This case study will be focusing on the key topic of sexism within the gaming world. It will focus on two very important aspects; sexism against women within the gaming industry and community, and sexism against women in games. Within the gaming industry, whether it is within the PC gaming industry network or the general gaming industry network, sexism exists. This is supported by the findings discussed within this case study. One such example is: “60% of women in the game industry have experienced sexism... Almost 77% of women and about 55% of men have female friends in the game industry that have experienced sexism.” (Allaway, 2014) Sexism also occurs within the actual gaming population where a large, if not whole part of the female gamer population encounters sexist and indecent remarks at least once from the male gaming population. Many video games portray women as objectified beings, purely used for sex appeal and to attract the larger male gamer population. We also see men idealised in a similar way as well – the males in video games are portrayed as muscly, brawny men. However, we rarely see a scantily clad man in a game, but there is a vast abundance of games which feature women wearing ‘sexy armour’, or a noticeable lack of substantial amount of clothing. This isn’t female-friendly as these games are made for men, causing women to feel alienated and uncomfortable. "In order to create an inclusive experience for women, it is imperative that game companies design and market games with female target audiences in mind." (Gonzalez, A., Gomez, E., Orozco, R., & Jacobs, S., 2014). Sexism within the gaming workplace and within the gaming population. Women within the gaming industry go through a lot of discrimination and... ... middle of paper ... ...IMQUISITION. (2012, October 2). Monster Boobs And Plastic Children [Video File]. Retrieved from: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/6361-Monster-Boobs-And-Plastic-Children ♀ Sterling, J, JIMQUISITION. (2013, April 30). Boob Wars and Dragon Crowns [Video File]. Retrieved from: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/7196-Boob-Wars-and-Dragon-Crowns ♀ Sterling, J, JIMQUISITION. (2013, May 14). Objectification And... Men? [Video File]. Retrieved from: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/7290-Objectification-And-Men Appendices: Graph 1: All programmers and Engineers. Graph 2: All Artists and Animators. Graph 3: All Game Designers. Graph 4: All Producers. Graph 5: All Audio Developers. Graph 6: All QA Testers. Graph 7: All Business and Legal Peoples.
Blatantly sexist laws and practices are slowly being eliminated while social perceptions of "women's roles" continue to stagnate and even degrade back to traditional ideals. It is these social perceptions that challenge the evolution of women as equal on all levels. In this study, I will argue that subtle and blatant sexism continues to exist throughout educational, economic, professional and legal arenas.
This is because it is common for males to freely express their own fantasy that they lack in reality. In addition, they play video games to be their ideal self. If they were to play a female character, it would lean more towards the fact that it depicts what they want their dream girlfriend to look like. In Video Games and Gender by Michelle Zorrilla, video games have long been known as a male-dominated media. There would mostly be male characters than there are female characters because female characters are usually depicted as the subordinate character.
Sexism is much like racism in a sense that it is the unequal treatment of individuals based on an ascribed characteristic; in this case, their gender. Sexism is directly related to patriarchy, the system in which males dominate females in most spheres of life (Thompson 300-301.)
Since the humble origins of the video gaming industry, individuals used it as a challenge of their abilities. In modern day, this industry is just a popular as any other media which exists in the mainstream world. Video games reflect society’s changing views of the normalities of which individuals and/or groups must abide to. This is exemplified in the evolving representation of the queer individuals within the virtual world. As the video game industry came into focus, so did the LGBT rights movement. This illustrates that society’s views on the LGBT community were reflected in the video games made, however, it was rare that such characters existed as protagonists until the twenty first century. Due to the extreme lack of asexual and non-binary
Sport plays a crucial role in today’s society. It is an activity that not only maintains an individual’s physical shape, but it is also capable of teaching people imperative aspects of life such as sportsmanship and teamwork. Despite these positive influences that sport can have on athletes, the issue of sexism in sport remains to be an extremely problematic factor in our society. I agree with Joe Humphrey’s view on sports to a large extent. In order to substantiate my perspective I will explore the topic of sexism in sport and discuss how gender inequality in sports creates barriers between groups, encourages unethical and discriminatory behaviour and makes us lose perspective of the true purpose of sport.
Dill, Karen E., and Kathryn P. Thill. "Video Game Characters and the Socialization of Gender Roles: Young People’s Perceptions Mirror Sexist Media Depictions." Sex Roles 57.11-12 (2007): 851-64. Print.
The most prominent on these subject is the ever prominent “Grand Theft Auto V.”(infobase.com) I believe the gaming community has proven itself to not be sexist, or misogynistic, over the last 10 years the average female player base in gaming community has increased drastically, women are taking their own larger role in the gaming industry. As well as from my point of view at least, let alone many friends and fellow gamers, we widely accept female players. If not known to the public, it is well known to gamers, that we tend to be more solitary than others, this leads us to be highly acceptable to new players, including the ever growing female player
The documentary battles the belief that gamers and game developers are men. The audience is the community or the society that is stereotypical and sexists. It wishes to create awareness that would eventually advocate for fair treatment of women in the gaming world. The
Sexism is a major factor in the workforce.Today male and female have a hard time breaking into the opposite gender dominated fields. This has happened because of the media, it has showed us that male have certain “right” jobs, as well as female. Female still dominate traditional female professions like cosmetology jobs are 92.9 percent women working them(Wolfe). If a man were to get into cosmetology they would most likely be judged for having that job, because we stereotype that they can't have a feminine job. Women have a harder time getting into high level positions. “Women make up only 21 of the S&P’s 500 CEOs,” (Berman). This has happened because the media has set in place stereotypes that it is wrong for women to have high level positions. It is getting better, in 2013 women chief financial officers increased 35 percent at large U.S. companies from 2012 (Frier and Hymowitz). The job market for men and women is still unfair but it is starting to get equal.
...or and the way they dress up. From this it concludes that the media and online gaming can create and reinforce gendered behaviors. Those video games affect the child identity and their perception of others.
Gamergate, a roar from the Internet. This summer, the supposed movement started, stating that recently there was a certain lack of ethics in the revision, rating, and writing of video games. They said that some journalists were too close to their topics and easily influenced by these relationships. But under that thin layer of people who criticize video game journalism, there lies another beast: sexism.
Sexuality and identification were never a focus point in the development of video games, since as history proves, the majority of gamers in the past were white males. Minorities in the gaming world were not considered when creating characters and establishing plots, until now. In the past, there were quite a few companies that presented characters whom exhibited traits of various sexual origins, but now the modern gaming community thrives for the production of new characters. This evolution of gaming presents questions on the influential factors of media, specifically video gaming, to the minds of the youth. There is great excitement and negative reactions with the inclusion of customizable and prominent LGBTQ characters created in the modern
Sexism in online video games: The role of conformity to masculine norms and social dominance orientation The global video game market reached $67 billion dollars in 2011 (Entertainment Software Association, 2012). The demographic of the average video gamer are slowly changing with the rapid growth of video games. The growing number of females playing online games is drastically changing the social dynamic of many online environments. A study showed that 47% of gamers are female (Entertainment Software Association, 2012), however sexual harassment towards women has become a norm in the industry and is ever increasing.
There is the main stereotype that video games are for boys and girls have their own toys. Findings for gender representation in video games generally support past findings in that males are significantly more represented than females (Williams et al., 2009; Robinson et al., 2008; Miller & Summers, 2007; Burgess et al., 2007; Ivory, 2006). Much of the media and game designs promote the stereotype that video games is for boys. Burgess et al.
Some scholars explain this shift in equality with the increase in female game developers (Lynch 2016). Though only at twenty-two percent, female developers continue to shine a light on the lack of female presence. This expanding audience and the prevalence of mobile gaming has fueled the diversity of