A recent survey of more than 1,400 teenagers revealed most young gamers don't care about playing male characters, and don't want to see objectified women in their games. According to the survey,
47% of middle school boys and 61% of high school boys agreed or strongly agreed that women in games are too often treated as sex objects. Those boys wished to see a character that had "some dignity."
70% of girls and 78% of boys said the gender of a game's protagonist does not affect their desire to play it.
Of the male respondents who identified themselves as "gamers," 55% think there should be more female heroes in games, and 57% believe that in game females are too often treated as sex objects.
The survey was by no means comprehensive, and is from a fairly small group, but it does suggest a trend among young consumers. Are your views in line with what the survey found?