Sexism in Video Games

Picture yourself in an intense battle in the 7th war of imperium , or leading out King Arthur’s knights of the round table in search of the holy grail. Or maybe you’re out there battling the vicious Dragon “Bubbles” or jousting with the Dark Knight. You have your trusty sword, Excalibur to slay your enemies, your shield of Shukaku to protect you and your Breastplate of bravado(alliterations make things awesome) as your final line of defense. Right, now hold on there. The last bit pretty much only makes sense if you’re a dude. If you’re a girl you’re probably going to be dressed in a bikini with some chain mail slapped on it and lets face it, you’re pretty much going to die if you go out to war in a swim suit.

Obviously this is probably isn’t what they actually wore back in the day but this is indeed the image that movies and in particular video games have put in our heads. Video games have come a long way since the idea was first conceived but a few themes have not changed. Its always the Zombies, the Russians, the Nazis or your favorite evil wizard. But the recurring bit that I’d like to highlight is the portrayal the female characters. They are almost always pointless and/or have big breasts.

Lets look at Mario-one of the most iconic figures in the world of entertainment let alone video games. If you ever took a step back and looked at what the game was actually about you would have noticed that it was the good ol’ damsel in distress gig. A beautiful princess waiting for her man to come rescue her from an evil villain, how original. As revolutionary as that game was, it can be argued that it set the foundation for generations of games to portray women as helpless and needy.

Now you might say there have been games where the main character and hero of the game is female. Even these are designed with the intention of attracting the male gaze. Take X-blades for example, the plot boils down the same old Good vs Evil cliché but if you’ve ever played the game you’d know that it didn’t sell because of its plot or gameplay but because the main character was a tall tanned blonde with flowing hair and a ginormous pair. And to compound the effect, her wardrobe is restricted to a two-piece that struggle to keep things in place if you know what I mean.

Some female leads are however, more generously clothed like Bayonetta(albeit in black skin tight latex but hey its an improvement). But the male gaze strikes again- her attacks and movements have a very significant sexual undertone, and that’s me putting things delicately . It would not be an exaggeration to say that she looks like someone out of a bondage porno movie.(There’s something I never thought I’d say on an English assignment)

However it should be mentioned that there have been cases where women are given meaningful roles and importance in games like Prince of Persia Sand of Time. The plot actually develops Princess Farah’s character into someone interesting and not your average helpless princess(take note Zelda).Sadly, very few games can boast of being fair to their female characters.

The roles of women in video games is as pathetic as the roles of their real life counterparts in popular culture and media. Objectified, dumbed down, belittled, dominated and (most importantly in my opinion) not taken seriously. Video games need to do their bit in dispelling negative female stereotypes and questioning traditional gender roles but are in fact only strengthening them. But until then we’re “stuck” with Lara Croft. I will now leave you with Y U NO guy who i think makes a very good point.