Complaining about the ‘Tail’ mission in Test Drive Unlimited 2 (TDU2) got me to thinking. There are two characters who start the mission, both guys, who are both suspicious of their partners, who are women. That niggled my “sexism’ button a bit, but it’s hardly conclusive of anything. After all, you can choose a male or female character as your driving avatar, and your rivals are also male and female.
However, then I went through the missions in my head, and it occurred to me that TDU2 isn’t very kind to women in this area.
The male missions are:
- Adrenaline: slide, dodge and jump
- Speed: stay over the nominated speed.
- Job interview: get to a location in the time limit, without going off-road or hitting things too much.
Female missions:
- Driving: take me home because I’m too tired of walking. Don’t go off-road or hit too many things
- Jolt: get to the destination without jolting the delicate passenger too much.
- Convoy: I’m too busy to get my expensive car to the mechanic, please do it for me.
So, guys get off on adrenaline, or have jobs. Women are delicate flowers. The only ‘saving’ mission type is the Convoy mission. In this, clearly the woman is rich enough, and busy enough, to be able to hand her expensive car to any passing stranger.
The rest, however …
Sorry TDU2, you were doing so well until this bit.
