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Video Games : An Ideal Conduit For Feminist Discourse

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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.
Video games got their start from the middle of the 20th century, when new technology merged with the entertainment industries. From the earliest games, humanoid characters have been used to entertain

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