This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCD chapter.
Video games were the first form of virtual reality presented in which players complete missions, fight enemies, solve puzzles, and ultimately escape into a different world. Contrary to popular belief, between the two genders assigned at birth, males and females both average around the same when it comes to playing video games: 55% of male players and 45% of female players. Despite these statistics, however, video games continue to portray women in demeaning ways – many times not portraying them at all. I’m not sure which one is worse.
First, the way women are dressed in video games is ridiculous. A female character’s attire is, the majority of the time, sexually objectifying. Repeat after me, video game developers: THERE IS MORE TO A WOMEN THAN BOOBS AND AN ASS. I understand that the developers dress women in this attire in order to appeal to a wider audience, but they are balancing on a slippery slope; they are both appealing to a wider audience and perpetuating this stereotype and desire. Game developers may believe they are appealing to a wider audience under the impression that the populace enjoys this portrayal of women, but in actuality they are the ones adding to this appeal, as they are normalizing the portrayal of women as sexual objects. But really though, is someone not going to buy Tomb Raider just because Lara Croft’s breasts aren’t as big as they like? No.
Furthermore, for the most part, women are in video games serve as the prize, and their role is to be the damsel in distress. It has rarely been Princess Peach or Princess Zelda coming to save Mario and Link. This constant theme of saving the girl creates the image that women are weak and constantly need a man to come save them, pulling them out of trouble. Personally, I find the most horrific and disturbing aspect to be the fact that many video games are centered on winning the girl as a prize. The objectification present here is astounding. It is very possible for women to be strong, independent protagonists! Just look at Samus, a badass bounty hunter from the Metroid games. Or even Faith Conners, a Runner with parkour skills and martial art skills from Mirror’s Edge.
But despite the high percentage of female gamers, many video games choose to ignore this, and do not even have the option to play as a female character. The popular game franchise Call of Duty did not have the option to play as a female character until 2015 (and even messed up with that). However, when female characters are in the games, they are usually the love interest, the sexual object, a member of the family, or the annoying girl obsessed with the main character. Games I enjoy that give the option to choose the sex of your character include Pokémon and Animal Crossing. Animal Crossing even allows you the option to accessorize yourself however you please, even defying traditional gender norms in regard to appearances. Don’t even get me started on how video games still consider gender so binary. I fervently hope this is something that will change in the future of video gaming.
I urge game developers to end this misrepresentation of women and to include brave and non-sexualized women protagonists in future games. We are so much more than our bodies.
