Stereotypes Of Women In Video Games Essay

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Besides female game developers, women who self-identify as “gamers” reveal that there is a larger gap between women who play video games and the video game community on a whole. A total of 6 percent of all adult women interviewed said that the term ‘gamer’ describes them well, whereas 15 percent of all adult men interviewed said the same. This gap further intensifies when looking at young adults aged 18 to 29, as one-third of young men agree that the term ‘gamer’ describes them well, more than three times the proportion of young women (9 percent) (Duggan, 2015). Without being able to feel as though the ‘gamer’ identity can apply to them, this further isolates women from embracing this title as well as isolating them from trying out video games and contemplating if they enjoy the games or video game culture. By having only 6 percent total of adult women identify as “gamers” when women make up 41 percent of the total gaming population, it shows that the “gamer” label does not fully or truly represent those who game, which …show more content…

Some of the best examples of stereotypical female depictions in video games are Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider series and Helena from the Dead or Alive. Lara Croft and Helena are examples of unrealistically proportioned female characters that fight and play in skin-tight, revealing outfits (Downs & Smith, 2010). Despite the fact that Lara Croft is said to be an intelligent and skilled adventurer while Helena is a world-class opera singer and a Pi Gua Quan martial artist, they both are reduced to seductive women wearing barely any clothes (IGN, 2013a; IGN, 2013b). Female characters are significantly more likely to be shown partially nude, featured with an unrealistic body image, and depicted wearing sexually revealing clothing and inappropriate attire (Downs & Smith,

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