The video gaming industry is one that has always been dominated by a mostly male audience. Just like any industry, the video gaming industry caters to the desires of their most faithful and promising consumers, men. Unfortunately, a large part of catering to the desires of men when it comes to video games, means creating women characters that are sexually objectified and designed to fulfill the fantasies of men. These characters have unnatural bodies and are treated in violent and sexist ways within video games. As Karen Dill discusses in her book, How Fantasy Becomes Reality, women are often used purely for their bodies and to please men sexually and visually within video games. “Women’s sexuality is emphasized: they are sex objects and thus their importance as serving men’s needs is emphasized.” (Dill, 104) The negative portrayal of women within these video games has the power to influence the actual attitudes that exist about women in our society and therefore, we should pay close attention to this negative portrayal.
One way that women are portrayed negatively within video games is through their attire. In most video games with female characters, the characters are dressed in sexy clothing that is usually skin-tight and very revealing. The attire of female characters is one factor that plays into the sexual objectification of women that can be seen in video games. They are dressed in a very sexual way and are therefore treated as sexual objects. In 2002, Berrin Beasley and Tracy Collins Standley conducted a study that focused on how often female characters appeared in video games and how they appeared in these games, regarding their attire. In their findings, they found that female characters were underrepresented in video games and also that female characters were more likely to be dressed in low-cut and revealing clothing, than male characters were. “Furthermore, those female characters that do appear in the games are big busted and dressed in clothing that emphasizes their sexuality by drawing attention to their breasts.” (Beasley and Standley, 289) The way that female characters are dressed within video games adds to the sexual objectification of these female characters. Beasley and Standley point out that the strong sexual messages that female characters in video games send to their players can have a serious affect on the actual attitudes about women that those players hold. “However, one may reason that if a child sees many female characters in typically feminine clothing, such as the thong-bikini-clad characters in the wrestling world, that will become part of his or her developed schema.” (Beasley and Standley, 281) Beasley and Standley prove, through their study, that we should pay attention to the possible messages about women that are implied through the ways that female characters are dressed within video games.
Another study on gender roles within video games revealed that females tend to play “supplemental characters, more attractive, sexy, and innocent, and also wore more revealing clothing.” (Miller and Summers, 733) This study further proves that the appearance of women, especially with their revealing attire, within video games reinforces stereotypes about women and generates negative attitudes towards women. Miller and Summers point out that it is important that the roles of these female characters within games change because the portrayal of video game characters can have a great influence on the lives of children who consider these characters to be their role models. (Miller and Summers, 735) If females idolize the female characters in video games, they might try to start imitating their behavior, and therefore, imitating their sexual attire and appearance. The gender roles, especially the roles of females, within video games might have a stronger impact on these female fans than one would think and this can be problematic.
There are many examples of female video game characters that are dressed in clothing portraying them in sexually objectifying and negative ways. As mentioned before, it is clear to see that these female characters have been designed and even dressed to fit the liking of male audiences. One of the prime examples of a female video game character that is dressed in skimpy and overly sexualized clothing is Lara Croft from the game Tombraider. Female characters, like Lara Croft, are often dressed in this type of attire because the audiences that interact with their avatars are mostly male. “Games have evolved since the 1980’s to include a larger female presence; however, these games include a female presence almost only to placate the male gaze.” (Brar, 8) It is unfortunate that the negative portrayal and sexual objectification of female characters in video games is present largely in part to the desires that men have to interact with women who are presented in such a light. As Laura Mulvey discusses in her essay, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, women are often used as a means for a man to “live out his fantasies and obsessions through linguistic command by imposing them on the silent image of woman still tied to her place as bearer, not maker, of meaning.” (Mulvey, 35) Lara Croft is a perfect example of a female character that serves as a means for men to fulfill their fantasies and obsessions. With the opportunity to interact with the avatar of Lara Croft in a virtual world at any time, men are able to live out their fantasies and obsessions in an even more intense way than Mulvey discusses. They are not just gazing at her, but they are able to actually interact with her in a virtual world.
In order to fulfill the fantasies of men, female characters in video games are represented in a hypersexual way. “Compared to male characters, females were more likely to be represented in a hypersexual way, being partially nude, featured with an unrealistic body image and shown wearing sexually revealing clothing and inappropriate attire.” (Mou and Peng, 924)Lara Croft is an example of a hypersexualized female character within video games. She is the ideal woman, fantasized in the eyes of men. “And by ‘a wide assortment of characters’ I mean any characters with large breasts, the most iconic example being Lara Croft. Intelligent, resourceful, and brave, Lara is despised for her figure by many and loved in spite of it by others.” (Arol) The hypersexualization of Lara Croft as a character within video games contributes to the negative portrayal of women within video games as a whole. Lara Croft is one of the most iconic female characters in the history of video games. Therefore, the portrayal of her character within video games will have a great effect on the portrayal of female characters in other video games. In order to prevent stereotypes about women being reinforced in video games, something needs to change about the hypersexualization of characters, such as Lara Croft.
Lara Croft is not the only example of a female character whose attire and appearance reinforces negative stereotypes about women. The female characters of the popular video game, Grand Theft Auto, are worthy of discussion for not only their appearance and attire, but also for the behavior that can be done to them within the virtual world of the game. Female characters within Grand Theft Auto are always portrayed in negative ways that reflect poorly on women and reinforce the stereotypes that exist about women in our society. Female characters in the game are not only dressed in revealing clothing, but they also behave in ways that portray women in a very negative and degrading light; they are prostitutes. In this game, it is not enough for female characters to appear in a sexually objectifying way, they also have to behave in a sexually objectifying way. When playing the game as the main male avatar in Grand Theft Auto, it is easy to see how female characters in the game are treated as sex objects. One has the option of hiring a woman prostitute or having sex with them in a car. “ In this game, a player can make a character have sex with a prostitute, beat her up, kill her, and take his money back. Having sex with the prostitute replenishes the character’s life but drains his money, thus encouraging both the solicitation of sex and the beating/killing of the prostitute afterwards. Further, the character calls the prostitute ‘bitch’ repeatedly after sex and while killing her.” (AMA) The negative portrayal of women in this game allows for men to live out any evil fantasies that they have about women, that they would not be able to live out in real life because doing so would not be socially acceptable. While the negative portrayal of women in these games reinforces negative stereotypes about women and gender roles, it also creates new attitudes about women and about what is considered to be acceptable behavior towards women.
At a time in our society where video games are more popular than ever, it is sad that nearly all of the female characters present in video games are portrayed in a negative way, that usually sexually objectifies them, as is the case for Lara Croft and the women inthe Grand Theft Auto games. “Along with the expeditious growth of the video game industry has been growth in the development of games that sexually objectify women (e.g. pole strippers, prostitutes) and allow gamers to engage in virtual violence (e.g. battery, murder) against women. An increase in negative imagery of women in video games may provide reason for social concern, since research has suggested that some video games can influence rape myth acceptance, which in turn may influence behavior toward women.” (Beck et al., 3017) This quote, explaining the common depictions of sexually objectified female characters in video games, raises several important points about the effects that the negative portrayal of women in video games might have on our society. It is important to acknowledge that by giving players the ability to engage in virtual violence, video games are opening many potentially dangerous doors for those players who mistake the virtual for reality and therefore, carry their violent virtual behavior over into their real life actions.
There is a great deal of reason for people to be concerned about the influence that the behavior and attitudes revolving around women in video games might have on the real life behavior and attitudes towards women in our society. Many studies have proven that there is, in fact, a great chance that the gender roles and portrayals that we see in video games, has an impact on what we will later consider to be appropriate attitudes and behaviors. Gender roles are an important part of our lives and society. We look to these roles for cues on how to behave and form attitudes about others around us. “Thus, the roles internalized by the child, including gender, become for the child, and later for the adult, a basis for other roles and for action. Thus, the gender role that is internalized by an individual when she or he is young necessarily has a significant impact upon the perspective of that individual and the additional roles she or he assumes later in life.” (Dietz, 426) It is scary to think that the gender roles portrayed in video games, especially the negative portrayal of females, have such a strong influence on the actual behaviors of people in society. It is even scarier to think that children are at great risk to be influenced by these portrayals. “These messages could be particularly influential for children who are currently developing their attitudes and expectations.” (Miller and Summers, 734) If we want to get rid of the stereotypes about women that exist in our society, changing the portrayal of women in video games would be a good way to start. However, if women continue to be portrayed in negative ways in video games, it will be hard to ever move away from the traditional stereotypes about women that exist in our society.
In her project, Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, Anita Sarkeesian discusses specific examples of female characters in video games that are portrayed in ways that reinforce the clichés and stereotypes regarding women in our society. Anita uses many different female characters from many different video games to prove her point that there is something wrong with the reinforcing of such negative stereotypes about women. She explains that many video games today contain misogynist and sexist portrayals of women and that this needs to change if women want to be respected in our society. Anita focuses on five specific stereotypes of women that can be found in video games: the damsel in distress, the fighting f***toy, the sexy sidekick, the sexy villainess, and women as background decoration. In their study of gender differences in video games, Miller and Summers, focus on four specific stereotypes of women in video games: female as sex objects, females as victims, females in feminine roles, and females as heroes or action characters. The fact that Anita, Miller, and Summer all agree upon the stereotypical roles that women play in video games shows that there is a problem with the limitations of gender roles available to female characters in games. Anita concludes the explanation of her project by stating that video games play a crucial role in our popular culture and that they have the ability to impact our society’s values, beliefs, and behaviors. Her project exemplifies the fact that if something is not done about the portrayal of female characters in video games, the traditional stereotypes about women that we should be trying to eliminate, will continue to exist for generations.
When teenagers were asked to note the common characteristics of female characters in video games they listed “provocative dress (ex. “Tight clothes,” “naked”), curvaceous figure (ex. “Big boobs”), thin (ex. “Skinny”), sexual (ex. “hooker,” “slutty,” “sexy”), and aggressive (ex. “likes to kill.”) The single most common term used to describe a female video game character was “big boobs.” (Dill, 106) Through their responses, it is clear to see that there are very strong sex-role stereotypes present within the plots of video games. In a study following this question, results revealed that the stereotypes within these video games might actually harm our society. The results showed that the men who saw the stereotypical images of men (as powerful) and women (as sex objects) were much more tolerant of sexual harassment than men who had not seen these stereotypical images. This proves that the stereotypes that are being portrayed through female characters in video games might actually be causing us to change the way that we think about life and the people around us, and not in a good way.
It is clear to see that female characters play a limited number of roles within the virtual world of video games. In her study of the different gender roles that men and women play within video games, Tracy Dietz found that in many video games, female characters were not present at all. This means that the video game did not portray and female and ignored the inclusion of female representation altogether. For the games that did include female representations Dietz found that in most of the cases “women were portrayed as victims or as sex objects, but rarely as a positive role model for young girls and boys.” (Dietz, 438) Through her findings, Dietz has proven that female characters are rarely, if ever, portrayed in a positive way within video games. Instead, their characters present children with the idea that women are sexual objects who are subordinate to men. “It may be argued that even though these female characters are depicted as primary characters that represent negative role models of women at the same time, teaching that the contributions of women are somehow subordinate to, or less important than, those of men.” (Dietz, 438) Such strong messages can have severe consequences on the actual attitudes that these children, or even adults, form about women in society, based on the female characters that they see in video games.
While these messages can have potentially harmful effects on people who listen to them, they might also deter many potential female gamers from playing video games. “It was feared that their promotion of traditional values about what it means to be a girl, their limited choices of identification with femininity, and their creation of separate, girls-only spaces would lead to a ghettoization of girls.” (Kafai et al., xvi) The negative portrayals of women within these negative video games can affect whether women gamers will want to play or not. If they feel that they cannot identify with the characters, due to the traditional roles that the characters play within the games, then there might be a good chance that female gamers would decide to stay away from playing games with these female characters. Studies have shown that girls want to play games where they “can try out different identities, exploring what it means to be female.” (Kafai et al., 130) Due to the negative portrayal that the stereotypical roles produce, female gamers have expressed “a dislike for games where female characters are sexualized or portrayed as victims and not heroes.” (Kafai et al., 130) It makes perfect sense why female gamers would feel this way about the roles that female characters tend to play on the video game screen. This is yet another reason why it is quite important that the negative portrayal of women in video games be altered so that women are portrayed in a more positive light.
The issue of the negative portrayal within video games is one that deserves a great deal of attention in the video gaming world. Since their emergence in video games, female characters have always been portrayed in a certain way. Unfortunately, the way that women are portrayed in video games only further reinforces the negative stereotypes about women that exist in our society. By playing video games that place women in these stereotypical roles, children and adult audiences alike, might be subconsciously receiving some serious messages about what can be considered appropriate attitudes and behaviors towards women. Many studies have been done to emphasize the fact that women are not only underrepresented in games, but they are also always presented in the same light in games. Women are either dressed in very inappropriate clothing that is revealing, they are sexually objectified and used to fulfill men’s fantasies on screen, or they play the roles of victims or subordinate characters, who are less important than men. Women rarely play characters that have positive and responsible social roles within the game. Instead, they play these stereotypical and looked down upon roles, so that children, and gamers in general, are being taught the wrong messages about women and how they should be treated in our society.
It might be very hard for any changes to be made to the gaming industry that would allow for a shift in the negative ways that women are portrayed in video games. Without these changes, however, it will be very hard for our society to move away from the attitude that female characters should play stereotypical roles as women. Children who are playing these games are going to grow up believing the attitudes and behaviors that these games teach them, unless they pay close attention to the messages that are being presented to them and learn to ignore them.
The Negative Portrayal of Women in Video Games 