Stereotypes In Video Games
Gender Stereotypes in Video games Characters with disproportionate bodies. Characters submissive characteristics and storylines. Video games have come under criticism for the recent use of female characters. Whether it be how the characters look, or even behave within the story compared to their male counterparts. Yet, these criticisms and possible sexism have gone somewhat unnoticed by the community. It is important to understand how these sorts of stereotypes have any impacts on the consumer and the gaming industry, and what that could possibly mean for the psychological status of society. Beck, Boys, Rose and Beck (2012) look at violence within video games that are aimed at women, and how that may have an impact on the rape myths within society. Violence in video games have been widely discussed and debated amongst experts, yet not many people have
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investigated the impact video games might have on rape myths. Dickerman, Christensen and Kerl-Mcclain (2008) explore the sexualized depictions of women, and the representation of women as victims. Near (2012) examines how the box art of video games that depict women in objectified manners may impact the sales of those video games. William, Martins, Consalvo and Ivory (2009) look at the depiction of genders, race and age in video games. Finally, Jansz and Martis (2007) discuss ‘The Lara Phenomenon”. This term explains female characters in video games that go against the status quo and are strong unique characters that run the story. It is important to not only look at the issues and problems that may plague video games, but also the progress that video games have seen. Even with some positive ground being made, video games still have quite a long way to go before correcting some of the problems the industry has faced.
Popularity of Video Games Video games have not existed for as long as films or music. Yet, video games have become one of the dominant forces in entertainment over the past 20 years. Reported by the Entertainment Software Association, or ESA, in 2010, In the United States video game sales are measured in the billions of dollars (cited by Beck, V et al., 2008). According to the ESA, between 1998 and 2008, there was around a 300% increase in sales (Beck, V et al., 2008). So, video games have indeed taken over a part of the entertainment industry. However, the individuals who make up the consumer base may start painting a picture of some of the issues.
Demographics
Many times, video games are considered for young audiences. Sometimes, it is even considered a “childish” activity. However, A majority of all video game players are between the ages of 18 and 49 (49%) as stated by ESA. (cited in Beck, V et al., 2008). According to the ESA, the average age of all video game players is 34 years old (cited by Beck, V et al., 2008). Only about 26% of video gamers are under the age of 18 (Beck, V et al., 2008). So, the demographics of video game players are vastly different when it comes to the age of video game consumers. Instead of young kids, it is middle-aged adults that play them.
Men and Video Games
However, there is one form of the demographic that remains constant, and possibly the most important. According to the ESA, 60% of all video game players are males (Beck, V et al., 2008). Men make up a clear majority of the consumer market for the video game industry. This has always been a market that has been thought of as a male-dominated industry. To sell more products, video game industries must make products for their core audience. Unfortunately, this means video game industries create products that often show women in submissive and often objectified positions (Paaßen, B., Morgenroth, T., & Stratemeyer, M. (2016).
Objectification of Women in Video Games
The objectification of women in video games has gone on for as long as video games have been around.
From the very beginnings, men have been the prince or hero that go to save the girl in distress from the evil villain (Dickerman, et al., 2008). Now in more recent video games, these depictions have become more and more disturbing. Now, heroes have weapons, and the women are usually shown as prostitutes or victims of vicious crimes. Very rarely are women seen in powerful characters or good situations.
Along with the storylines, women are physically shown in video games with excessive proportions. Most women in video games are depicted with large breasts, small waists and full lips (Dickerman, et al., 2008). One of the best examples of this woman figure is Lara Croft from the “Tomb Raider” games (Dickerman, et al., 2008). Woman have long been used as ways to get men to buy video games, whether it be through the promises of violence, or promiscuous women. Women are even used in negative ways in advertisements to persuade men to buy the games.
Women in Advertisements for
Games Depictions of women do not just stay in video games. Sometimes, companies use negative depictions of women in advertisements for their video games to sell more to men. Discussed by Dickerman, Christensen and Kerl-McCain (2008), in an advertisement in a 2003 issue of Gamespy magazine, an ad for a game called “Neverwinter Nights” (2002) asked the question, “have you seen this girl?”. The images of the advertisement showed an almost entirely naked woman. Yet, in the actual game, when the woman is revealed within the game, she is not as nearly naked as she was in the advertisement (Dickerman, et al., 2008). In research done by Christopher Near, he talked about sales of video games when women are shown on the box art of the video games. According to Near, video games with box that only contained men represent more of video game box art (41%) than box art with only women (7%) (Near, 2012). When it comes to central characters, it is an even bigger difference. When it comes to male central characters, they represent about 66.17%. When it comes to women central characters, only 18.55% are on box art (Near, 2012). When it came to the actual sales of video games with only women central characters and male central characters on the box art, male central characters increased sales by a factor of .31. Females decreased sales by a factor of .44 (Near, 2012). Not only have woman been used in video games in stereotypical ways, they have been used in advertisements too. However, there are possible signs of improvement. Women have started to become powerful figures in video games. Whether it come to the industry itself, or the stories and characters that are told in video games, women are beginning to gain some ground in the video game world.
The Lara Croft Phenomenon Even though video games have much progress to make before things get better, there is evidence to show that this progress is already happening. Jansz, J. and Martis, R. G. (2007) researched how many female characters take the central role in video games. According to their research, females may already be gaining important roles in video game stories. Jansz and Martis used twelve video games to find out of those games, how many of them had lead female characters and female support characters that had good, powerful stories like their male counterparts. One of the most popular games that have a strong lead female character would be the remake of Tomb Raider. Jansz and Martis coined the term “The Lara Phenomenon”, which describes strong female leads within video games (Jansz, J., & Martis, R. G. 2007).
With the twelve video games, they found that still, males greatly outnumbered females in video games. Out of the 22 characters, 13 of the characters were men (Jansz, J., & Martis, R. G. 2007). However, when it came to lead roles in those games, it was split right down the middle. Six males and six females were shown in video games as strong, independent characters (Jansz, J., & Martis, R. G. 2007). So, although the stigma still stands that women are objects and men are hyper-masculine in video games, there are healthy examples of both women and men who take lead roles in video games.
Conclusion
At first, it may not seem like much progress has been made. Women are still objectified in video games. They are used in advertisements to get men to buy the product. Yet, there is hope, and there is some progress. There are strong, powerful female characters in video games. Unfortunately, it may take some searching to find them. There still plenty of road to cover; however, the video game industry just might be on their way to making right.
investigated the impact video games might have on rape myths. Dickerman, Christensen and Kerl-Mcclain (2008) explore the sexualized depictions of women, and the representation of women as victims. Near (2012) examines how the box art of video games that depict women in objectified manners may impact the sales of those video games. William, Martins, Consalvo and Ivory (2009) look at the depiction of genders, race and age in video games. Finally, Jansz and Martis (2007) discuss ‘The Lara Phenomenon”. This term explains female characters in video games that go against the status quo and are strong unique characters that run the story. It is important to not only look at the issues and problems that may plague video games, but also the progress that video games have seen. Even with some positive ground being made, video games still have quite a long way to go before correcting some of the problems the industry has faced.
Popularity of Video Games Video games have not existed for as long as films or music. Yet, video games have become one of the dominant forces in entertainment over the past 20 years. Reported by the Entertainment Software Association, or ESA, in 2010, In the United States video game sales are measured in the billions of dollars (cited by Beck, V et al., 2008). According to the ESA, between 1998 and 2008, there was around a 300% increase in sales (Beck, V et al., 2008). So, video games have indeed taken over a part of the entertainment industry. However, the individuals who make up the consumer base may start painting a picture of some of the issues.
Demographics
Many times, video games are considered for young audiences. Sometimes, it is even considered a “childish” activity. However, A majority of all video game players are between the ages of 18 and 49 (49%) as stated by ESA. (cited in Beck, V et al., 2008). According to the ESA, the average age of all video game players is 34 years old (cited by Beck, V et al., 2008). Only about 26% of video gamers are under the age of 18 (Beck, V et al., 2008). So, the demographics of video game players are vastly different when it comes to the age of video game consumers. Instead of young kids, it is middle-aged adults that play them.
Men and Video Games
However, there is one form of the demographic that remains constant, and possibly the most important. According to the ESA, 60% of all video game players are males (Beck, V et al., 2008). Men make up a clear majority of the consumer market for the video game industry. This has always been a market that has been thought of as a male-dominated industry. To sell more products, video game industries must make products for their core audience. Unfortunately, this means video game industries create products that often show women in submissive and often objectified positions (Paaßen, B., Morgenroth, T., & Stratemeyer, M. (2016).
Objectification of Women in Video Games
The objectification of women in video games has gone on for as long as video games have been around.
From the very beginnings, men have been the prince or hero that go to save the girl in distress from the evil villain (Dickerman, et al., 2008). Now in more recent video games, these depictions have become more and more disturbing. Now, heroes have weapons, and the women are usually shown as prostitutes or victims of vicious crimes. Very rarely are women seen in powerful characters or good situations.
Along with the storylines, women are physically shown in video games with excessive proportions. Most women in video games are depicted with large breasts, small waists and full lips (Dickerman, et al., 2008). One of the best examples of this woman figure is Lara Croft from the “Tomb Raider” games (Dickerman, et al., 2008). Woman have long been used as ways to get men to buy video games, whether it be through the promises of violence, or promiscuous women. Women are even used in negative ways in advertisements to persuade men to buy the games.
Women in Advertisements for
Games Depictions of women do not just stay in video games. Sometimes, companies use negative depictions of women in advertisements for their video games to sell more to men. Discussed by Dickerman, Christensen and Kerl-McCain (2008), in an advertisement in a 2003 issue of Gamespy magazine, an ad for a game called “Neverwinter Nights” (2002) asked the question, “have you seen this girl?”. The images of the advertisement showed an almost entirely naked woman. Yet, in the actual game, when the woman is revealed within the game, she is not as nearly naked as she was in the advertisement (Dickerman, et al., 2008). In research done by Christopher Near, he talked about sales of video games when women are shown on the box art of the video games. According to Near, video games with box that only contained men represent more of video game box art (41%) than box art with only women (7%) (Near, 2012). When it comes to central characters, it is an even bigger difference. When it comes to male central characters, they represent about 66.17%. When it comes to women central characters, only 18.55% are on box art (Near, 2012). When it came to the actual sales of video games with only women central characters and male central characters on the box art, male central characters increased sales by a factor of .31. Females decreased sales by a factor of .44 (Near, 2012). Not only have woman been used in video games in stereotypical ways, they have been used in advertisements too. However, there are possible signs of improvement. Women have started to become powerful figures in video games. Whether it come to the industry itself, or the stories and characters that are told in video games, women are beginning to gain some ground in the video game world.
The Lara Croft Phenomenon Even though video games have much progress to make before things get better, there is evidence to show that this progress is already happening. Jansz, J. and Martis, R. G. (2007) researched how many female characters take the central role in video games. According to their research, females may already be gaining important roles in video game stories. Jansz and Martis used twelve video games to find out of those games, how many of them had lead female characters and female support characters that had good, powerful stories like their male counterparts. One of the most popular games that have a strong lead female character would be the remake of Tomb Raider. Jansz and Martis coined the term “The Lara Phenomenon”, which describes strong female leads within video games (Jansz, J., & Martis, R. G. 2007).
With the twelve video games, they found that still, males greatly outnumbered females in video games. Out of the 22 characters, 13 of the characters were men (Jansz, J., & Martis, R. G. 2007). However, when it came to lead roles in those games, it was split right down the middle. Six males and six females were shown in video games as strong, independent characters (Jansz, J., & Martis, R. G. 2007). So, although the stigma still stands that women are objects and men are hyper-masculine in video games, there are healthy examples of both women and men who take lead roles in video games.
Conclusion
At first, it may not seem like much progress has been made. Women are still objectified in video games. They are used in advertisements to get men to buy the product. Yet, there is hope, and there is some progress. There are strong, powerful female characters in video games. Unfortunately, it may take some searching to find them. There still plenty of road to cover; however, the video game industry just might be on their way to making right.