Women in Gaming

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Saving the world one picture at a time. Beyond Good and Evil a game with one of the few complex and positively portrayed female lead character.
Members of the PMS Clan, a group of professional women gamers who are making a name for women in the male-dominated gaming world. From left: Kendra Taylor, Shannon Ridge (kneeling), Marcella Fernandez, Amber Dalton, Felicia Williams, Alexis Hebert (kneeling), and Caitlin Buckshaw. Image from USA Today.

Women in Gaming is a concept emphasizing women's role--or lack thereof--as video game players or characters. Console and online video games have predominantly been a male recreational activity since their debut in the middle of the 20th century. While men have continuously been both the driving force and target audience behind the creation of video games, the female gamer population has significantly grown. Video games are increasingly encompassing characteristics that are of interest to the female population, and the gaming environment is slowly becoming a more gender-neutral playing field. [1] The portrayal of women in games becomes ethically charged as gaming becomes more prevalent and as virtual images begin to directly mirror the living world. Female characters in games inform players of their acceptable roles in society and the physical depiction of body create standards of desirability both internally to women and externally to others.

History

There are many arguments, developed by researchers, software developers and female citizens alike, that seek to explain why women have been absent from the gaming scene until recent years. The theories include:

  • The difference in social characteristics between females and males
  • The appeal of game content to women
  • How women are portrayed in gaming

Females Are More Social Than Males

One explanation for why women have not played a significant role in the history of gaming is that females are inherently more sociable than men. Under this view, since gaming is likely to be viewed as an asocial behavior, it appeals to men more than women. Women are more affiliative than men [2] and have greater concern towards domestic and/or social activities, in comparison to leisure activities, such as gameplay. Therefore, due to other priorities and interests, women have not exerted a great deal of time and effort towards becoming active members of the gaming world, preferring social interaction in the physical world.

Due to certain social constructs, there is a greater likelihood of the male population being introduced and granted access to games at an earlier age. Cultural ideals and norms, in regards to what activities are appropriate for males and females, carry over into the gaming world. According to the studies of Bryce & Rutter, males have traditionally had more access and control over leisure spaces such as video arcades and sports venues as a result of these very norms. [3] Upon having access, it has also been argued that males have a greater probability of learning through action, even though they may not necessarily comprehend all of the rules of a particular game [2]. This access and training has been used as justification for why there are more male, or less female, gamers.

The Social Construction of Women and Video Games

Today, women still live inside a patriarchal society. Even in today's advanced society, males have the highest power and privilege in the social hierarchy. As a result, men are stereotypically socially constructed as "powerful," "aggressive," and "strong," while women are "passive" and "quiet"[4]. Because of these stereotypes, women tend to play less video games, since the games have traditionally been marketed as fit for the masculine, violent and aggressive - a truly male activity.[5] Similarly, men are portrayed as more powerful and aggressive characters within various video games while women are generally represented as less important characters within a game. As a result, many games have not been appealing to women because they portray women in a stereotypical manner. The extreme gender stereotyping found in many video games today consist of the absence of female characters, creating female characters that are seen as less than the male characters, aggression towards female characters, and eroticism of female characters in video games. All three of these discriminatory tendencies have produced an environment where female representations fall victim to male supremacy.[6][7][8][5].

Game Content

The content of games has not always been appealing to women, since the content mostly contained activities deemed as "for males." However, game content is changing and more games either encourage women to play or are considered gender neutral. The 1980s brought about drastic changes to the gaming environment, as it introduced several groundbreaking genres, such as adventure, platform, racing and role-playing games. The varying styles of gameplay certainly encouraged a more diverse gamer population, catering to many different interests and skills, but many games today are still of violent nature and have dominated the game sales market throughout the decades. These games were, and still are, successful with male gamers, the violent and aggressive nature proved to be less appealing to women.

Stereotypes

  • Sexualization of Women
    • Woman as object of predominantly male desire
    • Double-Standard sexual objectivism is applied to women only
    • Unrealistic body types
  • Women as Victim or Defenseless Object
    • Women are depicted both as the quest object to be saved and as the reward of the self same quest
    • Relegated to the status of children
    • Difficult for women to identify with both active player and passive object
  • Racially Charged Gender Stereotyping [9][6][7]
    • hostility ("orientalized" view of females/women)[7][8]
    • discrimination (i.e., gender racism or sexism)
  • other/miscellaneous (cultural conservatism in terms of 'Tradition' [i.e. Tradition of Video Gaming geared, created by and for Males], in a historiographic/nostolgia-sense)* copycat of video games and in terms of acting out violence toward/against Women [10][9][6][7][8]
    • Economic/Money-based "considerations angle" toward all of this
    • Theoretical view (i.e. wanting to showcase/market toward females and end discriminatory practices/stereotypes) but in actuality not enough difference in the "bottom-line" (an argumentive-dilemna)
    • lack of "true" proof that girls/females are truly engaged with or into video games (rationale/"excuse" of video-game makers/developers)

Characteristics of Female Characters

Absence of Female Characters

Princess Peach from Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. Series

Many video games have a lack of female characters/players. Since the creation of video games, female characters have primarily been included in story-lines as objects rather than actual players. Often portrayed as victims, such as a damsel in distress , females serve as a target for male players to rescue via their heroic actions. [3] Some examples include: The Legend of Zelda: Occarina of Time where Ganondorf, the antagonist, kidnaps Princess Zelda as part of the story line, and gamers control Link to save her; Super Mario(Series) where Bowser(antagonist) kidnaps Princess Peach, and gamers control Mario to rescue her; and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles where Shredder, the antagonist, kidnaps [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_O%27Neil April O'Neil, and four ninja turtles attempt to save her as a mission. This issue brings to light the idea that with only male characters to choose from, it is possible that the video game environment began constructing male-only players from its very start.

Abilities of Female Characters

When female characters were first introduced into games populated by male characters, many of them were not given the same or equal abilities as males. These abilities include mostly skills, like the speed of the character, strength of the character, flexibility of the character, etc. An example of a game like this is Super Smash Brothers, where female characters, such as Princess Peach and Samus, are often slower or less powerful than their male counterparts.

A counterexample to this phenomenon is Princess Peach's role in the 1993 game Super Mario Bros. 2, where she had the unique ability of floatation, allowing her to make jumps that the other characters cannot.[11].

Aggression Towards Female Characters

Similar to their false portrayal, actions that demonstrate aggression and violence towards females are highly common in video games today. Some games, such as Quake and Doom, have been accused of crossing a line with the inclusion of dialogue and actions that enable sexual harassment towards women. [6][9][8][5]

Eroticisation of Female Characters

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, popular Playstation character

A fairly new, yet very persistent, criticism of video games is the unrealistic representation and objectification of female characters. Such an argument likely began upon the creation of Lara Croft in 1996. Croft has unrealistic, and arguably impossible, body proportions and her character embodies the very argument that gender abuse in video games reaffirms sexist aesthetics. [6]

Certain video games developers have gone to great lengths to sexually objectify female characters. Developers from the fighting game series Dead or Alive focused heavily on creating accurate breast physics and increasing the sexual appeal of female characters in the fifth iteration of the game. Female characters were often scantily clad and personified other sexist notions, which the lead producer stated in response to the potential question of sexism as an attempt to create "the cutest chicks in videogames." [12].

Emergence of Female Gaming Culture

First Female Games

In 1997, Mattel released Barbie Fashion Designer, one of the first games designed particularly with girls in mind. Barbie Fashion Designer sold over 600 000 copies [2] and is considered to be the first entertainment software to capture a mass female market. The tremendous success of this game brought about a movement towards the development and production of games designed specifically for girls. Applications such as Barbie Fashion Designer, American Girl interactive software, and the Nancy Drew adventure games did remarkably well and their success is attributed to the high appeal of real life, everyday characters to the female population.

Women in Gaming Today

While all studies confirm that men still dominate the virtual gaming world [7] women are becoming a more active part of the community and have even dispersed into their own subgroups. According to the Entertainment Software Association, roughly 40% of all video game players are female. [13] In addition, the female population represents over 43% of online players and are the fastest growing demographic in the gaming industry. Such distinctions among the female population have been made based on different reasons for gaming, varying interests and preferable gaming genres [7]. These subclasses of female gamers can be defined as Power-gamers, Moderate-gamers and Non-gamers. [7]

Women in Professional Gaming

Members of the professional female gamer team, the Frag Dolls.

The PMS (Pandora's Mighty Soldiers) clan was formed in 2002 by twin sisters Amber Dalton and Amy Brady. The PMS clan has an international roster of over 500 ladies, and is one of several professional female gaming organizations.

In August of 2004, a team of professional female gamers around the United States formed a group named, The Frag Dolls. They had been recruited by Ubisoft to promote their games and represent the presence of women in the game industry. They have participated in gaming events and tournaments. Their popularity grew after they won the Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow tournament in 2004. The genres of games that they play range from shooters (Halo 3) to music (Guitar Hero 2). In 2007, they ranked 11th place overall in the Major League Gaming season in Rainbow Six Vegas making them the first all-female team to make Semi-Professional status in Major League Gaming history.[14]

Acceptance of Female Gamers

The picture of legal documents that Jessica tweeted informing anti-fans that she would pursue legal action

x-play and Morgan Web

The long time host Morgan Webb of the G4's show on computer games, x-play, was initially viewed not as a gamer but as a TV personality. Her reception as a host only implied that she had been added to the show solely for her gender. This perception was lasting. The hot topic in any discussion relating to her and the show was whether or not she actually could play. The constant questioning in viewer submitted mail led the subject to be treated as a joke. It is unclear what caused the shift in perception, but she now garners bona fide gamer status.

Including Professional Female Gamers

On June 14, 2011, the professional StarCraft II team SlayerS Clan added Eve, the first female professional gamer, to their roster. [15] Many SlayerS and StarCraft II fans were outraged by the new addition to the team roster, as they felt that Eve was under qualified compared to the other members of SlayerS and that she was simply recruited due to her gender. The drama surrounding the situation grew very quickly, and Eve began receiving numerous inappropriate and abusive tweets and letters from anti-fans. Eventually, the SlayerS team manager, Jessica, decided to resort to legal action against many of those who harassed Eve.

Video Games with Female Main Characters

Examples of female characters in video games:

Name Video Game Name Video Game
Ayumix.jpg Ayumi X-Blades Madisonhr.jpg Madison Paige Heavy Rain
Bayonettab.jpg Bayonetta Bayonetta Narikohs.jpg Nariko Heavenly Sword
Clairere.jpg Claire Redfield Resident Evil Code: Veronica Peachm.jpg Princess Peach Mario Series
Ellenf.jpg Ellen Folklore Rayneb.jpg Rayne BloodRayne Series
Faithme.jpg Faith Mirror's Edge Samusm.jpg Samus Aran Metroid Series
Laratr.jpg Lara Croft Tomb Raider Series Sarahs.jpg Sarah Kerrigan Starcraft
Lightningff.jpg Lightning Final Fantasy XIII Yunaff.jpg Yuna Final Fantasy X-2
Jade 2011.jpg Jade Mortal Kombat (Principal) Games 2011 Sonyablade.png Sonya Mortal Kombat (Principal) Games

Current Preferences of Women Gamers

Various studies of female preferences in game design, conducted by various research groups such as the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation Commission on Technology, Gender and Teacher Education, reveal that game preferences of women consist of, but are not limited to:

  • Collaboration
  • Communication
  • Positive action
  • Challenge
  • Use of strategies and skills
  • Ability to design and create
  • Adventure

While there are many similarities among female gaming preferences, the most prominent are communication, collaboration and positive representation. Games, especially those online, are beginning to adopt these characteristics, in an attempt to draw in greater female participation. For example, EverQuest (EQ) provides appropriate levels of challenge, collaboration, communication, self-selection of roles, and exploration; all of which appeal to a female audience. [1] such elements as narratives, ability to self-select roles, interactive challenges, collaboration and community are all drawing in a higher percentage of female players. [1]

In addition to focus groups and observational studies, much research has gone into evaluating television and reading preferences among females. [2] Common themes that are of interest to females are those involving romance, family relationships, and realistic settings. With emphasis on the drama of human relationships, video games have the potential to be even more successful by allowing women to apply their social and emotional revelations from the game to their actual lives. [2][16]

Ethical Concerns

Image and Identity

The ethical concerns in portraying women in gaming revolve around projection and perception. Both work in tandem to inform gamers not only of accepted social roles for women, but how women should be viewed, and ultimately what a woman should look like. While the link between virtual violence and real violence has proven to be illusive, the issues of women's self-identity can be directly linked to how women are portrayed visually in popular media. Since self-identity is informed through social cues, human beings understand their own self-identity and role in society through what they are conditionally exposed to. Since the advent of television and other visual technologies, females have continuously been exposed to gender stereotypes through commercial advertisements, movies, games, and other media. One particular example is the subtle effect of continuous exposure to predominantly Caucasian dolls and actresses in lead roles. The effect of this conditional exposure was observed during experiments when young girls of all ethnicities preferred Caucasian dolls and overwhelmingly identified such dolls as the pretty dolls. While playing with dolls by boys and girls is informed by accepted social roles, in games the autonomy of non-player beings have the potential of projecting norms. Furthermore, the body image of virtual women, regardless of how unrealistic, sets standards and expectations for both men and women.

Significance of Emergence

Apart from attempts and incremental successes by developers and marketing teams to seek out and create a market for female gamers, there are other significant implications for this emerging group of gamers. The Information Society that exists today has brought about a vast increase in computer use and knowledge share throughout the world. Where as literacy used to be defined in terms of possessing the ability to read and write, there now exists a requirement to be knowledgable about emerging technologies as well - computer literacy.

Computer games are commonly the first and dominant form of interaction children have with technology. These games are likely to promote an interest in technology, among both males and females, and can serve as a direct lead-in to computer literacy. [2]. However, there is some concern as to whether this apparent correlation between gaming and computer literacy will place females at a disadvantage, not only in their educational experience but in their future career endeavors.

Past trends indicate that boys adopt gaming habits early in their adolescence, where as females, for the most part, do not latch on to games until young adulthood; some females ceasing to find an interest in video games at any point in life. This delayed emergence into the gaming environment could extend the time and/or education required for a female to become proficient with computers and technology. In addition, lack of video game use among females could have even greater implications on career interests and choices. If the desire to better understand technology does not emerge early on in females, it is highly probable that the IT Industry will continue to be dominated by men.


References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 The MIT Press: "Play Between Worlds" Taylor, T.L. (2003). “Multiple Pleasures: Women and Online Gaming,” Convergence, v.9, n.1.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 MITCogNet Website: "From Barbie to Mortal Combat" Cassell, J and Jenkins, H. (eds) (1998). "From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games". Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Bryce, J. & Rutter, J. (2002). “Killing Like a Girl: Gendered Gaming and Girl Gamers’ Visibility” in CGDC Conference Proceedings, F. Mayra (ed.). Tampere: Tampere University Press. http://digiplay.info/files/cgdc.pdf
  4. Oneonta Website: "The Social Construction of Website" http://www.oneonta.edu/faculty/farberas/arth/arth200/gender.html
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 SciVerse Website: "Video Game Violence: A review of the empirical literature" http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359178997000013/
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "Education Resources Information Center Website: "Girl Gamers: The Controversy of Girl Games and the Relevance of Female-Oriented Game Design for Instructional Design" http://www.eric.ed.gov:80/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ739503&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ739503 Dickey, M.D. (2006) 37(5). 785-793.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 SAGE Journals Website: Violent Video Games and Hostile Expectations: A Test of the General Aggression Model. Royse, Pam. (2007). "Women and games: technologies of the gendered self". Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, and Singapore. SAGE Productions.http://nms.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/9/4/555
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Hein Online: "Mediated Images of Violence and the First Amendment: From Video Games to the Evening News" http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/maine57&div=10&g_sent=1&collection=journals/
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 SciVerse Website: "Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behavior: Potential Sex Differences" http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103101915021/
  10. Wiley Online Library: "Mortal Kombat" http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1996.tb02740.x/abstract
  11. Wikipedia: Super Mario Bros. 2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Bros._2
  12. Team Ninja goes hands-on with breasts to create 'the cutest chicks in videogames' [1]
  13. The Entertainment Software Association Website http://www.theesa.com/
  14. Frag Dolls Website: About Section http://www.fragdolls.com/index.php/gamer-girls
  15. Team Liquid Website: StarCraft 2 http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=243800
  16. ACM Digital Library: "Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat: New Perspectives on Gender and Gaming" http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1468058

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