Videogames: Introduction - Women in videogames

Women and videogames: blog tasks

Part 1: 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?

• In videogames, women are traditionally presented as submissive and overly emotional. They are also seen to be the "princess" in the game where the male hero is on a quest to save her.

2) What percentage of the video game audience is female?

• Women make up 42% of the video game audience 

3) What recent games have signalled a change in the industry and what qualities do the female protagonists offer?

• Tomb Raider, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, The Last of Us, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and The Walking Dead series 
• These new videogames offer a more or less realistic representation of women with added traits such as a "bad-ass" personality. 

4) Do you agree with the idea that audiences reject media products if they feel they are misrepresented within them?

• I agree with this statement to an extent, because of the fact that many people only play videogames for the leisurely pleasure as opposed to providing concern to the realistic representations of the character in the game. However, there are some audiences who play and judge the game by its representation and either praise or criticise it. 

5) What does the writer suggest has changed regarding recent versions of Lara Croft and who does she credit for this development?

• Brianna Wu’s 2015 article details how Crystal Dynamics 'saved' Lara Croft by making some big changes in the reboot Tomb Raider (2013) and its sequel Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015). 
• The company hired Rihanna Pratchett who "had a long history of working on games with complex female protagonists" and she created female protagonists in which women could identify with. 

Part 2: 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 the video: Not Your Exotic Fantasy - Tropes vs. Women in Video Games 

100-word summary: This video talks about the blend of sexism and racism of female characters in videogames. The video highlights the appropriation and objectification of black and other indigenous cultures that video games such as street fighter create when creating their “exotic” female characters. The hyper-sexualisation of the female protagonists is seen to be rooted in racist myths of these cultures as well as ‘excotify’ these characters. However, the video concludes by praising certain games such as Half-Life 2 Episode 1 (2006) who reflect the cultural backgrounds of some characters as respectful and humanizing. These representations challenge these damaging stereotypes of people from BAME backgrounds.

Part 3: 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 received a lot of backlash to her videos, many people were misogynistic, threatening and offensive to her.

2) How does Sarkeesian summarise feminism?

• Sarkeesian summarises feminism by stating how "feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings."
• She talks about working towards equal treatment of women in society.

3) Why do stories matter?

• Stories act as a new way for people to learn things from
• They allow people to shape their own minds.

4) How does Sarkeesian view Samus Aran and Lara Croft (the two protagonists from our upcoming CSPs)?

• Sarkeesian views Lara Croft by suggesting that she is still going to be" sexualized and objectified and presumed for a strict straight male audience."
• She said that she was excited to learn that Samus Aran was to be a female character but quickly found out that her female traits were more of a reward as opposed to a normal thing.

5) How has the videogame landscape changed with regards to the representation of women?

• Female characters have evolved over the years, though in many ways they have gotten worse. Female representation has begun to have a default characteristic of an extremely violent personality aswell as the return of old retro gaming styles that have resurfaced the over-sexualisation of many female characters. 

6) Why are Mirror’s Edge and Portal held up as examples of more progressive representations of women?

• These games offer a positive representation where the females fight for their own unique story without being sexualized. 
• They are also women of colour. 

7) What are the qualities that Sarkeesian lists for developers to work on creating more positive female characters?

• Protagonists with an agency not tied directly to their sex appeal.
• A 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?

• Due to a heavy male-dominated game audience, characters are often designed to appeal to male desires. 

9) What did Sarkeesian hope to achieve through her ‘Tropes vs Women in Video Games’ series?

• She hoped to achieve media literacy amongst a mass audience to make them aware of the damaging stereotypes and representations of women in one of the largest industry in the world. 

10) What media debates did Sarkeesian hope to spark with her video series?

• She hoped to spark a debate in how women are presented in games.