Character Analysis Of Lara Croft's Characters In Tomb Raider

With graphics becoming steadily more advanced in video games over the following years much more realistic 3-D characters could be shown. In 1996 a game called Tomb Raider was released on the Playstation(ps1) games console. The games protagonist that the player controls is named Lora Croft. Lora Croft comes off as capable, intelligent and skilled in ranged combat, however Lora is highly sexualised in her portrayal in the game, shown to have large breasts, thin waist and big lips among other unrealistic physical attributes (Appendix H) (Tomb Raider, 1996).Lora was designed to be shown through what's known as the Male Gaze.

Sadly, the gaming industry has been criticized for lacking complex characterization, especially when it comes to female characters. While this complaint is valid, and it cannot be denied that there is a surplus of overly sexualized one dimensional female characters in gaming, the industry has begun moving away from

A more in-depth study may look at video games from a Marxist point of view, characterizing the games as a modern day “opiate of the masses” with multi-billion dollar corporations publishing the games to keep the proletariat occupied and oblivious to their plights. A feminist may cite the standard role of female video game characters as being the “damsel in distress” and even strong female characters usually being relegated to sex symbol status.

Author A.B. Harris declares a call to action in his article “Average Gamers Please Step Forward” published in 2012 as he talks about the how gamers shouldn’t settle for how the Entertainment Software Association put the average gamer into a box, Harris (2017) declares that the average gamers are far more credible and intelligent than the perceived demographics suggest (pg.503). He starts to build a bond between himself and the reader by connecting himself with the audience and asserting himself as one of them who all want the same thing, to “change the mainstream” (Harris, 2012, p.506) and show non-gamers they are more than over-sexed male adolescents with a penchant for violence (Harris, 2012, p.504). Harris uses his personal values and experiences

This study researches the potential effects on children by the use of gender representations and violence within popular video games. Outlined by the study of symbolic interactionism, the research questions the line between the representation of males and females, as well as how prominent violent topics are in games. These themes combined are used in order to hypothesize possible implications on young boys and girls.

According to several sources around 42% of the American population plays video games, and around 1.2 billion people worldwide play video games today. Gaming has become an increasingly more popular hobby since its creation. As such the medium has obviously attracted a multitude of different people and groups, all consisting of diverse backgrounds, body types, sexes, races, nationalities and the like. However, contrary to the numerous demographics video games have come to attract, it is very evident the vast majority of them do not seem to be marketed toward many of them via game characters, and their importance, if any, in a game. Video games show an overwhelming amount of white male characters, despite the many demographics they reach. Of the characters that are not white, or male, that are represented, are often represented poorly. For example, many black characters represented in video games are often characterized as vulgar, and violent. Women represented in games are often characterized as support characters, or objects of sexual desire. Considering forms of sexism, racism, and other such types of prejudices are still prominent in modern society, and these representations obviously do not help how people see these marginalized groups. Ultimately, these representations, or lack thereof, affect people in society in a number of ways, by perpetuating prejudice and harmful stereotypes.

Given that association, this new study took a gander at whether exemplifying sexualized female symbols online changed ladies ' conduct. The Stanford scientists asked 86 ladies matured 18-40 to play utilizing either a sexualized symbol or a non-sexualized symbol (dressed provocatively or conservatively). At that point, specialists outlined some of those symbols to resemble the player encapsulating them. Those ladies who played utilizing sexualized symbols who seemed as though them were all the more tolerating of the assault myth, as indicated by the study. Subsequent to playing the diversion, ladies reacted to numerous inquiries with answers along a five-point scale (emphatically differ to firmly concur), including, "In the lion 's share or assaults, the casualty is indiscriminate or has a terrible notoriety." Those who played attractive symbols who looked like themselves will probably reply "concur" or "unequivocally concur" than those ladies who had non-hot symbols who did not seem as though them. Members were likewise requested that free compose their musings after the study. Those with sexualized symbols will probably self-generalize in their expositions after play. In spite of the fact that this is a little study and unquestionably not a conclusive response to the subject of how computer games influence female players, the outcomes do raise concerns. Upwards of 46% of gamers are ladies, and, as indicated by this examination, in a large portion of the most mainstream

Although modern media has made great strides in terms of female representation, we still have a long way to go. While women show up more often in movies, literature, and the like, their portrayals are steeped in the stereotyped idea that “sex sells”. As a result, the female characters, whatever their capabilities or likability, are undermined by the ridiculous standards given to them.

cause Lara was fighting for, it is forgettable to most audiences.  What becomes memorable aside from her remarkable strength and beauty is that Lara has a bountiful bosom, small waistline, and buxom yet athletic lower torso, long hair and gorgeous face. Her actions are very masculine and she doesn’t fit the mold of past Hollywood examples of female leads, but these attributes are what makes her the embodiment of the male gaze.

Both Alicia Ault and the Banbury Guardian’s articles agree with each other that video games are not damaging to children’s well-being, but they can actually be healthy and improve children’s learning abilities in addition to building cooperative and communication skills. The article “Video Games and Learning” talks about how popular the use of video games for learning has become. It also talks about how gender stereotypes discourage girls from playing video games which may have some consequences for education because of the popularity with them in schools. Alicia Ault, a freelance journalist with a BA in history, writes that “well-designed games can impact learning through play alone … [games] are especially good at motivation due

Previous evidence has shown that video games portray females as sexual objects, but video game magazines have never been a major part of this documentation. The article “Sexy, Dangerous-and Ignored: An In-Depth Review of the Representation of Women in Select Video Game Magazines” by Howard D. Fisher provides charts, stats, lists, and theories as evidence from video game magazines to make a claim of truth that digital women are treated as irrelevant sidekicks or pinup girls which leads to disrespect towards real women. Theoretical Analysis is a form of evidence used by Fisher to support the idea of men absorbing false perceptions of women. The theory used is Hegemonic Masculinity, it’s described as “a theoretical perspective that explains how

In the mini-series of three twenty-three to twenty-six minute episodes, Anita Sarkeesian explains in full, attentive detailing, the tropes embedded in video games since the very beginning of the Video Game era. The mini-series uses a systemic, big picture outlook to ultimately examine the plots and designs in video games to explain why women have always been objectified in video games. The most well-known way the female character is objectified is through a video game is by placing her in a Damsel in Distress position, woman in the refrigerator position, or any other position that creates a trope. In the mini-series description, Sarkeesian also states that even though critical analysis of the video games will be done, it is certainly probable

Despite “Frozen” or “Brave” having strong female leads, they still limited them to the roles of being princesses. This hinders our girls from wanting to strive for more when all they idolize is unrealistic glamour. Animated princesses are as disproportionate as Barbie dolls, leaving girls with a broken self-image. The toys that are marketed to girls are baby dolls, make up, accessories, vacuums, and play kitchens. Fathers should not have to complain about the almost nonexistent market of female action figures available in stores. What defines “girl toys” vs “boy toys”? Gender specific toys alone could prove we are teaching girls to aspire to become domesticated housewives when they grow up. Boys are targets of this in similar ways. It is time to break the gender

Gender disparity in video games is a topic that both scholars and major gaming icons have discussed before. However, the topic recently resurfaced with the upsurging population of female gamers. The integration of females was a spectacle that caused a massive culture shock. Many members of the gaming community were unsure how to handle the change and took to discriminating females. While discrimination may seem unimportant, many scholars and icons believe it is a prominent factor of gender disparity: an environment which typically favors males, a hostile or “toxic” atmosphere, and repeated stereotypes all manifest certain behaviors of both genders that can cause a disparity to grow. Although some sources claim gender disparity is evident in gaming as a whole, others insist the novelty of female discrimination in video games is less prominent due to a more leveled percentage of male-to-females in gaming. However, both agreed that the competitive gaming community is a different story. Time and time again the competitive gaming community was mentioned for its exclusion of women due to biased and misogynistic members who sexualize and degrade females. These members believe women are inferiors that encroach on their territory with unskilled and seductive natures. Therefore, for the females in the gaming community, their actions will shape the future of women in the competitive gaming community. The change in female treatment is detrimental to gender disparity. Not only because

The portrayal of men and women in video games, as in other media, is a subject of research in gender studies. This topics is discuss in terms of sexism in video gaming. Especially, women are underrepresented or use as objectification in mainstream games. Women in video games are generally, as a rule of thumb, killed, raped, abused or rescued by the male heroes. This is extremely sad to see because the role of women in society is changing compare to ten years ago. Women has been proven themselves to be stronger and tough in different fields such as sports, politics, education but the representation hasn’t change.