Videogames: Introduction - Women in videogames

 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?

Women are typically either objectified or “damsels in distress” in many major video games.

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

42% of the video game demographic is female, indicating that times have changed.

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

Recent popular games like Tomb Raider, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, The Last of Us, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and The Walking Dead series have female protagonists, co-protagonists or otherwise important characters. 

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

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

Most people have heard of Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft but may not be caught up on her evolution from “sex symbol to icon”. In her PBS NewsHour article Lora S writes that “hypersexualising women in gaming has contributed to diminishing the participation of women in the industry. Though 47 percent of gamers are female…those women aren’t playing games with hypersexualized representations of themselves,”.

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 video: 

100 word summary: 

In the videogame Overwatch, although there are a diverse assortment of heroes, each with unique traits and abilities, there isn't a diversity to be seen in the body types represented by the female heroes. The five female characters introduced consisted of the slender adventurer Tracer, the slender healer Mercy, the slender support character Symmetra, the slender sniper Widowmaker and the slender but well armoured security chief Pharah. Overwatch has all of its female characters with similar physiques. 


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.

"While I always expect some level of harassment when discussing gender issues online, this time it's a more extreme and sustained torrent of sexism, hate, and threats. All the horrible backlash has just made me even more determined and committed to creating this video series.

2) How does Sarkeesian summarise feminism?

"Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings."

3) Why do stories matter?

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

Samus is handled problematically. The quicker you complete the game, the more of her suit she takes off at the end. Princess Peach still gets kidnapped all the time, and meanwhile, a character like Lara Croft appeals to me and to some other women I know because she's independent and very capable, but at the same time, there's no denying that she has often been presented as a sex object.

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

Female characters have definitely evolved. We now see a slightly larger number of female characters and more protagonists. 

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

Both characters are women of colour, and both serve as the protagonists of their own games without being overly sexualized or objectified, which may be partially due to the first-person perspective, but still it's something to celebrate. 

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

Including more women on development teams is critical for change, though it's important to keep in mind that the problem is not necessarily solved by simply having a few token women on staff, or even by just putting one woman in charge of a particular project. So in addition to hiring and including more women in creative and decision-making roles, game companies need to intentionally change their male-dominated spaces

8) What is the impact of the videogames industry being male-dominated?

So in addition to hiring and including more women in creative and decision-making roles, game companies need to intentionally change their male-dominated spaces and internal cultures to actually shift away from the old boys' club mentality and atmosphere--a few companies are already taking some encouraging steps in this direction. 

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

I have a few goals in mind with this video series. On one level, I want to promote media literacy and give people some tools to look critically at the games we play. My hope is to clearly present the issues surrounding women's representations as a systemic problem by identifying reoccuring patterns. 

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

On another level, I would like this series to serve as a piece of the larger ongoing conversation already happening elsewhere about women in games.