Heteronormativity At The Videogame Industry

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.

Though gaming has its drawbacks, it also has many benefits to cover them. If controlled, gaming is extremely useful and with the amount of gamers in the world today, it proves that it is not just for children or for teenagers. There are millions of adult gamers that understand the importance of gaming in the under the existing circumstances of the world. Individuals that have studied gamers believe that gaming in today’s

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

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

Video games have long been known as a male dominated media, when it comes to the market audience, player base, and character representation in game. Research concerning gender representation in video games often focuses on a few key points of how men and women are viewed differently, things like physical abilities, role in the game, and physical attributes are just a few to point out (Zorrilla, 2011). Something that is used a lot in video games is the sexualized depiction of female characters, the overwhelming masculinity of the implied game player, and the recurring structure of male heroes or characters

Introduction As per the findings of the general social survey, administered by Statistics Canada (2010), video game usage has more than doubled in the last 20 years. Most researchers seem to agree that the stereotypical video game player is a young, white, heterosexual male (e.g. Shaw, 2012; Williams, Consalvo, Caplan, & Yee, 2009). In considering the topic of gender and gaming, one of the first questions to consider is whether or not this stereotypical view of video game players is accurate. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) publishes a report containing statistics on video game player demographics each year.

It also problematic for future generations because the negative impact of pictures like this can only further entrench negative ideas of women, especially in youth. Since children can idolize the characters they play in video games, the roles and messages played in the game can affect their perception of many things. This includes the way young boys treat women and how women see themselves. Video games are a powerful and prolific medium. Although society has continued to evolve and women are gaining more powerful positions and becoming more independent and equal to their male counterparts many popular forms of media especially video games can distort these relations between genders. Forcing both young men and women to assume that they must conform to either being the hero of the story like Mario or the objective to be saved princess peach rather than being there own fully fleshed out character with their own storyline. Video games can have a big impact on societies but in present day video game makers are making video games need to continue to make less stereotypical games so that no one is

Over the years, videos have changed because more women and diverse race characters exist in games. In the past, videos games leading roles were predominantly white male characters and supporting roles for women. In fact, most of women characters’ roles were less important because women characteristics were based on stereotypes. Because of this, the exposure of video games and I will discuss about how video games such as Grand Theft Auto, Assassin’s Creed, and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider exert a media influence over the ages of 9 to 18 years affects their gender role.

I have always been the kind of girl that is attracted to anything appointed as something typically reserved for the y chromosome. One constant that still remains is an inner defiance to prove anyone wrong- to show that women can do anything as good, if not better, than a man. Out of all the sports, activities, and hobbies I tried my hand at, video games still remained a mystery to me. I have spent a small fortune on a brand new PS2 that wasn't for me(most expensive birthday ever), and have spent hundreds on games that I will never play. Despite a brief love affair with Duck Hunt as a young child, I never fully understood anyone having a fascination with video games.

Video games have long been a medium that belonged to the sectors of the population that felt as if they did not belong in their society. They are enticing games, from the arcade games of the 80’s and 90’s, to the PC and console games of the 2000’s, to hand held games and mobile apps that have become so popular in the past decade. Everyone from children to grandparents, and stay-at-home mothers to business men play video games or have played video games in their life times. They have been used as a form of empowerment and escapism for their audiences from their inception. The audience for video games is larger now than it’s ever been. As more and more women are getting involved with gaming, both in their creation and consumption, video games are not only becoming more diverse but are becoming an ideal conduit for feminist discourse. Because video games have such a broad audience, representation matters to the consumers; seeing and playing characters both like oneself and unlike oneself help individuals better understand their society. If feminism aims to create equality among genders, video games are the best forum for doing so because video games can allow gender to be see through difference lenses (i.e. race, class, ethnicity) while being accepted in all of its varied forms.

Over time video games have drastically changed its contents and through the use of media it has become very popular among the people of all ages. The article, “An Examination of Violence and Gender Role Portrayals in Video Games: Implications for Gender Socialization and Aggressive Behavior” by Tracy L. Dietz portrays the impact of video-games in gender roles in our society. Through the usage of samples in the experiment shows that the video games tend to have more male characters rather than female characters. In this article Dietz illustrates that the video games that are being played by today’s youth present an overwhelmingly traditional and negative portrayal of women and that the development of gender identities and expectations among youngsters may be affected by these portrayals. The article also goes to demonstrate that boys and girls rely upon expectations about both masculinity and femininity to interpret interaction and to develop expectations for themselves and others. The author argues that there exists a correlation between the portrayal of women and the use of violence in the video games, and I agree with his claim, because I have been raised in a culture, where female character’s role in the gaming community have been completely overshadowed by the dominant male figure.

Sarkeesian started a video campaign in 2009, which delineates female representation in video games and the ‘sexism’ that has been redundantly repeated throughout history to today. Her famously known videos, are focusing on the concept of a ‘damsel in distress’ which refers to a person, predominantly female, to be in a situation of distress and must rely on a hero (a male) to save her from her troubles. A ‘damsel in distress’ is a plot motivator in a story, essentially the whole motive for the story’s existence. The on-going story motivator is not as innocent as game developers may want you to think, they simply portray these women as dainty, and dependent on male assistance. Simply, of course storylines and stories in general are a figment of imagination and pure fantasy, but history has shown that the repetitive portrayal of a specific idea, or a situation (that is exaggerated to enough extent), will soon appear ‘reenacted’ in societal terms. Sarkeesian fears of the amount of sexual violence and abuse that occurs to women each year and seems suspicious of the games that consist of violent actions towards women. Aside from Sarkeesian’s main points, she represents a number of other issues that correlate to female violence and abuse that is depicted in video games such as the objectification of

It is agreeable to say that there are video games that are good in mental processing for the brain. It is an entertaining hobby to play. Not many video gamers would pay attention to characters such as their role or development because of the enjoyment of playing computerize gaming consoles like Nintendo and PlayStation. One offensive pattern that has been cycling through in gaming is how women characters are presented. Females in video gaming are sexualized across the gaming media and are used as a key factor of a selling success in the market. Women are objectified as objects, rewards and as sexual entertainment.

"The task of learning to be properly gendered members of society only begins with the establishment of gender identity" (Aaron Devor). The uniqueness of an individual will help an individual stand out more in society. Do you play video games? Is the video game content appropriate for the everyday teenager? According to PewResearch Internet Project, "The gaming life is 97% of American youth, 12-17 years of age. Nearly every teenager plays on a computer, console, portable or cell phone game, and half of teens play on any given day, usually for about an hour or more. Three girls mentioned that gaming is not just the domain for boys. 94% of teen girls play games, as do 99% of boys" (Amanda Lenhart, Joseph Kahne, Ellen Middaugh, Alexandra Macgill, Chris Evans and Jessica Vitak). Having read this, I completely agree. I have a sixteen year old brother who plays video games for three to four hours a day. As soon as he gets home from school, he goes straight to playing his video games. Designing a video game takes lots of patience and time. The first step of designing a game is designing the content and rules. After this is completed, the game then goes to the pre-production step. The design of a video game needs imaginative and mechanical ability and good writing abilities. Designers, just like the director of a movie, will experiment with different genres. The game designer will produce the first game proposal, which contains gameplay, setting and story, budget estimates, etc.

As per the Electronic Software Association, 38 percent of every single game player are ladies more than 18. Furthermore, also, they speak to a much bigger bit of the game playing population than young boys under