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?
Women have been over sexualised in video games. Typically wearing skin tight body suits in order to appeal to the majority male demographic (in terms of mainstream games). This also includes giving women armour in games that for example wouldn't particularly serve as amazing armour, for example a female character would get armour that is supposed to have the attributes of regular armour but instead looks like a metal swim suit.
2) What percentage of the video game audience is female?
42% of 'gamers' are female.
3) What recent games have signalled a change in the industry and what qualities do the female protagonists offer?
Games such as 'Tomb Raider, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, The Last of Us, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and The Walking Dead' helped the gaming industry as they all offer strong independent female protagonists. This presents a new insight on what women are able to achieve, especially with games such as 'The Walking Dead' and 'The Last of Us' as they are heavily story driven and show us in-depth character development of females in tough conditions that'd typically be attributed to males.
4) Do you agree with the idea that audiences reject media products if they feel they are misrepresented within them?
No, because a lot of people will still play the game as they understand the game is made for the sake of entertainment and will be able to look past a poor representation, and still enjoy the game. This is probably why most games don't receive much backlash for representations of characters as a lot of people understand it's usually either a joke or for the sake of entertainment. On top of this people view things such as violence, profanity and gore as reasons to critique certain video games with the belief that gaming has an influence on it's audience.
5) What does the writer suggest has changed regarding recent versions of Lara Croft and who does she credit for this development?
The newer Lara Croft games included a female writer so that audiences are genuinely able to identify with the protagonist. This means that the protagonists players play as is someone more indetifyable, a female character with depth and a story.
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: 'The Lady Sidekick - Tropes vs. Women in Video Games'
100 word summary: The video focuses on how most female characters are there to act as nothing but a sidekick with shallow character and little to add to the story. On top of that it is said that they offer little help compared to their male counterparts and that in most games females will be nothing but a 'tool' for the player to complete the 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.
A lot of threats and hate from the community in general. A large amount of backlash from the community.
2) How does Sarkeesian summarise feminism?
'One popular quote that sums up how I feel about this is "Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings." Of course feminism has a long, diverse, and complex history with many interpretations and applications, but at the very core it's really about working towards the equal treatment of women socially, culturally, institutionally, and economically.'
3) Why do stories matter?
It is something that everyone can understand, it is a core thing that all humans enjoy. It is also a way for any audience to grow relationships and attachments with characters, and a way to help us identify with them as the story progresses. It also allows an audience to gather a better understanding for a characters emotions and true struggles.
4) How does Sarkeesian view Samus Aran and Lara Croft (the two protagonists from our upcoming CSPs)?
She views Samus Aran as being exploited for it's body and being used as a victory trophy for when the player. And Lara Croft is also overly sexualised to appeal to the majoirty male audience. It's body is used as a token for success.
5) How has the videogame landscape changed with regards to the representation of women?
Women's representation has been explored much more, extending from being a princess in distress it now comes with a collection of different roles and characteristics for all females. Females now not only get more interesting characters as a whole, they also get strong female leads that have more depth and character to them, often the game showing character development
6) Why are Mirror’s Edge and Portal held up as examples of more progressive representations of women?
Because women play a vital role in both games, but are not seen as subordinate to men, nor are they simply there to aid a man in his victory. They're there for their own purposes. On top of that they're also both of ethnic minorities.
7) What are the qualities that Sarkeesian lists for developers to work on creating more positive female characters?
Making them heroic and subverting typical female stereotypes, such as being overly sexualised and unable to handle themselves. Also she wants female characters in games to have more emotional expression and depth, as well as transformative story arcs which offer trickier stories to understand.
8) What is the impact of the videogames industry being male-dominated?
Most video games become tailored to men, therefore women would be more sexualised whereas men will also look more heroic. Also this means that from a gaming developers point of view they are not able to relate to a female character as much meaning it's harder for them to create a deep and in-depth female character at times.
9) What did Sarkeesian hope to achieve through her ‘Tropes vs Women in Video Games’ series?
For game developers to take into consideration how the gaming industry sexualises women, and gives them lackluster roles that reinforce typical female stereotypes and to change that in order to create more interesting characters and make them overall less sexualised.
10) What media debates did Sarkeesian hope to spark with her video series?
She wants people to be more critical of female representations in videogames in order to create characters with more depth, but she does specify that she still wants people to enjoy these games regardless. She also mentions that she wants her video's to act as something that'll encourage young women to feel proud of themselves and feel more inspired by by video games rather than fear away from them.
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?
Women have been over sexualised in video games. Typically wearing skin tight body suits in order to appeal to the majority male demographic (in terms of mainstream games). This also includes giving women armour in games that for example wouldn't particularly serve as amazing armour, for example a female character would get armour that is supposed to have the attributes of regular armour but instead looks like a metal swim suit.
2) What percentage of the video game audience is female?
42% of 'gamers' are female.
3) What recent games have signalled a change in the industry and what qualities do the female protagonists offer?
Games such as 'Tomb Raider, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, The Last of Us, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and The Walking Dead' helped the gaming industry as they all offer strong independent female protagonists. This presents a new insight on what women are able to achieve, especially with games such as 'The Walking Dead' and 'The Last of Us' as they are heavily story driven and show us in-depth character development of females in tough conditions that'd typically be attributed to males.
4) Do you agree with the idea that audiences reject media products if they feel they are misrepresented within them?
No, because a lot of people will still play the game as they understand the game is made for the sake of entertainment and will be able to look past a poor representation, and still enjoy the game. This is probably why most games don't receive much backlash for representations of characters as a lot of people understand it's usually either a joke or for the sake of entertainment. On top of this people view things such as violence, profanity and gore as reasons to critique certain video games with the belief that gaming has an influence on it's audience.
5) What does the writer suggest has changed regarding recent versions of Lara Croft and who does she credit for this development?
The newer Lara Croft games included a female writer so that audiences are genuinely able to identify with the protagonist. This means that the protagonists players play as is someone more indetifyable, a female character with depth and a story.
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: 'The Lady Sidekick - Tropes vs. Women in Video Games'
100 word summary: The video focuses on how most female characters are there to act as nothing but a sidekick with shallow character and little to add to the story. On top of that it is said that they offer little help compared to their male counterparts and that in most games females will be nothing but a 'tool' for the player to complete the 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.
A lot of threats and hate from the community in general. A large amount of backlash from the community.
2) How does Sarkeesian summarise feminism?
'One popular quote that sums up how I feel about this is "Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings." Of course feminism has a long, diverse, and complex history with many interpretations and applications, but at the very core it's really about working towards the equal treatment of women socially, culturally, institutionally, and economically.'
3) Why do stories matter?
It is something that everyone can understand, it is a core thing that all humans enjoy. It is also a way for any audience to grow relationships and attachments with characters, and a way to help us identify with them as the story progresses. It also allows an audience to gather a better understanding for a characters emotions and true struggles.
4) How does Sarkeesian view Samus Aran and Lara Croft (the two protagonists from our upcoming CSPs)?
She views Samus Aran as being exploited for it's body and being used as a victory trophy for when the player. And Lara Croft is also overly sexualised to appeal to the majoirty male audience. It's body is used as a token for success.
5) How has the videogame landscape changed with regards to the representation of women?
Women's representation has been explored much more, extending from being a princess in distress it now comes with a collection of different roles and characteristics for all females. Females now not only get more interesting characters as a whole, they also get strong female leads that have more depth and character to them, often the game showing character development
6) Why are Mirror’s Edge and Portal held up as examples of more progressive representations of women?
Because women play a vital role in both games, but are not seen as subordinate to men, nor are they simply there to aid a man in his victory. They're there for their own purposes. On top of that they're also both of ethnic minorities.
7) What are the qualities that Sarkeesian lists for developers to work on creating more positive female characters?
Making them heroic and subverting typical female stereotypes, such as being overly sexualised and unable to handle themselves. Also she wants female characters in games to have more emotional expression and depth, as well as transformative story arcs which offer trickier stories to understand.
8) What is the impact of the videogames industry being male-dominated?
Most video games become tailored to men, therefore women would be more sexualised whereas men will also look more heroic. Also this means that from a gaming developers point of view they are not able to relate to a female character as much meaning it's harder for them to create a deep and in-depth female character at times.
9) What did Sarkeesian hope to achieve through her ‘Tropes vs Women in Video Games’ series?
For game developers to take into consideration how the gaming industry sexualises women, and gives them lackluster roles that reinforce typical female stereotypes and to change that in order to create more interesting characters and make them overall less sexualised.
10) What media debates did Sarkeesian hope to spark with her video series?
She wants people to be more critical of female representations in videogames in order to create characters with more depth, but she does specify that she still wants people to enjoy these games regardless. She also mentions that she wants her video's to act as something that'll encourage young women to feel proud of themselves and feel more inspired by by video games rather than fear away from them.
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