Video Games And Gender Roles Essay

Attention-getter: 59% of americans play video games, there are two gamers in each household in the U.S. "People of all

When we look at the sports world, there is no doubt that some races dominate certain sports. Numerically speaking. If we look statistically, approximately 70 percent of NFL and approximately 76 percent of the NBA players are African American. We can also look elsewhere, such as NHL hockey. As of 2015 approximately 50 of all players were Canadian. We can see finite numbers that give us an indication where one demographic is larger than another. By looking at the percentages and numbers in each sport we know what we see, but does it matter to us as a society?

“While demographic trends suggest that the United States itself is becoming more diverse, developing characters for people of all backgrounds is a smart business strategy” is the new tactic that should be followed. The world is changing, and the industry should be changing as well. They can not and should not continue this racial insensitivity that is ever so clear for people to pick up on. Not only does adding in diversity to film and music create an increased sense of unity and belonging to everyone around the world, but it also does help maximize potential, help avoid backlash, and prevent movements like #OscarsSoWhite. Companies such as Marvel, and broadway, have increased diversity to create representation for people of color and their profit levels alone show the industry what diversity can do.

The minimal diversity in not only modern, but past television shows should be addressed by different television networks. This will give attention to the subject and create conversations on the topic of diversity and representation. Representation in the media is crucial to the success of a television show. Diversity in the networks would boost the views. Many actors have the ability to inspire children around the world, showing that you can do anything no matter the color of your skin. This boosts ratings and views because parents will want to give their children a role model to look up to.

For years minorities were not allowed to be on television, movies, or any other kind of media. During the Jim Crow era, every area of life was met with inequality. In recent years, after a long struggle by each of the minorities for their civil rights, they have equal opportunities. This made entertainment even more diverse, even though it seems like everything is equal. There is still some progress that need to be made to truly show how diverse America has become.

Many video games have been accused over the years for promoting racism. Pokemon is one of several games to be accused of encouraging racism with the character of Jynx because of her appearance of jet-black skin, big pink lips, large eyes, straight blonde hair and a curvy figure. However, Jynx’s character is most-likely a representation of the Yamauba, an old mountain women in a noh play. The performer wears a mask with a tanned color, large lips, and

In 2014, growth has been made but there are new hindrances that stand in the way of Black representation. One problem is in the use of ethnic recasting, make normally white characters and casting them as people of color, which works in theory but has downsides in practice. Another is a form is representation that is not truly representation. Now, instead of creating stories that have black heroes, many stories have biracial characters. Others have characters whose race is not easily clear, or purposefully left undefinable. These characters are then called a

White people viewed as the more superior and are greatly represented in the media and social media.

According to Helen Zia, the author of “Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People,” she had stated, “The ‘Asians’ produced for mass consumption. Their faces filled me with shame whenever I saw them on TV or in the movies...they weren’t even played by real Asian actors. They were white actors in hideous ‘yellowface’ makeup, playing cartoon characters created by non-Asian writers” (110). The discrimination of the Asian American community has influenced the image of these people, as even younger individuals notice the drastic difference of representation displayed within mainstream culture. Helen Zia stated that these ‘Asians’ were created for the mass media, attributing to the ‘yellowface’ makeup and exaggerated cartoon characters. The model minority of Asians in mainstream culture and media have impacted the roles available for these growing actors. Additionally, the lack of representation within media develops a lack of role models for young

I 've always been Mulan. Ever since I was a child and my friends and I would claim what Disney Princess we would embody in our role playing games, I would always be designated the role of Mulan. There would also always be a Caucasian friend that would make a comment like, "oh you know...for obvious reasons." The reason was obvious. I was Asian. While every other Caucasian girl had a range of choices ranging from Belle, to Snow White, to Cinderella, to Ariel, I was limited to one princess. It wasn 't as if being designated to an empowered female character that saves China was the problem, the problem was the lack of representation that presented itself to me at such a young age. For all the adolescent African-American children, they only have Tiana from Princess and the Frog. All the young Native American children can only personally identify as Pocahontas. While little Middle Eastern children only have Jasmine from Aladdin. It seems as if producers would create a token princess to encompass the entire minority and see that as being progressive, but then they’ll design another blonde haired-blue eyed princess named Elsa and she’s deemed revolutionary by the masses. As I grew older, I began to notice the whitewashing of characters in the media, and an absence of minority representation in entertainment.The absence of minority faces among Caucasian saturated casts highlights the prevalent issue of intrinsic racism in modern day entertainment

Generally, minority actors and actresses are underrepresented in the movie industry, and that is not something new. Most people are fully aware about the underrepresentation of minorities in the movie industry, but many do not know how underrepresented minorities are in the industry. When Darnell Hunt was interviewed, he stated that “At every level, in every arena, women and minorities are underrepresented (stick with one) in the industry… And the only question really is how serious, how egregious that level of under-representation is” (NPR 2015). Even with

In many books, shows, and movies, white people are usual seen as the heroic protagonists. Since the beginning of literature and film, people with light skin always have held the center of attention. Whether it be playing the superhero that saves the day, a rich business man, a spy or simply a husband to four kids. White people have had it all. But hey, at least not all pieces of entertainment are the same…right?

As a point of comparison, let’s consider Broken Age, a game that has a split narrative between Vella, a young girl, and Shay, a young boy, both living in different sorts of dystopias. Unlike BioShock, I consider Broken Age to be a feminist dystopian video game because Vella is a main character, possesses meaningful subjectivity, and can save herself.

Sports are the entertainment that is spreading throughout the world. Because of this, there are many sports leagues that are culturally diverse. People have started the address the issue of diversity in sports. For example, Leo Kahane, Neil Longley, and Robert Simmons wrote an article titled “The Effects of Coworker Heterogeneity on Firm-Level Output: Assessing the Impacts of Cultural and Language Diversity in the National Hockey League,” and this article talks about how teams and players have to deal with teammates that are culturally from a different background. Also, Alison J. Doherty wrote an article titled “Managing Cultural Diversity in Sport Organizations: A Theoretical Perspective” while this article talks about how sports organizations have to manage the diversity of the team while trying to be able to perform at their best. Both of these articles do a fine job in using certain elements of argument to make their respective articles persuasive. However, the article that talks about the National Hockey League uses logos, along with facts and evidence most successful while the other article uses mainly ethos and logos most effectively.

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