It has been said by many that video games often contain overtly sexist themes and characters. So let's go back to the initial question - is the video game industry, and its its many, varied virtual worlds, sexist? If so, what about it makes it that way? What are some examples that spring to mind and what about them makes them sexist, or otherwise? And if you believe there is a problem, noticing it is just the first step, so what can be done in order for things to change?
Chris Leigh - PALGN Executive Editor
Are games sexist? Personally, I don't think there can be any dispute - they almost certainly are. On one level, this is hardly a surprising revelation; after all, games are toys made predominantly by boys for boys. In fact, video games are so obviously sexist that a more pertinent question would perhaps be: what does such discrimination mean for games, and the industry as a whole? And the answer is not a pretty one.
For some time now, journalists and industry commentators have agonised and chewed over the same conundrum: how can games receive greater social acceptance? How can games show they've matured, to a point where they can stand tall next to other established mediums, such as film? Deeper and more complex storylines, cinematic presentation (particularly in cutscenes), multi-faceted characters; these are all valid solutions. But how about finally creating a female lead in a game who can be strong, intelligent, and charismatic, all while shooting down a Tyrannosaurus Rex in something other than the tightest pair of shorts she could lay her hands on? It would surely help in gaming's quest for wider acknowledgement.
Yes, Lara Croft is constantly upheld as an example of progress, but she's a weak icon for womanhood. With her hugely unrealistic body shape and revealing attire, Lara is a fantasy figure for males and little else, even if she does possess a gift for handling firearms. The saddest thing of all? As she is virtual, Lara could have fulfilled any role, rather than just being relegated to that of a sex object. Admittedly, she is one step better than the inexcusably wimpish Peach, but not by much. Gaming's best stab at a strong, independent icon of womanhood? Fahrenheit's Carla Valenti. That is, until she ended up getting her kit off for Playboy.
In an age when an increasing number of women are playing games, the gaming industry needs to grow up when it comes to gender representation, and fast. Otherwise, it can forget the wider recognition it craves.
Fahrenheit's Carla Velenti. A shining example of how to create non-sexist game characters?
Mark Marrow - PALGN Writer
I think that sexism is a really tough subject to define in video games, and one that people generally misperceive as being offensive despite games presenting various art forms that have been acceptable way before gaming begun. In some cases, many people feel that having females in revealing clothing is in one part sexist, but honestly it is merely an art form, and a way of showing the beauty of the human body. I think there’s a point where you can portray females as being sexy and not hurting their representation compared to how females are dressed in a way to be considered objects for viewing pleasure.
It’s difficult to deny that games are a way of expressing your imagination, and that video games are indeed a new-age art form – at least as the evolution of gaming continues to boarder towards realism. And much like any art there are variations to styles, of which are used to provide a feel, or often a persona for your characters – without expressing how certain characters are suppose to be represented then it’s difficult to immerse people or make a game believable. So, if a game decides to have female character wearing nothing but a thin cloth covering their parts then so be it. As long as the game is able to distinguish its characters throughout, and doesn’t steer the attention from the game to solely on their tits, arse or amazing six-packs, then there shouldn’t be any reason to unfairly call-out certain games as being sexist.
Though, on the other side, you have games that feature females with similar outfits, but also belittle their presence by shamelessly focusing on certain areas of their body that have no relevance to story progression, or the game itself. I think a great example of such a game would be BloodRayne - where you have what is suppose to be an intelligent and strong female, who is often portrayed as a flimsy, playboy bunny where the focus generally moves to the jiggling of her breasts. That is sexism, and so is the representation of females in games such as Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball. A game like Tomb Raider though, I don’t think the game has ever derailed to the point where the focus shifted from the story to Lara’s breasts (as big as they may be). It’s unfortunately when such games as Tomb Raider are unfairly criticised largely due to the fact of how she dresses, even though she’s never portrayed as a sexual object or her appearance is never the sole focus of the games. Lara should be seen as a role model for her representation of being a strong and independent woman rather than the helpless, fragile woman that relies on a strong man to save her.
Then you’ve got more obvious examples of sexism in games such as The Guy Game, BMX XXX, the GTA series and various other games such as Silent Hill 4 where females are regarded as mere sexual objects. The Guy Game and BMX XXX purely because of the sexual content, GTA series due to the way women are represented as whores and no high standings, and finally a game like Silent Hill 4 since you’re rewarded with a sexy lingerie outfit after completing the game after a set a mount of time (such incentives aren’t new, and just further belittle the purpose of having a female character in the game).
Sure, sexism is in games, and it’s just going to continue to increase as the industry grows, but I think there’s a fine line shown in what defines games as being sexist and others that are unfairly judged.
We wonder if we'll ever see the day when an article on sexism in videogames doesn't feature Lara Croft. Oh, by the way, today's not the day.
Neville Nicholson - PALGN Writer
In the beginning, God created the... Sorry, wrong intro.
In the early days of gaming, video games were designed by men, for men. Specifically, young men – young men with hormones and sex drives that would make Casanova look like an impotent coma patient. And probably the only reason these early games didn’t feature more in the way of scantily clad ladies was that the primitive graphics wouldn’t allow such eye candy for our primitive minds.
Fast forward to today, and as the visuals have become more and more alluring, conversely, more and more women have been bitten by the gaming bug. This can be partly attributed to the medium having become more socially acceptable, but primarily due to the fact that developers have been slowly coming to terms with the female psyche and how it relates to their hobbies and activities.
Whilst most men prefer violent, competitive titles (Gears of War, Halo 2, etc), women prefer social interaction, resource collection and management (The Sims, Animal Crossing, etc). It’s the Hunter-Gatherer instinct at work. There are now far more games that are able to be enjoyed by women than back in the 80’s, when a developer’s idea of a “game for girls” was giving PacMan a bow and calling him “Ms.”
This can best be illustrated by the phenomenal success of World of Warcraft, as the game features epic battles and heroic characters (which appeals to men), there is also a huge amount of item collection and social interaction. In a similar vein, one of the reasons the Spiderman films have been so well-received is that there are equal parts action and romance/character development. The industry is slowly learning that it’s wise to try to appeal to as broad an audience as possible – and not squarely targeting the lowest common denominator.
Take a look at the latest Australian sales charts, and you'd be hard pressed to find a single game that features anything the average consumer would define as "overtly sexual themes," and at least 3 that can be enjoyed equally by men and women - The Sims 2: Seasons, Final Fantasy XII and Animal Crossing.
Whilst there is still the odd game that is shamelessly targeted at men looking for a cheap thrill (The Guy Game, BMX XXX, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball), these games are often derided – ironically enough, not by women or feminists, but by male gamers who see through the façade of blatant sex appeal to the bubbling cesspool of mediocrity beneath.
As with all aspects of life, gender empowerment is about choice – whether it be the choice to be a stay-at-home mother, or go out and have a career… to choose Animal Crossing or Manhunt… to play a sexy dark elf in an MMORPG or use your feminine wiles to “encourage” your partner to put the controller down for the night.
You go, girls.
Tristan Kalogeropoulos - PALGN Writer
I think too often we view sexism through an extremely restricted lens, with the idea that it's only something that those with more than one X chromosome are the focus of. Restricting people based on their gender or sex is something that occurs on many levels and over both the sexes. The video game world is rife with examples of sexism, from the vacuous bikini clad-dress up dolls in DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball to Princess Peach and her passive and continuous need to be rescued. It’s not only female characters that are this one-dimensional. Look at the archetypal action hero. From Gears’ Marcus Fenix to any number of game’s lead male characters. Their ridiculous tough guy talk, uncaring attitude and their mammoth sized biceps show that men are also boxed into an archetypal package for gamers to gobble up. In reality each and every single one of us has both feminine and masculine aspects that make up our personalities. Few games reflect this in their characters though.
I partially agree with Mark’s point in that the focus on aesthetics within videogames does not amount to sexism. Simply because a person, or in this case avatar, within an artistic setting is portrayed with a certain body type it does not make their representation sexist. It’s when this is the sole defining characteristic of them that this is a problem, having them in the game for the simple purpose of them being ogled at.
Video games may have undergone an immense evolution in terms of their technical ability to visually convey a story, however for the most part the complexity of their narratives are firmly rooted in fairytale like character development. Princes rescuing Princesses is still the dominant complexity of our gaming stories. This needs to change.
There have been some great examples of video game characters that have been created as full and complex individuals, which is essentially the opposite of sexism. Alyx Vance of Half Life 2 or Beyond Good and Evil’s Jade are indeed shining examples of how to both accommodate appealing visuals and also create incredibly multidimensional characters. Both showing feminine and masculine aspects of their personalities. Leon of Resident Evil too, is a character who is relatively complex and does not have his masculinity dial on 11 with his feminine characteristics turned down to zero.
Many argue that the industry requires more input from female game designers however, as nice as this would be it is not the complete answer to the problem. Put simply it needs to grow up. And it has come a long way, especially in recent years, but there is still a way to go. As storytelling and character design mature along with the technology so too, I hope, the sexist aspects of the games we play will soon become a rarity rather than the norm.
According to Gears creator CliffyB, Marcus Fenix is a non-archetypal character.
Phil Larsen - PALGN Writer
Sexism isn’t a particularly major problem in video games. Even in titles like DOA, it’s tough to logically find a reason how one could call it sexist. Women running around in skimpy clothing - what’s the crime here? Men enjoy looking at half-naked women, and some women enjoy being half-naked to please men. No big deal. If you’re honest with yourself, and honest with whoever chooses to take part in the game’s development about the purpose and appeal of the game, then there shouldn’t be a problem. Don’t be confused by the prefix “sex” – sexism isn’t solely concerning sexual references, it’s about all gender issues. Even if one were to make the argument that the lack of story and character development in DOA will subsequently portray the women as objects, then the same argument can be made about something like Gears of War. Cole is a badass macho Gear who runs around killing stuff while making train noises. How typically male. Does the game ever attempt to portray his cultural values, intelligence level or opinion on society? No. Each game has shown a limited view on each gender, so are we supposed to sit around and complain about sexism? Hardly. The attributes of sexiness and a strong, deep character aren’t mutually exclusive.
Don’t sit there and wonder about the offence you may be causing to a non-video game playing population. Non-gamers who complains about Tomb Raider or DOA being sexist aren't exactly a credible source for an argument. How about they ask the opinions of the extremely talented female developers and actors who took part in the process and enjoyed contributing to the game’s creation? I’m constantly offended by stuff I’ve seen in print media, articles like “What a guy is really saying!” (implying that they lie to women to achieve sex) or “Top tips to make a guy go wild in bed!” I don’t write in and complain, I just don’t read it. These select groups of writers are conveying what they believe is entertaining to their target market, which offends some people, and conversely some developers are making a game primarily featuring sexy babes to appeal to their target market. It’s going to offend some people too. Everyone is offended by everything. If something like The Guy Game is sexist, it’ll be towards males, because any objective analysis will easily find females to be the superior gender for opting not to make such a shitty game.
We can enjoy each game for the reasons it has been developed. Not every game needs to cover all bases and pump politically correct nonsense from every pixel to make it socially acceptable. Sex and specific image portrayal are accepted aspects of life in all other media, so why can’t it be available in video games? If playing a game to look at digital boobs isn’t your thing, then don’t buy it. I wouldn’t.
One final point regarding Chris’ comment: video games crave wider recognition, do they? They won’t achieve it without eliminating false gender representation? Do they want to achieve wide recognition as a valid media form? On TV the other night, I saw an ad for Pussycat Dolls Present: Search for the Next Doll, a show involving women parading around in skimpy outfits singing about how they are hotter than some guy’s girlfriend. During a child-friendly timeslot. TV is the widest form of media there is, and you want video games to achieve this kind of recognition? Count me out.
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It's a broad topic indeed, which, as our varied responses have shown, spawns a smorgasboard of opinions. Whilst there will never be any firm answers, and you could indeed devote a whole university subject, or even thesis to the topic, it is entirely worth discussing the subject of sexism in video games.
We're aware that all of the current staff on PALGN are of reasonably middle class male persuasion, so our opinions may be off in a completely different direction from others in the world. That's why we want to hear what the readers have to say on the topic in the forums. Get posting!
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