Gender and video games: How is female gender generally represented in various genres of video games? [Full text]
Xeniya Kondrat [1]
| Abstract: Gender representation in video games is a current sensitive topic in entertainment media. Gender studies in video games look at the difference between the portrayal of female and male characters. Most video games tend to over-represent stereotypes and in general use extensive violence and cruelty (Maietti, 2008). Some video games use wrong, disrespectful and sometimes even violent representations of both genders. This research paper focuses on the current representation of female gender in video games and how they are represented, stereotyped and used as characters in games. Results show that there is a difference between portraying women in the past and present. This research paper is based on previous academic research and results which were achieved with online questionnaire among game players and two interviews with professionals in the field of game design. The results show that there is still negative stereotyping of female gender. However, at the same time, the answers of the respondents show that the target audience of video games desires improvements in presentation of female gender as well as male. Keywords: Gender, video games, feminist theory, cultivation theory, uses and gratification theory |
[1] Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands, xeniyakondrat@gmail.com