Though there were initial controversy concerning the game’s content--rumors of a rape scene certainly stirred the pot--the portrayal of Lara’s character as a determined, skilled adventurer-in-training resonated well with consumers (Meltzer, 2013). Tomb Raider (2013) sold 8.5 million copies, becoming the most successful game in the entire franchise. Although a single game may not make up for the years of objectified portrayals, the 2013 reboot allowed Lara Croft to become the empowering icon that many fans of the series, men and women, once struggled to see her as: “Gamers came to recognise her as fearless, even arrogant, thrill-seeking and callous, bold and brave: in short, a badass” (Meltzer, 2013). In contrast to Lara's predicament, the titular character of the series Bayonetta relies on her sexuality as part of her character and embraces it without falling victim to objectification. This series does not pretend that femininity …show more content…
Although each game allows the player to choose the Commander’s gender at the beginning of the game, there are few differences between the male and female versions of Shepard throughout the series. Both the male and female iterations of Shepard follow the same story (Payne, 2013). Much like choosing gender, RPG games often allow players to decide how the characters should behave. The decisions lead to different events occurring in the game. In Mass Effect, Shepard can be a lawful sheriff or lawless warden. Her story epitomizes the space western of venturing into unknown territory to bring justice to other worlds (Bioware, 2012). Like Lara Croft, Shepard is an adventurer and a badass. Like Bayonetta, Commander Shepard demonstrates personal agency via the game’s mechanics (Bioware,
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.
Kimmel looks at both sides of the argument that video games and other media influence violence in young men in real life, but focuses on the perception that violent video games influence violent young men. In my third informal writing assignment reflecting on that chapter, I stated “I can see the side where it does have an impact of young kids, and I see it in my younger cousins when they can recite the cutscenes in the games they play, and see it when they play fight and pretend they are their favorite game heroes”, concluding with “Today’s violent games weren’t made to teach children how to kill, they’re only made for entertainment” (Brinkman-Sull). Before I took this class, and even at the beginning of the semester, I was extremely defensive of the criticism on violence in gaming, but after reading more into it, I realized just how deep in the industry the problem is– highly sexist notions in a lot of popular games. Many of them portray women as objectified beings, purely used for sex appeal and to attract the larger male gamer population. The male characters are also idealised in a similar way– typically portrayed as muscular, brawny men, with basic levels of thinking and reasoning. These brawny men are typically focused on one thing– complete the mission in whatever means possible. This kind of violent thinking is widely reflected throughout many other typically male-dominated organizations, including the
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.
As stated earlier, video games have transitioned into an art form. Art is an extension of the artist and their creativity. Their heart, soul, and being is present in the pieces they create. In the same way, video games are just an extension of those who create them. With this reasoning, we can assume that cultural attitudes will be present in various digital content they provide. Most game developers are males. (This highlights another issue which highlights the lack of gender diversity in certain career paths.) Therefore, the notion that many video games will be layered with attitudes that are geared toward the "stereotypical" male desires is not farfetched. Some of these desires include sexually clad women, minimal clothing, and robust body figures. (Salter & Blodgett, 2012) Now, this perpetuates a real-life narrative that reveals certain hegemonic ideologies concerning masculinity in the US. "According to Wood, masculinity themes are: don't be female; be successful; be aggressive; be sexual; and be self-reliant." (Allen, 2004) The problem is that video games do not create these themes; they are created within a cultural context and applied to different platforms to perpetuate them throughout society. In the world of Infinite, a few of these themes were clearly placed to fuel the male libido in a virtual
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
Playing video games has become a norm in our society, and while games have enjoyed a nice period of prosperity, it has not come without its fair share of controversy and question. Video game addiction, stereotyping, and portrayal of violence are all problems that researchers associate with video games. Video games are also blamed on ruining people’s social lives, decreasing cognition skills, and even increasing aggressive behavior. The controversial Grand Theft Auto deserves a special mention for outlining all these problems in one video game series for our convenience! GTA covers gender stereotyping, violence, and overall graphic content thanks to its portrayal of prostitutes, murder, and crime; it goes without saying that GTA has been bashed by politicians and the media because of its
Watching the video “Damsel in Distress: Part 1 - Tropes vs Women in Video Games” about the sexism that exists in the video game industry was very informative and an eye-opener. I do agree that there are many distinct similarities in the way women are portrayed in these video games. Female characters have limited roles and they are shown typically attractive, sexually suggestive, weak and ineffective. These characteristics send a powerful message that influences people. Although I believe they are not intended to be sexist, many people don´t realize how attitudes can shift with practice especially that many of the gamers are young.
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
It’s likely that most gamers know the intentions behind overly sexualized character design, but it isn’t very often that game developers speak up about the topic. In Layota Peterson’s article “The Tits Have It: Sexism, Character Design, and the Role of Women in Created Worlds,” she describes her experience at a comic convention in New York where she meets a panel of several art directors for various video games. Peterson reports that one of the panel members, Jonathan Jacques-Bellêtete, the Art Director of Final Fantasy XIII-2, made sexist comments regarding his inspiration for the appearance of female characters. “He went into a two-minute riff about ‘always trying to have very beautiful female characters,’ noting that these were characters he would want to sleep with” (Peterson). This goes to show that the female characters are created for the purpose of being sex
Wingfield initiates his essay by including Anita Sarkeesian’s experience to hook his readers and to get his audience to understand the intensity of this issue. Wingfield then transitions to explaining the campaign of #Gamergate and how the attacks of women stem from things that had previously happened by saying “They arise from larger changes in the video game business that have redefined the audience for its products, expanding it well beyond the traditional young, male demographic” (5). Wingfield uses this quote to provide his audience with the history of where this behavior is coming from and as a cue to his audience about his main point, which is discussed later on in his essay. Finally, Wingfield concludes his essay by including a quote by Kate Edwards, “an executive director of the Game Developers Association” referring to males in the gaming industry: “The entire world around them has changed, whether they realize it or not, they’re no longer special in that way. Everyone is playing games” (21-22).
Video games, like television, play a role in the socialization of children in today’s society as well. In March of 1988, a study was done on children playing video games. This study showed that video games impacted the identity of children. Video games that are being created are violent towards women “This analysis reveals that traditional gender roles and violence are central to many games in the sample” (Dietz 425). This study showed that women were depicted in negative ways in the video games, such as sex objects. Studies showed that in 41% of the games there were no female characters at all (Dhiaa and Tawfeeq). When there was a female character, the study showed there was aggression and violence towards them. Another study conducted a survey in which they gathered information from 1000 students in 55 different
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.
The task that has been given to me for this critique is to talk about three key concepts that were used in these two films, “Lara Croft: The Tomb Raider” and “The piano”. I am to discuss the attitudes towards the gender roles that are in both time-lines of these films and the way in which these notions of gender are made and shaped by the historic and economic events. Both roles in the films are seen as completely different, Lara Croft as a highly intelligent and beautiful women, she’s described as a rich English girl who ventures into ancient tombs and ruins around the world. Ada as a female in the 1950’s who has an arranged marriage by her father; she is placed in this vulnerable, feminine position where she is used for profit by her own
I truly believe that if we work together, we can create a cultural shift where women, without fear of intimidation, without fear of threats or harassment, can be full and active participants in our digital world.” – Its clear that we need to stand together and fight against these stereotypes, who only goal is to create an environment so toxic towards the female gender that no one cant stand a chance. We also need to stop the social component, which is such a powerful part of the game, since it helps the stereotypes to organize attacks towards female gamers. But another really important message that Sarkeesian is talking about its how, especially the male gender, treat this like a normal game, but it isn’t. It’s an endless devil circle that only can be stopped if the people, who play the game, changed. It’s no longer a game its online
Gender being ‘biologically determined’ means that whether gender is inherited or passed down by genetics. If a person is a man or woman, (which is usually called ‘The Sex’), that is biologically determined because they inherit the chromosomes to be born a man, or to be born as a woman. In the early 1970’s sex was described by “biology as: anatomy, hormones, and physiology” (West and Zimmerman 1987). Apart from gender being a biological factor, there are other things which are not biologically determined; “Gender was an achieved status, which was constructed through psychological, cultural and social means” (West and Zimmerman1987). Hence the answer