Video Games And Gender Roles

Katniss Everdeen of The Hunger Games may not be perfect, but one thing she succeeds in doing is breaking many gender stereotypes. Women in media, such as movies, are hyperseaxualized and are not a real representation of real women. Whether it be women still having traditional roles or them having unrealistic body types, women are not properly represented in the media. In four diverse studies on gender and children’s entertainment done by Dr. Stacy L. Smith and Crystal Allene Cook they prove the need for more males in movie and television entertainment aimed at children.

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.

Visual media such as video games have developed so much over the last twenty years. Games have become a popular media with all types of people throughout the world. This media affects many different people of all ages, religions, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientation and especially gender. Gender bias is a huge issue within the games media. Issues such as stereotypes, objectification, overly sexualised characters mostly female and poor representation of female characters for example ‘damsel in distress’. These issues have been changing over time but are still within the media today. I want to discuss in this essay positive female archetypes within games and be able to compare overused female stereotypes in games to heroic female

Video games have been unloved or hated ever since they have came out. Video games are excellent for kids because they will improve their work with others, help them think more faster, and will help kids become more intelligent.

It only takes a second to attach a strong feeling or idea to a character in a movie, advertisement, or video game. Many characterization used are based on the assumed stereotypes, and are usually one-dimensional characters. Typically, these characterizations usually come from inherited family values, education, and the media. While stereotypes existed long before mass media, the media machine certainly helped to accelerate the cultural growth of all kinds of stereotypes. It is beyond this paper to answer why magazines employ these gender stereotypes, instead this research is designed to analyze

When our children ask the question ''What does a hero look like?'' , the answer to that should be an individual thought within each child’s mind. It is because of that question and the answer that comes from it that people can dream about their ''heroes'' or their role models, but todays modernized gaming industry aims to direct young gamer’s idea and thought of what a hero is both physically and characteristically. What is mainly seen in gaming is the depiction of the protagonist vs the antagonist and how both are victims of racial stereotypes. Therefore, video gaming influences a large community gamers as to who is the hero and who is the enemy.

On her YouTube channel, Anita Sarkeesian criticizes popular culture over how they choose to represent women and women’s issues in their content. Unexcused from this list is the massive amount of video games that have been coming out since the 1980’s. Specifically in a series of videos entitled “Tropes vs. Women in Video Games,” Sarkeesian identifies how different commonly used tropes, like the damsel in distress and the woman in the refrigerator negatively affect women in our society today. She argues these tropes objectify women and lead to problems in our perception of women in society. The tropes Sarkeesian identifies in her videos, specifically the damsel in distress and the women in the refrigerator, objectify women by reducing

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

Gender stereotypes affect children substantially. From the baby boy in blue with trucks and action figures to the baby girl in pink with dolls and princesses, these roles and generalizations affect children’s personalities while they are still developing. Those guiltiest of stereotyping in children’s media are Disney, Nintendo and other video-game companies, and reality television. These influences are expansive, and they reach past elementary-age kids to teenagers. Stereotypes negatively impact children of all ages through these forms of media, and parents need to be aware of this.

Throughout the world women are depicted to be oversexualized among forms of media such as video games and comic books. The idea of oversexualization towards female characters is that they have been often drawn and animated in hypersexual ways. Even going as far as viewing them as a sex object, their revealing body images are eye candy through the eyes of men. Hence women found in comic books and video games are frequently emphasized by their excessive physical appearances, objectification, portrayal, and character role.

As video games become more and more popular, we will inevitably see an increase in amount of video games being produced. The growth in popularity of video games is facilitated by the creation of a website known as Twitch.com. This website allows gamers and content creators to stream themselves playing video games online and interact directly with a live audience via chat. This new platform makes gaming both more accessible and more acceptable. The social stigmas that accompany video games are diminishing; in fact there has been an increase in competitive electronic sports as well. Logically, the growing interest in video games encourages programmers to make more and more games. Melinda Burgess et al presents an interesting perspective about video games. She explores the prevalence of racial stereotypes and how their effects are detrimental to society as a whole. In Burgess’s essay, “Playing with Prejudice: The Prevalence and Consequences of Racial Stereotypes in Video Games”, she provides fantastic commentary on how top selling video games show “overt racial stereotyping” (Lunsford et al 551) and negatively affect how we think. By providing statistics and data about the videogames that she is critiquing, she effectively shows that there is may be a correlation between video games and how we think and interact with the world around us.

All people of all colors, ages and gender are represented in a similar way within the games, or do anyone stands out in all this? Someone is under-represented? How important to be represented in the media?

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

Since their early beginnings the video game industry has given distorted images of people both physically and psychologically. Both men and women have been heavily impacted by their ridiculous body images of both men and women. The impact that video games are having on its users starts as young as 10 when most kids start to play video games. This number has declined about 7 years( Luke Plunnet Kotaku) Although they seem meaningless and just part of the story, components of video games can actually have a lasting effect on the minds of children leaving the future generation to be one thats racist and disrespectful to women.

The video game industry is a multibillion dollar a year industry, so it isn't hard to understand why they go through great strides to protect their image. They provide entertainment to all ages, genders, nationalities, and ethnicities. Contrary to the opinions of the industries opponents, video games are not destroying our youth, they challenge, educate, and provide an escape from an oppressive world.