Sexism in Gaming
We live in a modern world where we accept that as a species, we’ve matured enough to overcome differences and accept that contrary opinions do not reflect negatively on us or our intelligence. However, the media stream of sexist material makes this belief a fallacy.
During this essay, I will discuss how the media influences the gaming industry and those who partake in the video game hobby, how the interactive media contradicts what the PR departments say and how this sexism reinforces the idea that women should be objectified and this image plays into the hero wish fulfilment of males.
Video games were always seen as a male dominated hobby intended for children only; and that mentality still exists today. However, as the market grows and video game consoles become more accessible (price, availability, etc.) more and more women are taking up the opportunity to go on adventures through one of the most engaging mediums on the market today.
As of 2012, 47% of gamers in America were female which was a 5% increase from the year was before and along with the increase of female gamers, the average age increase from 35 years old to 41 years old in the same time span. (ESA, 2011) (ESA, 2012) Considering women make up almost half of the player base of video games, why do women feel objectified and harassed by their male counterparts?
During GDC 2013, BioWare senior writer David Gaider gave a talk entitled “Sex in Video Games” about how sex and gender are portrayed in video games and what responsibility the industry should take for the messages they send out. (Wilde, 2012)
Gaider spoke about the way that the public portrays gamers (“mostly children”) and the way that the industry views the same gamers (“teenage boys who want sexualised female characters”) (Wilde, 2012) but he reinforces the facts given by the ESA saying that women make up almost half of the consumer industry however, they’re under-represented in the medium itself. There are only a handful of strong
During this essay, I will discuss how the media influences the gaming industry and those who partake in the video game hobby, how the interactive media contradicts what the PR departments say and how this sexism reinforces the idea that women should be objectified and this image plays into the hero wish fulfilment of males.
Video games were always seen as a male dominated hobby intended for children only; and that mentality still exists today. However, as the market grows and video game consoles become more accessible (price, availability, etc.) more and more women are taking up the opportunity to go on adventures through one of the most engaging mediums on the market today.
As of 2012, 47% of gamers in America were female which was a 5% increase from the year was before and along with the increase of female gamers, the average age increase from 35 years old to 41 years old in the same time span. (ESA, 2011) (ESA, 2012) Considering women make up almost half of the player base of video games, why do women feel objectified and harassed by their male counterparts?
During GDC 2013, BioWare senior writer David Gaider gave a talk entitled “Sex in Video Games” about how sex and gender are portrayed in video games and what responsibility the industry should take for the messages they send out. (Wilde, 2012)
Gaider spoke about the way that the public portrays gamers (“mostly children”) and the way that the industry views the same gamers (“teenage boys who want sexualised female characters”) (Wilde, 2012) but he reinforces the facts given by the ESA saying that women make up almost half of the consumer industry however, they’re under-represented in the medium itself. There are only a handful of strong
Cited: ESA, 2011. Essential Facts About The Computer and Video Game Industry 2011. [Online] Available at: http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_EF_2011.pdf ESA, 2012. Essential Facts About The Computer and Video Game Industry. [Online] Available at: http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/esa_ef_2012.pdf Pinchefsky, C., 2012. '#1ReasonWhy ' Hashtag Explains Why There Are Few Female Games Developers. [Online] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolpinchefsky/2012/11/27/twitter-hashtag-explains/ PRELL, S., 2013. How Facebook inspired Remember Me to drop global warming, and why its protagonist had to be a woman. [Online] Available at: http://penny-arcade.com/report/article/remember-mes-surprising-connection-to-facebook-and-why-its-protagonist-had Various, 2013. Fat, Ugly or Slutty. [Online] Available at: http://fatuglyorslutty.com/ Wilde, T., 2012. GDC 2013: BioWare’s David Gaider asks, “How about we just decide how not to repel women?”. [Online] Available at: http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/03/29/bioware-david-gaider-sex-in-video-game/