How Video Games Perpetuate Gender Stereotypes - Literature review Example

How Do Video Games Perpetuate Gender Stereotypes? How Do Video Games Perpetuate Gender Stereotypes? Introduction Gender stereotypes refer to unjustified, either positive or negative, generalizations based on diverse attributes, conceptions, roles, and differences that are evident in different cultural settings. The generalizations may pertain to either male or female gender based on their unique roles in the society. Although gender stereotypes may be positive, they are in most instances negative generalizations and not informed by evidence from studies or research. They are mere assumptions maintained by an individual. Since the emergence of video games as a key cultural development, it has exhibited gender stereotyping, especially in relation to women’s roles. Representation of women in video games, for instance, is a factor dominated by diverse gender stereotyping notions. Video games, for over a long time, has been perceived as a male-dominated cultural aspect, and that few video games feature women or women are essentially not gamers. Video games perpetuate gender stereotype in diverse ways including a sexist perception of women, power construction, constructed audience, depiction of women as submissive characters, exhibiting gender bias and a patriarchal culture. There is an increase in the population of girl gamers with 38 percent of gamers being women. A further 42 percent of online game players were women by 2009 (Peterson, 2009) Based on evidence supported by current research, the claim that video games promote gender stereotypes is justified. Gender stereotypes in video games mainly involve prejudice directed at female characters or women gamers. Video Games and Gender Stereotypes Sexist Perception of Women in Video Games The female stereotypic role in video gaming is a widely explored area of study by most scholars. Dill and Thill (2007) argue that most video games have a sexist depiction of women characters. The dominant game culture involves constant provocation of female players, nearly throughout the history of video gaming. According to Consalvo (2013), women and girls constitute an important demographic in the gaming culture but they continue to experience harassment. There is an evident increasing in number of women in video gaming, where they were previously fewer in relation to their male counterparts’ population. Sexist attitudes against female video players, however, remain unchanged, as discussed by Consalvo (2013). There is a general sexist perception of the ability of women in video gaming. Moreover, there is a dominant fear that the emergence of women population in video gaming and their sexist aspects may transform the nature of gaming. In response to increased female dominance in the gaming industry, critics oppose the emergence of casual and social video games that target women as the main players (Consalvo, 2013). The toxic gamer culture promoted continues to increase the demeanor of women players in video gaming. Alpha fans of the toxic gamer culture promote debates to reduce the engagement of women players through sexist point of views in their arguments. Besides, game developers and marketers contribute towards promoting sexist contents (Consalvo, 2013). Video games marketers and developers use sexist aspects, for instance, to attract male gamers. Mou and Peng (2009) address gender stereotyping in contemporary video gaming industry from four main perspectives. The first perspective refers to appearance and behaviors of women in popular games. Mou and Peng (2009) examine the portrayal of female characters in video games as sex objects. Women are, in most popular video games, depicted as sex objects through their physical outlook. In other instances, women play sexually-oriented roles in popular video games. Appearance of female characters and their clothing in popular video games reveal them as sex objects (Miller & Summers, 2007). Body cleavage and use of exaggerated breast sizes in women characters reveal concerns of gender stereotyping in popular video games. There is profound sex bias among female characters in popular video games. In developers tend to expose the skin of female characters compared to males through clothing in popular video games (Mou & Peng, 2009). Furthermore, most video games depict female characters in a hypersexual manner; they are often partly nude and dressed in ways that reveal most of their body parts or inappropriate attire. Power Construction in Video Gaming Fron, Fullerton, Morie, and Pearce (2007) address a vital concern of power construction in video gaming; the current situation in which minority players including women demeaned by dominant power structure. The production process of most video games and technological development related to gaming disregard the concerns of women characters. Similarly, the environment in which digital games are created promotes the interest of male gamers as opposed to women. A hegemonic culture in video gaming, therefore, dominates because of the status quo. Cultural positioning of most video gamers is a critical contemporary aspect. Contemporary cultural positioning promotes objectification of women in video games (Fron, Fullerton, Morie & Pearce, 2007). There is an evident male domination in the power structure in the highly hyper-sexualized contemporary video games industry. Gender discrimination is a resultant aspect of male domination in the video gaming industry, as explained by Fron, Fullerton, Morie, and Pearce (2007). Video gaming magazines, for instance, disenfranchise women thus contributing to the misconception that that there are no female core gamers. Further, magazine gaming advertisements represent sexist viewpoints of women by creating exclusively male domains. Because of the hegemonic aspects in the video gaming industry, developers and marketers of video games do not promote products that suit both men and women. In relation to the power structure, the role of females as heroes or participants in action is a critical area that depicts gender stereotype in popular video games (Mou & Peng, 2009). Few popular video games depict women as heroes. Popular video games rarely depict female heroes or action actors; they are few compared to male characters. Constructed Audience in Video Games Profound homogenization of games is a cultural aspect that started during the 1980s and 1990s with during their emergence in the U.S. game market, for instance (Shaw, 2013). Homogenization involved both content and audience. Throughout its development phase, marketers and developers in the gaming industry focused on core gamers as the key market target. Representation of women in the U.S. video games market greatly diminished since its development during the 1980s and 1990s through constructed audience. In most instances, gamer identities were based on gendered categories. Developers and marketers identified gamers in relation to a specific niche. Gamer identity, as a social construction, delineates individuals not recognized as core players including the female gender. Social constructions of gamer contribute to discrimination of the female gender in video gaming industry, according to Shaw (2013). The construction affects representation of female gamers in the industry, who are referred to as the girl gamer. Marginalization of female gamers is a factor that influences targeting of specific markets. Relying on social constructions further promotes gender stereotyping by reducing diversity in the audience; it disregards feminist audience. Depicting Female Gender as Submissive and Emotionally Vulnerable Beavis and Charles (2007) consent to findings that the population of female gamers in online gaming in the male-dominated digital culture. Further, most video games depict the female gender as submissive, informed by emotions and dependent on male characters. In the design of video games, female gender roles depict the perception that they are not aggressive. Video games have over-sexualized features. Male characters in video games, however, have roles that present them as superb and of exceptional abilities. Stereotypical video games for females are typically easier to play compared to those involving male characters. Creating games in which female characters are nearly safe from harm is informed by the general assumption that girls and women are not core gamers. Female characters, in most video games, are not depicted as proficient in using arms or attacking in violent scenes as their male counterparts. Further, female characters in most video games rarely command armies or perform strategic and skillful combat missions. Women characters are, instances, regarded as possessive of weak combat skills. The roles, instead, are deliberately designed to male characters. Mou and Peng (2009) explore the concept of females as victims in popular video games based on their feminine roles. Women characters are depicted as suffering victims in popular video games; a fact that demeans their abilities. Males have a high likelihood to be primary characters in video games compared to women. Women, in most instances, are characters that are depicted as stressed and in great problems. They are in constant need of rescue mainly by male characters. Gender Bias in Video Gaming Richard (2013) discusses gender bias in gaming sport. Gender bias experiences against female gamers are because of the gendered gaming social context. Stereotypic claims that females rarely play video games tend to mislead gender dynamics in the industry. Video gaming remains a highly patriarchal space based on differences in participation, hence the justification that female gaming is, arguably, disregarded in the industry. In some instances, female gamers tend to appear in non-gamers roles. In-game violence is a key feature of popular video games. Women mostly face bias in relation to their viewpoint on in-game violence scenes. There is a dominant misconception that women express low attraction to in-game violence compared to men as discussed by Vermeulen, Van Looy, De Grove, and Courtois (2011). Women gamers tend to prefer simple video games that do not feature violent scenes. Misconceptions of women gamers’ preference of violent in-game scenes promotes gender stereotypes. Women tend to play in realistic settings of video games, contrary to fantasy. Developers of video games tend to prefer fantasy settings that suit the preference of male gamers, hence creating gender bias. Games that involve social interaction are perceived as preferable to female compared to male gamers. Patriarchal Culture in Video Gaming Consalvo (2013) addresses a key concern related to the development of a patriarchal culture in video gaming. Fahs and Gohr (2012) support the claims of an outburst of patriarchy in the cyberspace. Social network and online video gaming tend to depict gender and social identities. Online video gaming is characteristic of hyper-masculinity that fails to challenge gendered construction. The cyberspace, including video gaming, presents male-controlled ideals (Fahs & Gohr, 2012). The patriarchal culture in video gaming is a means of perpetuating gender stereotypes that female gamers are incompetent or do not deserve a similar cyberspace as their counterpart gender. Conclusion The apparent concern of gender stereotypes perpetuated by video games is a reality in most gender relations and settings. Female gamers and characters in video games remain underrepresented because of common stereotypes. Most popular video games have gender-based contents that tend to disregard the interest of female gamers. In popular video games, women characters’ roles are mostly secondary to that of their male counterparts. Popular video games feature violence directed at women. In effect, women are depicted as weak characters compared to men. Aggression against women characters in video games is a key factor that perpetuates gender stereotype by depicting women as weak. Sexist perception of women characters in video games is a key area that promotes gender stereotypes. The perception promotes the objectification of women in video games. Women are perceived as possessive of low abilities to act as commanders, for instance, because of their sexist nature. Power construction in video games is another concern promotes gender stereotypes. Male gamers and characters in video games tend to dominate over the female gender. The constructed audience in video games is a key factor promotes gender stereotype. It promotes the gamer identity concept that tends to work against female gamers in the content parry cultural setting. Proponents of gamer identity concept tend to recognize core gamers as the ideal target market for both developers and marketers of video games. It further promotes marginalization of female gamers. Developers of video games tend to reveal submissive aspects of women characters. Women characters are depicted as emotionally vulnerable and dependent men for help. In essence, it involves representation of women as characters of less aggression in comparison to their male counterparts. Gender bias that is evident in popular video games is a key factor that encourage gender stereotype. Gender bias promotes the misconception that female gamers prefer fantasy to violent video games. That and other similar misconceptions attribute to stereotype ideas in relation to women and video games. A patriarchal culture associated to online video gaming further promotes gender stereotype. The claim that video gaming promotes gender stereotype, therefore, is justified as evident from current research. Bibliography Consalvo, M 2013, “Confronting Toxic Gamer Culture: A Challenge for Feminist Game Studies Scholars,” Ada: Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology, Issue 2. Dill, K. E., & Thill, K. P 2007, “Video Game Characters and the Socialization of Gender Roles: Young People’s Perceptions Mirror Sexist Media Depictions,” Sex roles, 57 (11-12), pp.851-864. Fahs, B., & Gohr, M 2012, “Superpatriarchy Meets Cyberfeminism: Facebook, Online Gaming, and the New Social Genocide, “MP: An Online Feminist Journal, 3 (6). Fron, J., Fullerton, T. Morie, J.F. & Pearce, C 2007, “The Hegemony of Play,” Situated Play: Proceedings of the 2007 Digital Games Research Association Conference, Tokyo, Japan, pp. 308-319. Hamlen, K R 2010, Re-Examining Gender Differences in Video Game Play: Time Spent and Feelings of Success, Journal Of Educational Computing Research, 43, 3, pp. 293-308. Miller, M. K., & Summers, A 2007, “Gender Differences In Video Game Characters’ Roles, Appearances, And Attire As Portrayed In Video Game Magazines,” Sex roles, 57 (9-10), pp. 733-742. Mou, Y., & Peng, W 2009, “Gender And Racial Stereotypes In Popular Video Games,” Handbook of Research on Effective Electronic Gaming in Education, 2, pp. 922-938. Peterson, L 2009, Gamer Girls Rising, Womens Review of Books, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 5-7. Richard, G. T 2013, “Gender and Game Play: Research and Future Directions,” Playing with Virtuality, Theories and Methods of Computer Game Studies, Peter Lang, pp. 269-284. Shaw, A 2013, “On Not Becoming Games: Moving Beyond the Constructed Audience,” Ada: Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology, Issue 2. Vermeulen, L., Van Looy, J., De Grove, F., & Courtois, C 2011, “You are what you play?: a quantitative study into game design preferences across gender and their interaction with gaming habits, ”In DiGRA 2011: Think, Design, Play, Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA). Read More