From its sexist tropes to its stereotypic images, the gaming industry has a clear sexism problem.
Despite the pretty even split between male and female gamers, at 59 to 41 percent respectively, women still struggle to navigate the toxic environment that is the gaming industry (1).
They are not accepted and consistently advised to take their business elsewhere. They are told to “get back to the kitchen,” as BBC highlights, or to watch a romantic soap opera as all girls do (2).
BBC News 2018
As one female gamer says, “It’s frustrating when girls are often misconceived as ‘fake gamers’. We like to play games because it’s fun, it’s exciting”.
But in the world of video games, “fun” and “excitement” seem to be associated with the word “masculine”. The space thus transforms into a gendered one–where only man can seek adventure. And this idea is not challenged but rather reinforced by game designers today, who are increasingly casting women as supporting characters.
In their eyes, the woman is best suited for the role of sexual dominatrix or damsel in distress. Although, she never seems to fit the part of the free, liberated woman who writes her own story (3).
As Anissa Hanley explains, “I’ve always played as male characters because most of the games I’ve played had male characters as the lead role. And honestly, I’ve always liked it that way… Male characters are always portrayed as a powerful figure. They have these wonderful physiques, awesome weapons, and turn out to be all-around badasses.” (3).
Evidently, there is a desire on the woman’s part to identify with the male character. But why is this the case?
Well, this act is not as gendered as one might think. The woman wants to feel like she is in control, as though she is the main character, and to achieve that, she abides by the rules of the game and selects the male avatar.
It is not that she is “inherently sexist” or “misogynistic”. Hanley, like most female players, simply desires autonomy and agency, and if that means she must play as the male character, so be it.
As Sara Braggs might come to argue, Hanley “disrupts the familiar patterns of gender relations and creates alternative storylines that open up a different kind of agency” (2). In other words, she takes matters into her own hands, forming new meanings.
Hanley does not want to sit passively in the background and consume aesthetically pleasing media, that is devoid of all meaning (2). She wants to occupy an active role, and to engage with goal-centered missions, evident in genres such as crime fiction.
But in the world of video games, this is a fantasy she can only achieve through male embodiment.
After all, it is a man’s world.
Do you want to beat these gender stereotypes? Find your activist Toolkit here!
Statista 2021, Distribution of Computer and Video Gamers in the United States
What about the Boys? Sexualization, Media and Masculinities by Sara Bragg
Why (as a Woman) Do I Favor the Male Characters in Video Games? By Anissa Hanley