The Witcher 3: Gender Roles In The Video Game Industry

After watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part Two, I was able to see how gender roles both differ and remain the same in this movie. Although some gender stereotypes apply to the film, I think many characters defy the stigmas typically assigned to males and females. Strong female roles, such as Hermione Granger, Molly Weasley, Professor McGonagall, and Luna Lovegood, help portray sturdy independent women who take charge. Reflecting on this movie, even as a dedicated Harry Potter fan, I have always admired how female actors in the series have had “the brains” in tricky situations. After watching the movie, I saw themes of power feminism, stereotyping, and negative connotations of males who express emotion.

In the last 30 year the video game industry has vastly changed. From pixelated games to having 3D graphics. From going to the arcade and using a quarter for paying games to having a microphone to talk to friends from around the world. While there are many differences there are also many similarities.

Since their early beginnings the video game industry has given distorted images of people both physically and psychologically. Both men and women have been heavily impacted by their ridiculous body images of both men and women. The impact that video games are having on its users starts as young as 10 when most kids start to play video games. This number has declined about 7 years( Luke Plunnet Kotaku) Although they seem meaningless and just part of the story, components of video games can actually have a lasting effect on the minds of children leaving the future generation to be one thats racist and disrespectful to women.

Video games are a big part of life in modernized countries. It is one of the biggest entertainment money makers and of the things people enjoy doing. They are now mostly played inside the comfort of your home, with a console or computer. But things weren 't always like this. About 40 years ago you would most likely go to the arcade to play. The consoles they had out were either expensive or not good enough to compete with the arcade ones. Classic video games were made with 4-bit pixels and in very low resolution than modern day games. Over the decades, game machines continuously evolved and become more and more powerful, capable of stunning visuals and graphics. In the 21st century, social media, smart phone and tablet technology entered the gaming scene. Casual games become the norm attracting previously non-gamers into the market. However, if those low-quality games were never made, the games would not have evolved into the games they are today. In this article, I will cover main game a platform from the 1970’s to present day explaining what they are, their key development dates, features and limitations.

Video games were originated first in laboratories by scientists. “This first idea came from their imaginations in late 1940s but unfortunately it did not reach the people as they were confined only to laboratories. This situation was observed till early 1970s until arcade games became popular.Then later on a new start-up named “Atari” unleashed a new

A prime example of non-female representation is the testing of medical drugs. Back in the mid -20th Century, drugs were only tested on men thinking that aside from our genitals that we were just smaller versions of men. This caused many problems and is a prime reason for why medical worries of men have had much further research than that of women, take the research done on male enhancement versus birth control. We have had a much slower time of advancing birth control and when it was first reloaded it caused many health problems, sometimes even resulting in death. Another example would be the trope – the problem of women in video games becoming objects. An example of a trope would be Princess Peach always having to be rescued by Mario and not being the main character until very recently. Perhaps if we had more female game designers, this would not be so much of a problem. In a matter of fact, many Indi-game designers are more likely to be women than for big – name companies and this genre of video games have fewer tropes and more female characters as the main character in the video

“Some 50% of men and 48% of women play video games, while 15% of men and 6% of women say the term “gamer” describes them well. This supports that an almost equal number of men and women play games and identify as gamers.” As stated, an almost equal number of people play games no matter gender. This would mean that companies would design their games to be more unisex, allowing both genders to play and maximise profits. This also ties in with the idea that sex appeal is given to both male and female characters in games.

Sexism within the gaming industry is one of the many topics of debate which prevent the medium from reaching a sophisticated status within society. While it is often debated that the male figure is also exaggerated within these cultures, this essay will predominantly look at the depiction of women in it.

For over 50 years, video games have been around the entertain men and women of many different ages. Many of the original gaming consoles have changed or evolved over the years. From first person shooters or 3D adventure roll-playing games, it has changed over the decades through their consoles. In October of 1958, a man by the name of William Higinbotham, created the first video game system, so it has been told. It was a simple game of tennis, like the 1970s game of Pong. This is what started this video game craze

As video games is such a big medium, they are able to convey messages to the players in a more low-key way, gender representations and stereotyping are both big things that the video gaming industry can effectively play a big part in. Stereotyping refers to one group’s generalised and widely accepted perception about the personal attributes of members of another group (Ashmore & Boca, 1981; Dates & Barlow, 1990). Within most traditional media, gender and racial stereotypes are the most pervasive two. Increased distorted representation of women and minorities can have a negative effect on the way that the viewer sees that particular group. The way that video games are able to influence large masses is another reason to why it is able to be classified as a legitimate form of media. The definition of media as stated above being,“the main means of mass communication (television, radio, and newspapers) regarded collectively.”. Female characters have changed and evolved throughout the time of video games, the first ever playable female character in a mainstream game was created in 1986 and then another well known female character was created by 1996, and that one being the protagonist of Tomb Raider, Lara Croft. By 2014 it is now able to be chosen by the player in a collective of certain games to weather they play as male or female. It isn't uncommon to see a female characters in a video game to be over sexualised, much like mass media in todays age. Female characters are also commonly portrayed as a “damsel in distress”, and the male protagonist is usually the one to save her. Mass medias such as the news and newspapers have this in common with video games, making it out that females usually need some sort of male “hero” in their lives. There is a big push for more women to be involved in the creation of video games

Gender disparity in video games is a topic that both scholars and major gaming icons have discussed before. However, the topic recently resurfaced with the upsurging population of female gamers. The integration of females was a spectacle that caused a massive culture shock. Many members of the gaming community were unsure how to handle the change and took to discriminating females. While discrimination may seem unimportant, many scholars and icons believe it is a prominent factor of gender disparity: an environment which typically favors males, a hostile or “toxic” atmosphere, and repeated stereotypes all manifest certain behaviors of both genders that can cause a disparity to grow. Although some sources claim gender disparity is evident in gaming as a whole, others insist the novelty of female discrimination in video games is less prominent due to a more leveled percentage of male-to-females in gaming. However, both agreed that the competitive gaming community is a different story. Time and time again the competitive gaming community was mentioned for its exclusion of women due to biased and misogynistic members who sexualize and degrade females. These members believe women are inferiors that encroach on their territory with unskilled and seductive natures. Therefore, for the females in the gaming community, their actions will shape the future of women in the competitive gaming community. The change in female treatment is detrimental to gender disparity. Not only because

First of all, despite the gaming audience being half women, most AAA games are made focussed entirely on male in mind. Ken Levine himself said that “Bioshock Infinite” was marketed to appeal to frat boys. And Naughty Dog has revealed they didn’t want to see what women thought of “The Last of Us” and that they were trying to appeal exclusively to males. While the director of “Remember me” has said the female protagonist has been killed off by publishers because men allegedly don’t want to play as a “girly girl”. Mainstream game development is predominately designed by men, for men. In the same way female characters are being designed to appeal to men, so too are male characters, but not in the objectifying sense. Objectification is the

As long as anyone can recall there has been a significant underrepresentation of women in video games. Roles of women in video game has been unrecognized, unaccepted and unappreciated. In the most games like Call of Duty, Halo women are use as target of violence or object that men characters wins after winning a battle. In these kind of video games, women are victim or overly sexualized of the women body. So, the question anyone might ask is, is this sexism or are women used as object in these kind of roles? Answer is yes.

How can an industry with widespread appeal to men and women continue to misrepresent and misgender women? Video games have been used as a platform for entertainment between the ages of 18 and 49. The entertainment factor of video games comes from the various forms of art, cultures, worlds, languages, and stories that come from each individual game. The male players of video games lead the market, causing the industry of video games to create games that would appeal to males, such as creating female characters that would attract them. Because of this, female video game players have become the minority in the video game industry. Although video game companies claim to target all types of video game players, women have become the victims of patriarchal sexism by being objectified and stereotyped as a way to increase sales.

Video games are a series of images manipulated onto a screen. The screen can be a television, computer screen, or it can also be a cell phone. The images are represented by bits or pixels. There are video games for almost every platform ever made. In the past, video games were a thing that only lucky, rich people had. Now they are something almost everyone has. You can find video games in stores, book shops, garage sales, and many other places. They are the most common form of entertainment.