Today I quote with permission my LJ friend
"For me it's the idea that even though you have tons of women and girls playing this game, their experiences don't "count" canonically. Because their character will never be the "real" Revan. It's a big problem in gaming, KOTOR isn't the only game where you can make your character female, but male is the default in canon terms. They could have done something radical by making Revan female, not only in terms of validating female gamers' experiences, but also in saying that a tactical genius, exceptional warrior, and one of the strongest Force users the SW galaxy has ever seen can also be a woman. It would have gone a long way toward correcting the just-the-girlfriend problem that AOTC and ROTS Padme was plagued with. To *not* do that was a slap in the face. It's not Karpyshyn's problem, for that I look much further up the chain of command. IMO Lucas has both major sexism issues and major racism issues."The subject being of course Knights of the Old Republic and the discussion of Revan's gender. While I like my Dark Side Male Guardian Revan very much, I admit what Pinkpolarity says is true and reflects what I have felt when I discovered LucasArts had made the male Revan canon. It is too bad that LucasArts doesn't have the flexibility to determine that who Revan really was remains unkown, and was rumored to be a woman, though no proof points towards this. And that the events of the century following the Battle of the Star Forge remain inconclusive as the epic battle itself, though some evidence suggest there may have existed a Sith Empire at the time. That way anyone's KotOR character is validated. Because of this, it does become very important to many women gamers that canon Revan is female.
Addressing the racism issues are the well discussed and egregious examples of the Gungans and Watto, who come across as racist stereotypes against African and Jewish people respectively, particularly the Gungans who are conviently at the disposal of the pampered Naboo as ready canonfodder. I know a professional writer, a Texan born and bred white ultraconservative man, who refused to watch the prequels because he was offended by the Gungans in addition to other points he did not like in the context of artistic integrity.
Taking a look at the retrofitting of the ancient Sith by Forces that Be at LucasArts, I find it to be a cheat on an example of what conquerers are really like. Ajunta Pall and Xo Xaan and their crew "alchemize" the primative Sith to carry on their legacy? A primative species that has allegedly been around for 100,000 years? No, the fallen Jedi found the Sith, dominated the sophisticated though not necessarily technologically advanced culture and some of the fallen Jedi freely interbred with the people, particularly with the women who are typically exploited in an alien dominated society. The early Sith and the early Jedi had no compunction against sex, relationships, or marriage, and certainly these fallen Jedi behaved in all bad ways towards the subjugated people.
Getting back to the issue of Revan's gender, I would actually prefer the male to be noncanon for the purpose of my fic! That way there's more freedom to say, "Aw, no way does Darth Revan run off to the Rim, afraid that some other person strong in the Force could master the Star Forge and usurp him. He's got a galaxy to conquer and some Jedi to settle some old accounts with!" Although much to my surprise, the fic of my Light Sided Revan (male) does end up complying with canon in his eventually disappearing without telling anyone where he is going, taking his leave of the Jedi Council and the Republic for the purpose of entering the "true Sith Empire" and battling unkown menaces at the edge of the galaxy.
I again stress this isn't meant as a bash on the Star Wars known and loved by countless fans and those who are perfectly happy with canon and writing within canon guidelines, but to bring awareness that not as many people are enjoying the Star Wars universe as much as they could because of persistant stereotypes. Each of us has something meaningful to contribute, and it is not worth pointless arguing. The main point is to enjoy the story.
