Videogames: Women in videogames
Medium article: Is Female Representation in Video Games Finally Changing?
Read this Medium feature on whether female representation in videogames is finally changing. Answer the following questions:
1) How have women traditionally been represented in videogames?
Traditionally, women have been represented in a way that objectifies them as sexual objects or as damsels in distress.
2) What percentage of the video game audience is female?
42% - based on the survey “Distribution of Computer and Video Gamers in the United States from 2006 to 2017 by Gender”. This contradicts the idea that most gamers are male, meaning the industry cannot continue survive by only targeting males.
3) What recent games have signalled a change in the industry and what qualities do the female protagonists offer?
Recent popular games like Tomb Raider, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, The Last of Us, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and The Walking Dead series have female protagonists or important female roles.
The female protagonists act as role models for real women because they are strong, independent, intelligent, willful and compassionate.
4) Do you agree with the idea that audiences reject media products if they feel they are misrepresented within them?
Yes I agree with the idea that audiences reject media products if they feel they are misrepresented by them because they aren't interested in games that don't accurately represent them. Women don't like being seen as sex objects and don't like being negatively represented. Lora Strum’s article states that "Though 47 percent of gamers are female…those women aren’t playing games with hypersexualized representations of themselves,".
5) What does the writer suggest has changed regarding recent versions of Lara Croft and who does she credit for this development?
The picture above highlights the changes in Lara Croft over the years. Her body shape has changed to become more realistic, she is wearing less revealing clothes and appears to be more serious with the mud on her skin. This development can be credited to Rhianna Pratchett, a woman who “had a long history of working on games with complex female protagonists, such as Heavenly Sword and Mirror’s Edge”. She was hired as lead writer decided to create a protagonist who players could identify with.
Tropes vs Women in Video Games – further analysis
Visit Anita Sarkeesian’s ‘Tropes vs Women in Video Games Series 2’ YouTube playlist and watch ONE other video in the series (your choice - and feel free to choose a video from season 1 if you prefer). Write a 100 word summary of the video you watch:
Title of video: Women as Reward - Special DLC Mini-Episode
100 word summary:
The video discusses that video games have been known for using women (or women's bodies) as rewards for player actions. They are seen as collectables designed to validate the masculinity of the presumed heterosexual male players. These rewards can be given in a number of different ways, including: cinematics, Easter eggs, unlockable costumes, experience points, collectables and achievements. Sometimes, the rewards can also be purchased using real money.
Players may have to buy a DLC to view their female characters in more sexualised clothing. Final Fantasy XIII-2 (2012) is one example that gives the main female protagonist a revealing beach costume if it is purchased for $2.99.
Furthermore, many games offer rewards and extra content when players pre-order games. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 gave players a sexualised phone call from one of the female characters when they pre-ordered the game. The Saboteur gave players a ticket to the 'midnight show' when they bought a new game. This ticket included a code that allowed players to enter a 'show' where topless females were dancing.
This is a stunt from gaming industries to encourage players to buy a full priced retail version instead of a cheaper used game.
Anita Sarkeesian Gamespot interview
Finally, read this Gamespot interview with Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency and answer the following questions:
1) What reaction did Anita Sarkeesian receive when she published her videos on women in videogames? You can find more information on this on Sarkeesian’s Kickstarter fundraising page.
Anita Sarkeesian received a lot of criticism and backlash when she first published her series on women in videogames. This backlash was extremely vile and over the top, especially when considering the fact that Sarkeesian hadn't even started to make the videos yet. The type of hate included: online video game forums vowing to "take [her] down", an organised attempt to report this project to Kickstarter and get it banned or defunded and threatening messages sent through Twitter, Facebook, Kickstarter, email and her own website. These messages included everything from jokes to threats of violence, death, sexual assault and rape.
Despite all this hate, Sarkeesian highlighted the fact that this has made her more determined and motivated to continue on with her planned series and send her message across.
2) How does Sarkeesian summarise feminism?
Sarkeesian summarises feminism as "working towards the equal treatment of women socially, culturally, institutionally, and economically."
3) Why do stories matter?
Stories matter because they are a core way of how humans understand and learn about the world we live in. Popular media culture--for better or worse--is currently where the learning is happening, and that means that movies, TV, music, books, and video games are helping to shape our collective cultural universe. Media stories do have a profound effect on us, especially when messages, myths, and images are repeated over and over again. This is the reason why it is important that the media represents people in an accurate way. "Because it's this collective repetition that can seep into our minds and shape, perpetuate, and amplify harmful or regressive perceptions of women."
4) How does Sarkeesian view Samus Aran and Lara Croft (the two protagonists from our upcoming CSPs)?
Sarkisan is in favour of more female protagonists being used in video games but points out the fact that they are mostly used for the sexual desires of the presumed straight male players. She describes Samus Aran as a 'reward' and she describes Lara Croft as a 'Fighting F@#k Toy'. She also states that there has been an increase in 'ironic sexism'- whereby game developers will rely on extreme or hypersexualized female characters in very over-the-top or obviously sexist ways.
5) How has the videogame landscape changed with regards to the representation of women?
The videogame landscape has changed positively in the fact that there are no more female characters and female protagonists in video games. However, the negative side is that a hypersexualised yet violent female character has become the default representation of women in video games. There has also been a resurgence of female characters being portrayed as damsels in distress because developers are making reboots of old games. This has led to the 1980's retro-style games remerging but they also, unfortunately, reproduce the old sexist themes, plot devices, and humor. This kind of appeal to nostalgia can obviously be a lot of fun, but sadly it's often unnecessarily done at the expense of female representations.
6) Why are Mirror’s Edge and Portal held up as examples of more progressive representations of women?
They feature women of colour and also manage to use women as protagonists without overly sexualising or objectifying them. Sarkeesian points out that this is probably due to the first person perspective gameplay.
7) What are the qualities that Sarkeesian lists for developers to work on creating more positive female characters?
8) What is the impact of the videogames industry being male-dominated?
The fact that the gaming industry is male-dominated plays a huge role in how women are portrayed in videogames. Sarkeesian points out that including more women on development teams is critical for change.
9) What did Sarkeesian hope to achieve through her ‘Tropes vs Women in Video Games’ series?
Sarkeesian has many things she hopes to achieve with her video series. These include:
10) What media debates did Sarkeesian hope to spark with her video series?
She hopes to spark the debate regarding the fact that the representation of women in video games need to change. Women want to see genuine female characters.
Optional extension task
To find out more about the online backlash and #gamergate, this Guardian feature links the online abuse to the American alt-right movement also credited with electing Donald Trump.
Read this Medium feature on whether female representation in videogames is finally changing. Answer the following questions:
1) How have women traditionally been represented in videogames?
Traditionally, women have been represented in a way that objectifies them as sexual objects or as damsels in distress.
2) What percentage of the video game audience is female?
42% - based on the survey “Distribution of Computer and Video Gamers in the United States from 2006 to 2017 by Gender”. This contradicts the idea that most gamers are male, meaning the industry cannot continue survive by only targeting males.
3) What recent games have signalled a change in the industry and what qualities do the female protagonists offer?
Recent popular games like Tomb Raider, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, The Last of Us, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and The Walking Dead series have female protagonists or important female roles.
The female protagonists act as role models for real women because they are strong, independent, intelligent, willful and compassionate.
4) Do you agree with the idea that audiences reject media products if they feel they are misrepresented within them?
Yes I agree with the idea that audiences reject media products if they feel they are misrepresented by them because they aren't interested in games that don't accurately represent them. Women don't like being seen as sex objects and don't like being negatively represented. Lora Strum’s article states that "Though 47 percent of gamers are female…those women aren’t playing games with hypersexualized representations of themselves,".
5) What does the writer suggest has changed regarding recent versions of Lara Croft and who does she credit for this development?
The picture above highlights the changes in Lara Croft over the years. Her body shape has changed to become more realistic, she is wearing less revealing clothes and appears to be more serious with the mud on her skin. This development can be credited to Rhianna Pratchett, a woman who “had a long history of working on games with complex female protagonists, such as Heavenly Sword and Mirror’s Edge”. She was hired as lead writer decided to create a protagonist who players could identify with.
Tropes vs Women in Video Games – further analysis
Visit Anita Sarkeesian’s ‘Tropes vs Women in Video Games Series 2’ YouTube playlist and watch ONE other video in the series (your choice - and feel free to choose a video from season 1 if you prefer). Write a 100 word summary of the video you watch:
Title of video: Women as Reward - Special DLC Mini-Episode
100 word summary:
The video discusses that video games have been known for using women (or women's bodies) as rewards for player actions. They are seen as collectables designed to validate the masculinity of the presumed heterosexual male players. These rewards can be given in a number of different ways, including: cinematics, Easter eggs, unlockable costumes, experience points, collectables and achievements. Sometimes, the rewards can also be purchased using real money.
Players may have to buy a DLC to view their female characters in more sexualised clothing. Final Fantasy XIII-2 (2012) is one example that gives the main female protagonist a revealing beach costume if it is purchased for $2.99.
Furthermore, many games offer rewards and extra content when players pre-order games. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 gave players a sexualised phone call from one of the female characters when they pre-ordered the game. The Saboteur gave players a ticket to the 'midnight show' when they bought a new game. This ticket included a code that allowed players to enter a 'show' where topless females were dancing.
This is a stunt from gaming industries to encourage players to buy a full priced retail version instead of a cheaper used game.
Anita Sarkeesian Gamespot interview
Finally, read this Gamespot interview with Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency and answer the following questions:
1) What reaction did Anita Sarkeesian receive when she published her videos on women in videogames? You can find more information on this on Sarkeesian’s Kickstarter fundraising page.
Anita Sarkeesian received a lot of criticism and backlash when she first published her series on women in videogames. This backlash was extremely vile and over the top, especially when considering the fact that Sarkeesian hadn't even started to make the videos yet. The type of hate included: online video game forums vowing to "take [her] down", an organised attempt to report this project to Kickstarter and get it banned or defunded and threatening messages sent through Twitter, Facebook, Kickstarter, email and her own website. These messages included everything from jokes to threats of violence, death, sexual assault and rape.
Despite all this hate, Sarkeesian highlighted the fact that this has made her more determined and motivated to continue on with her planned series and send her message across.
2) How does Sarkeesian summarise feminism?
Sarkeesian summarises feminism as "working towards the equal treatment of women socially, culturally, institutionally, and economically."
3) Why do stories matter?
Stories matter because they are a core way of how humans understand and learn about the world we live in. Popular media culture--for better or worse--is currently where the learning is happening, and that means that movies, TV, music, books, and video games are helping to shape our collective cultural universe. Media stories do have a profound effect on us, especially when messages, myths, and images are repeated over and over again. This is the reason why it is important that the media represents people in an accurate way. "Because it's this collective repetition that can seep into our minds and shape, perpetuate, and amplify harmful or regressive perceptions of women."
4) How does Sarkeesian view Samus Aran and Lara Croft (the two protagonists from our upcoming CSPs)?
Sarkisan is in favour of more female protagonists being used in video games but points out the fact that they are mostly used for the sexual desires of the presumed straight male players. She describes Samus Aran as a 'reward' and she describes Lara Croft as a 'Fighting F@#k Toy'. She also states that there has been an increase in 'ironic sexism'- whereby game developers will rely on extreme or hypersexualized female characters in very over-the-top or obviously sexist ways.
5) How has the videogame landscape changed with regards to the representation of women?
The videogame landscape has changed positively in the fact that there are no more female characters and female protagonists in video games. However, the negative side is that a hypersexualised yet violent female character has become the default representation of women in video games. There has also been a resurgence of female characters being portrayed as damsels in distress because developers are making reboots of old games. This has led to the 1980's retro-style games remerging but they also, unfortunately, reproduce the old sexist themes, plot devices, and humor. This kind of appeal to nostalgia can obviously be a lot of fun, but sadly it's often unnecessarily done at the expense of female representations.
6) Why are Mirror’s Edge and Portal held up as examples of more progressive representations of women?
They feature women of colour and also manage to use women as protagonists without overly sexualising or objectifying them. Sarkeesian points out that this is probably due to the first person perspective gameplay.
7) What are the qualities that Sarkeesian lists for developers to work on creating more positive female characters?
- Protagonists with agency not tied directly to their sex appeal
- Transformative story arcs where characters are struggling with or overcoming personal flaws
- Some emotional depth and expression
8) What is the impact of the videogames industry being male-dominated?
The fact that the gaming industry is male-dominated plays a huge role in how women are portrayed in videogames. Sarkeesian points out that including more women on development teams is critical for change.
9) What did Sarkeesian hope to achieve through her ‘Tropes vs Women in Video Games’ series?
Sarkeesian has many things she hopes to achieve with her video series. These include:
- Promote media literacy and give people some tools to look critically at the games we play.
- Clearly present the issues surrounding women's representations as a systemic problem by identifying reoccurring patterns
- Make viewers understand that engaging with media is not always an all-or-nothing situation. (We can play and enjoy many games while simultaneously being critical of some of their harmful aspects.)
- For this series to serve as a piece of the larger ongoing conversation already happening elsewhere about women in games. (Viewers can engage in discussions together in the comments section)
10) What media debates did Sarkeesian hope to spark with her video series?
She hopes to spark the debate regarding the fact that the representation of women in video games need to change. Women want to see genuine female characters.
Optional extension task
To find out more about the online backlash and #gamergate, this Guardian feature links the online abuse to the American alt-right movement also credited with electing Donald Trump.
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