Women in Videogames - sark
1) How have women traditionally been represented in videogames?
Either objectified or damsels in distress.
2) What percentage of the video game audience is female?
42%
3) What recent games have signalled a change in the industry and what qualities do the female protagonists offer?
Tomb Raider; Horizon: Zero Dawn; Uncharted: The Lost Legacy; The Last of Us; Dragon Age: Inquisition and The Walking Dead.
4) Do you agree with the idea that audiences reject media products if they feel they are misrepresented within them?
I imagine that a portion of the audience have done this previously and will keep on doing as such. I believe that females were not focused by amusement designers so I imagine that is another motivation behind why they were dismissing media items. I consider some it comes down to the 'male gaze'- Mulvey, the front of the computer games were there to typify ladies and they were focused to a progressively male crowd.
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.
She received more extreme hate online than usual, but she had also received a lot of attention from these controversial videos
2) How does Sarkeesian summarise feminism?
'Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings'.
3) Why do stories matter?
She says that narratives have always been a core way for human being to learn and understand about the world we live in.
4) How does Sarkeesian view Samus Aran and Lara Croft (the two protagonists from our upcoming CSPs)?
She thinks that the game is an example of 'women as reward' for completing the game. She also thinks that Lara Croft is still an example of a female protagonist that is still objectifies and sexualised for a straight-male audience.
5) How has the videogame landscape changed with regards to the representation of women?
The 'Damsel in Distress' narrative is coming back as game developers are remaking or rebooting 1980s games. So the trend of borrowing old sexist themes, plot devices and humour is increasing. Even though it does create nostalgia of these retro games coming back it is done at the expense of female representations.
6) Why are Mirror’s Edge and Portal held up as examples of more progressive representations of women?
Both characters are women who are minorities and they are not overly sexualised or objectified.
7) What are the qualities that Sarkeesian lists for developers to work on creating more positive female characters?
They have to take some risks and go outside the established conventions. Protagonists shouldn't be tied to their sex appeal, transformative story arcs where characters are struggling with or overcoming personal flaws, and some emotional depth and expression.
8) What is the impact of the videogames industry being male-dominated?
It plays a big role in the types of games, narratives and characters produced.
9) What did Sarkeesian hope to achieve through her ‘Tropes vs Women in Video Games’ series?
Promote media literacy , clearly present issues surrounding women's stereotypes.
10) What media debates did Sarkeesian hope to spark with her video series?
She wants to see some change in the industry about the sexualisation of women.
Either objectified or damsels in distress.
2) What percentage of the video game audience is female?
42%
3) What recent games have signalled a change in the industry and what qualities do the female protagonists offer?
Tomb Raider; Horizon: Zero Dawn; Uncharted: The Lost Legacy; The Last of Us; Dragon Age: Inquisition and The Walking Dead.
4) Do you agree with the idea that audiences reject media products if they feel they are misrepresented within them?
I imagine that a portion of the audience have done this previously and will keep on doing as such. I believe that females were not focused by amusement designers so I imagine that is another motivation behind why they were dismissing media items. I consider some it comes down to the 'male gaze'- Mulvey, the front of the computer games were there to typify ladies and they were focused to a progressively male crowd.
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.
She received more extreme hate online than usual, but she had also received a lot of attention from these controversial videos
2) How does Sarkeesian summarise feminism?
'Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings'.
3) Why do stories matter?
She says that narratives have always been a core way for human being to learn and understand about the world we live in.
4) How does Sarkeesian view Samus Aran and Lara Croft (the two protagonists from our upcoming CSPs)?
She thinks that the game is an example of 'women as reward' for completing the game. She also thinks that Lara Croft is still an example of a female protagonist that is still objectifies and sexualised for a straight-male audience.
5) How has the videogame landscape changed with regards to the representation of women?
The 'Damsel in Distress' narrative is coming back as game developers are remaking or rebooting 1980s games. So the trend of borrowing old sexist themes, plot devices and humour is increasing. Even though it does create nostalgia of these retro games coming back it is done at the expense of female representations.
6) Why are Mirror’s Edge and Portal held up as examples of more progressive representations of women?
Both characters are women who are minorities and they are not overly sexualised or objectified.
7) What are the qualities that Sarkeesian lists for developers to work on creating more positive female characters?
They have to take some risks and go outside the established conventions. Protagonists shouldn't be tied to their sex appeal, transformative story arcs where characters are struggling with or overcoming personal flaws, and some emotional depth and expression.
8) What is the impact of the videogames industry being male-dominated?
It plays a big role in the types of games, narratives and characters produced.
9) What did Sarkeesian hope to achieve through her ‘Tropes vs Women in Video Games’ series?
Promote media literacy , clearly present issues surrounding women's stereotypes.
10) What media debates did Sarkeesian hope to spark with her video series?
She wants to see some change in the industry about the sexualisation of women.
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