam and Batman.
In my limited experience, a depiction of a male -- even a muscly one with bare arms -- tends to be less offensive than that of a sexualized female, to the usual suspects. The arguments that sensible people wish to avoid tend to concern the depiction of
women ([cynicism]as such, it is prudent to avoid all depiction of women, everywhere; including here[/cynicism]).
*depictions of humans tend to be avoided because there is usually
someone who would take offence: white male, benefits those who have power; black male, tokenism; female, patronizing, especially if showing much skin. With human depictions, one cannot win.
Sadly (or perhaps, not?), the iPhone-lovin' crowd will never likely take a shine to the Pandora/Pyra, or similar devices.
They interest me even less than the Windows-loving crowd. Indeed, my interest is likely negative.
)
cos)
