Videogames: Introduction - Women in videogames

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

1) How have women traditionally been represented in videogames?

Damsels in distress.

2) What percentage of the video game audience is female?

42%

3) What recent games have signalled a change in the industry and what qualities do the female protagonists offer?

Tomb Raider, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, The Walking Dead series. These women are strong, independent, wilful and compassionate.

4) Do you agree with the idea that audiences reject media products if they feel they are misrepresented within them?

I agree with this as the female audience of a game decreases significantly when females are misrepresented in them compared to the female audience of a game when females are properly represented.

5) What does the writer suggest has changed regarding recent versions of Lara Croft and who does she credit for this development?

Rhianna Pratchett: create a protagonist who players could identify with.  “the essence of the new Lara Croft became the struggle she felt within herself”

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

Title of video: Women are too hard to animate.

100 word summary: The video discusses the idea that some game producers say that creating female characters in video games is just too much work. This started the hashtag #womenaretoohardtooanimate and a discussion into how long it took for mainstream video games such as Fifa to introduce  women to the game. It also talks about how when women are featured in video games, they're often hyper-sexualised in their appearance and actions; they also rarely play an important role in the game and are side lined to being the sidekick. They are portrayed as a helper who has restricted movement and importance in the game.

Part 3: Anita Sarkeesian Gamespot interview

1) What reaction did Anita Sarkeesian receive when she published her videos on women in videogames? You can find more information on this on Sarkeesian’s Kickstarter fundraising page.

 intimidation and harassment effort has included a torrent of misogyny and hate speech on my YouTube video, repeated vandalizing of the Wikipedia page about me, organized efforts to flag my YouTube videos as "terrorism", as well as many threatening messages sent through Twitter, Facebook, Kickstarter, email and my own website.  These messages and comments have included everything from the typical sandwich and kitchen "jokes" to threats of violence, death, sexual assault and rape. 

2) How does Sarkeesian summarise feminism?

Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings."

3) Why do stories matter?

Narratives have always been a core way human beings learn about, make sense of, and understand the world we live in. movies, TV, music, books, and video games are helping to shape our collective cultural universe.

4) How does Sarkeesian view Samus Aran and Lara Croft (the two protagonists from our upcoming CSPs)?

Samus Aran's body is a reward for players. Lara Croft is still objectified and sexualized for a presumed straight-male audience. 

5) How has the videogame landscape changed with regards to the representation of women?

Female characters have evolved since the days of the original Metroid, Super Mario Bros., and Zelda games. a slightly larger number of female characters and more protagonists, but things have gotten worse in many ways. 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. 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) Why are Mirror’s Edge and Portal held up as examples of more progressive representations of women?

both characters are women of color, and both serve as the protagonists of their own games without being overly sexualized or objectified. 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) What are the qualities that Sarkeesian lists for developers to work on creating more positive female characters?

Developers are going to have to take some risks and step outside of the expected or established conventions. some very basic things I look for in female characters are: protagonists with agency not tied directly to their sex appeal; transformative story arcs where characters are struggling with or overcoming personal flaws; and some emotional depth and expression.

8) What is the impact of the videogames industry being male-dominated?

Being 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,  it's important to keep in mind that the problem is not solved by simply having a few token women on staff, or even by just putting one woman in charge of a project. Game companies need to change their male-dominated spaces and internal cultures to shift away from the old boys' club mentality.

9) What did Sarkeesian hope to achieve through her ‘Tropes vs Women in Video Games’ series?

 I want to promote media literacy and give people some tools to look critically at the games we play. To clearly present the issues surrounding women's representations as a systemic problem by identifying reoccurring patterns. Sexist representations are part of a larger institutional problem across all entertainment industries. We can play and enjoy many games while simultaneously being critical of some of their harmful aspects. We can recognize and point out the more problematic representations without necessarily throwing the whole game out.