Playing With Patriarchy
May 2007 Issue
![Cerise Issue 1 [May 2007]](http://cerise.theirisnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/cerisemay07_tn.jpg)
Features
- From the Editors
- Craft Check: Make Your Own Miniatures
Articles
- 5 Steps to Attract Girl Gamers
Author: Latoya Peterson
- Playing With Patriarchy
Author: Natalie Hill
- Lagging Behind
Author: Lindsey Galloway
- Girls Don't Play Video Games
Author: Nick Cummings
Latoya gives game designers five simple suggestions for tapping into a greater share of the potential female video gamer market.
Is video gaming a "boys' club"? Natalie looks at what casual misogyny can do to girl and women gamers.
What games do girls want to play? Lindsey takes a look at the "Girls' Games Movement" and the future of gender in games.
Do girls play video games? Nick revisits this myth and talks about why it may be more damaging than it first appears.
Reviews
The Issue
Blow jobs in Grand Theft Auto, breast physics in Dead or Alive and the nude code in Tomb Raider: the very essence of video games seems to rely on the intimidation and objectification of women. Yet women are playing games more than we assume, even though they are not the target audience. Girls and women have a right to have access to and become comfortable with technology. A woman shouldn’t feel alienated for wanting to sit on the couch and kick some butt on the TV. More importantly, video games, while entertaining, are filled with misogyny. And any misogyny that runs rampant in our culture has the ability to do some damage.
The Boys’ Club
One of the benefits of video games is that they foster a community that is an alternative arena for masculinity. This is a positive experience for the men and boys involved, who are able to connect to masculinity in a safe space. The conventional ideal of masculinity is narrow in our society. Not many men can fulfill the expectations of strength, wealth, success, and attractiveness. This inevitably creates a hierarchy in social situations. The men who are the furthest from the ideal of masculinity are bullied, teased, or not taken seriously. You can see this in high school when the “jocks” harass the “nerds.” Michael Kauffman notes in “The Construction of Masculinity and the Triad of Men’s Violence” that “patriarchal structures of authority, domination, and control are diffused throughout social, economic, political, and ideological activities.” In an attempt to capture the essence of masculinity, the “nerds” turn to video games, which can be challenging and competitive. However, the negative consequences of expressing masculinity are noted by Jacqueline Lalley in Bitch: “Geeks began spending their days and nights creating universes in which testosterone rules, in the process reinforcing the gender roles that made their young lives hell.” Typically, women and girls are not encouraged to be part of this nerd culture because they don’t need to prove themselves in the same ways that boys and men do.
There are other hyper-masculine elements in gaming culture that discourage women from playing or enjoying games. One is language: when a group of men get together to play a game and the competition gets heated, insults such as “lady,” “pussy” and “faggot” get tossed around. This occurs in online forums as well, and the abusive language is sometimes heightened when a woman gamer plays. In an online article called “I’m the Pink One: Women on X-box Live,” Bonnie Ruberg explains that it isn’t until she talks into her headset that the attitudes of the male gamers she is playing with change: “Once they realize they’re in the presence of a woman, some men try to tone down their competitive language. Others use the communicator headsets to make girls feel unwelcome. There’s only so long you can have a good time while being called a ‘slut.’” When you encounter this type of behavior as a woman, it’s easy to feel left out and invalidated.
The ogling of female video game characters rendered in swimsuits and video game-themed porn that features female characters can also prevent women from wanting to game – or it can make veteran woman gamers feel left out. Video game magazines and television shows (such as those seen on channels G4TV and Spike) speak exclusively to a male audience. There’s hardly any attempt made to acknowledge women gamers and their interests, or to incorporate gender-neutral language.
Advertisements don’t acknowledge women either. Generally, if a woman is present, her sexuality is being used to sell the product. Granted, there does seem to be a change in this: Nintendo is attempting to appeal to a wide demographic with their new console, the Wii, and their handheld unit, the Nintendo DS. This is apparent in their ad campaigns, which often feature women who are playing and enjoying games. Another recent trend is that of Sony and Nintendo making pink consoles and handhelds in an attempt to capture the fancy of girls and women. These two companies are beginning to realize that women are an untapped source for revenue. It will be interesting to see whether or not this change in marketing will push game companies and video game industry journalists to acknowledge the existence of women gamers.
The Curves of the Pixilated Woman
It’s hard to find a wide variety of body types of either gender in video games. Male avatars are often depicted as tall, handsome, and excessively muscular. The short, fat, bald, old, or physically challenged character is often relegated to the background as a non-playable character. But this isn’t to say that male characters in games experience the same amount of objectification that female characters do. Male gamers can identify with and feel empowered by a muscle-bound avatar because this type of avatar encompasses societal values of masculinity and acts as wish fulfillment. Female gamers may feel embarrassed when they control an avatar that is scantily dressed and top-heavy. Who imagines saving the world in a g-string? Women gamers are all too aware that female avatars exist for the titillation of (heterosexual) male gamers.
In her book, Gender Inclusive Game Design, Sheri Graner Ray maps the progression of the female avatar: at first, when graphics were limited, designers distinguished the female avatar by using the color pink on costumes or by pinning a pink bow on the crown of a character’s head. As graphics progressed, so did the demarcation: female characters appeared in lingerie and high heels. Grainer has posited that there are two ways that women are represented in video games: either as a sex object, where sexual characteristics are over exaggerated, or as an object to be retrieved or rescued. In both cases, these are their defined characteristics; often the female character is not developed enough to have a personality or is not made to function in any other way. Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider series is famous, even after ten years, as one of the most balanced female characters to be created: she’s smart, strong, and capable; anyone would strive to be like her. Unfortunately, she’s also the ultimate eye candy: she has an hourglass shape, hot pants, and a sleeveless top that barely contains, according to Wikipedia, 36D breasts (though they certainly look larger). Her ensemble is complete with garter-style gun holsters. Ten years later, Lara Croft has been somewhat reinvented—most notably, her bust size was pared down to a 34C, and her tank top replaced with a t-shirt, though her hot pants and sexy gun holsters remain.
It’s important to look at how women are represented in video games, because it speaks to the climate that women and girls endure when participating in the video game community. Over-sexualized avatars convey the message that games are only meant for male consumers, and this may also be responsible for deterring women from playing video games in the first place. In her chapter, “Avatar Selection,” Graner Ray speaks of the “pyramid of power” that is representative of our patriarchal society: men are placed at the top and women are at the bottom. She writes, “within the pyramid, each member of a particular level is comfortable within that level…they understand the limits, rules, taboos, and mores society puts upon their particular strata, and they are used to functioning comfortably within those conditions.” This is why some women gamers, like myself, have a hard time feeling comfortable or empowered while playing as male characters. We become unconsciously uneasy because we don’t feel as if we have access to that kind of identity. Many women gamers feel more secure playing as female characters–even if they are objectified–because they are more accustomed to this position. They might even feel empowered by a sexy avatar because they are still able to fight or save the world, something that real life doesn’t allow.
It’s important to note that there are some games, such as BioWare’s Knights of the Old Republic, that allow you to design your own character from the ground up, including skin and hair color as well as gender. Many gamers, both male and female, prefer this complete control over the avatar that represents them in the game. In a presentation called “The Culture of Gaming: A Glimpse into the World of Simulated Reality,” Janell Baxter spoke extensively about people who spend hours to design the perfect avatar, from the dimensions of chins and eyebrow ridges, right down to the length of legs. This could potentially be one way in which women gamers can combat negative representations of feminine avatars; they can create their own avatar that possesses the characteristics that they consider important.
Jeanne B. Funk writes in that the flat gender portrayals in video games may have an effect on a child’s developing gender identity. When children are growing, they establish gender schemas that dictate what behaviors are appropriate for men and women, which in turn influence gender-relevant information processes. Gender stereotypes in video games may reinforce stereotypical attitudes in a gamer, and he or she may bring this into his or her day-to-day life. Children under ten or twelve years old that play games with negative gender stereotypes about men and women may view themselves and others in an unfavorable light. Adults can also be affected by games in this manner.
Moving Towards Inclusive Play
It’s a wonder that any woman or girl ever picks up a controller, considering the amount of stereotypes, harassment and invisibility of real women that makes up the general terrain of video game culture. Yet, while it may be difficult to imagine video games sans misogyny, it is apparent that the situation will not always be so grim. Inclusive ad campaigns and games that feature avatar customization are steps that help to incorporate the female gamer. With time, the involvement of women as fans and creators, and a dose of gender-neutral programming, misogyny’s close ties with video games will undoubtedly fade away.
