Women and videogames: blog tasks

Part 1: Medium article - Is Female Representation in Video Games Finally Changing?

1) Traditionally in videogames, women were represented as "objectified or “damsels in distress” in many major video games, like the iconic Lara Craft to Princess Peach in the Mario franchise."

2) 42% of the video game demographic is female, indicating that times have changed.

3) Recent games have signalled a change in the industry and qualities the female protagonists offer:

• Tomb Raider, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, The Last of Us, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and The Walking Dead series have female protagonists, co-protagonists or otherwise important characters. These games were all released within the past 5 years. These games each have characters who are role models for real women, because they are strong, independent, intelligent, willful and compassionate. 

4) Yes, I do agree with this to an extent as you don't ant to be playing or representing something that isn't who you are and is out-dated, because you disagree with its characteristics/look. However, videogames are there to be played not to judge what the character styles are, so they should be enjoyed for pleasure.

5)  Brianna Wu’s 2015 article in Polygon details how Crystal Dynamics saved Lara Croft by making some big changes in the reboot Tomb Raider (2013) and its sequel Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015). First they hired Rhianna Pratchett as the lead writer, a woman who “had a long history of working on games with complex female protagonists, such as Heavenly Sword and Mirror’s Edge” and Pratchett decided to create a protagonist who players could identify with. Wu writes that “the essence of the new Lara Croft became the struggle she felt within herself”. When Lara Croft debuted in 1996, times were different, especially the ways in which women were seen. The rebooted game had to represent women in a more modern way.

Part 2: Tropes vs Women in Video Games – further analysis

1) Title: Are Women Too Hard To Animate

100 words: Assassins Creed Unity- all were male, and women were too hard to animate as they would need to double the efforts. She was looking at tweets that dismissed women assassins. Same reason given to FarCry 4. The recent game of FIFA has a female squad. It took 10 years for COD to introduce a female character. Women as victims...perpetuate violence. They are facing violence as they are on the opposing side. Females in sexually attractive attire- they are fought against a and killed.

• They shouldn't be presented as a sexual treat, rather just female assassins.

Part 3: Anita Sarkeesian Gamespot interview

1) Anita faced a very negative action when she published her videos. She said, "While I always expect some level of harassment when discussing gender issues online, this time it's a more extreme and sustained torrent of sexism, hate, and threats. All the horrible backlash has just made me even more determined and committed to creating this video series. I'm also happy that all the backers and supporters of the project have been and continue to be a source of encouragement and inspiration."

2) Sarkeesian's summary of feminism:

• "it's really about working towards the equal treatment of women socially, culturally, institutionally, and economically."

3) Stories matter because 'culture matters'. "Stories have embedded myths and messages and can be carriers of positive, heroic, or subversive values, but they can also propagate or reinforce negative stereotypes and oppressive social norms. Historically, the telling of stories has been an important and revered part of any society, and that is no different today. Popular media culture--for better or worse--is currently where the learning is happening, and that means that movies, TV, music, books, and video games are helping to shape our collective cultural universe."

4) Sarkeesian: Samus Aran

• Samus Aran's body as a reward for players as a prime example of the "Women as Reward" trope.

Sarkeesian: Lara Croft

• Objectified and sexualized for a presumed straight-male audience.
• Objects of sexual desire- one step foward and two steps back scenario

Also....

There is also a marked increase of what I would called "ironic sexism," whereby game developers will rely on extreme or hypersexualized female characters in very over-the-top or obviously sexist ways. This type of ironic self-aware objectification is in some ways more damaging than the non-ironic forms of yesteryear. 

5) The videogame landscape has changed in recent years, as they have been evolved since Metriod and Super Mario Bros because there has been a slight increase in number of female characters. However, in many ways things have gotten worse. "In the 1990s we saw the rise of the "Fighting F@#k Toy," the ubersexualized yet violent female character--and today this trope has basically become the default representation for women in much of the gaming industry. On top of that, we've also seen a resurgence of the "Damsel in Distress" in recent years as developers rush to remake or reboot many of the classic 1980s games. This trend has also brought with it an upsurge in original retro-style games that pay homage to the classic gaming era but often borrow or reproduce the old sexist themes, plot devices, and humor. This kind of appeal to nostalgia can obviously be a lot of fun, but sadly it's often unnecessarily done at the expense of female representations."

6) Mirros's Edge and Portal:

• "On one level they are there because I love those games. On another level, both characters are women of color, and both serve as the protagonists of their own games without being overly sexualized or objectified, which may be partially due to the first-person perspective, but still it's something to celebrate. It's also worth noting that in addition to the female protagonists, both games worked to creatively expand the first-person/shooter genre--a genre overflowing with lackluster clones. Both employed interesting underdog plots, innovative gameplay mechanics, and emphasized less violent creative problem solving instead of brute force." 

7) Qualities that Sarkeesian lists for developers to work on creating more positive female characters:

• Protagonists with agency, that aren't directly tied to their sex appeal.

8) "The fact that the gaming industry has historically been and is still so male dominated does play a big role in the types of games, narratives, and characters produced. Including more women on development teams is critical for change, though it's important to keep in mind that the problem is not necessarily solved by simply having a few token women on staff, or even by just putting one woman in charge of a particular project. So in addition to hiring and including more women in creative and decision-making roles, game companies need to intentionally change their male-dominated spaces and internal cultures to actually shift away from the old boys' club mentality and atmosphere--a few companies are already taking some encouraging steps in this direction. Change is coming to gaming, and like all structural or institutional transformation, the process can be slow or painful for some in the old guard, but in the end it's imperative that the shift happens--and I think it will ultimately move the industry to a better, more-equitable place producing better games with better and more-dynamic female characters".

9) Sareeksian hoped to achieve:

• "I want complex female characters because it will make games and gaming better overall, more diverse, and more innovative. Making gaming better is not just good for women and girls; it's good for people of all genders."

10) Media debates Sarkeesian hoped to spark:

• Females representation in videogames!
• Are women sexualised in videogames?