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Mary McKusick
UWRT 1101-011
Connie Douglas
7 November 2016

Sexism and Gender Constructs in Video Game Culture

When playing a video game, most players are enchanted into a fantasy realm to
escape real life. So why are stereotypical gender constructs still implemented in video
game storylines? In a study conducted by the University of Southern California, of the
top 150 game titles only 10% of playable characters were female (Video). Women in
video games are not receiving representation the same way men are. Female
characters in video games are over sexualized and glorify sexual assault and violence
against women. Breaking gender constructs in video games is important in order end
imprinted sexism in the real world.
The observer walked into Abari on October 15th, 2016. Abari is an arcade bar in
North Davidson. The bar is dimly lit. The largest source of light is from the screens of
the games illuminating on peoples faces. The observer is sitting in the corner of the bar.
To the left of her in a wall with an array of video game characters reimagined as life like
people. On the wall there is Luigi with sleeves of tattoos and a wrench in his hand. In
front of the observer seems to be the most popular game in the bar, Killer Queen. A lot
of people crowd around the game waiting for their turn at going. The oldest person in
the bar is a man by himself playing on the Dig Dug machine. To the observer's right is
the bar, which seems to be fairly slow compared to the rest of the room. People mostly

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go up to get more coins for the games. There are two men drinking beers at the bar.
There are mostly males in the bar but there are still a fair amount of females. The
females here have an alternative look to them. They dont seem to be outliers of their
group, either. They seem to be part of the group. Even though most people here are 21,
there are still sparks of childhood in this bar. People get to be drunk and play
videogames with their friends. Some friendships seem to be formed from this place. The
observer thinks their common interest in video games led them to being here and
creating a large friend group. The observer overheard a conversation that some people
here are going to a Killer Queen competition in Austin.
An interview was conducted with Emily Gamble on October the 20th of 2016.
She discussed in the interview that women in videogames are often over sexualized.
Even if a female character is strong, she will still wear revealing armor. When a male
has a female counterpart, they will typically just make her pink They usually dont care
about creating a backstory. There is a prevalent issue in modern video game culture.
Seeing women in video games is important, and having them be able to relate to female
gamers is important. Only 22% of employees in the video game industry are women
(Lynch). That is a big factor in improper women representation in the games developers
make. Having women as employees in a corporation is essential in making sure that a
brand does not promote even unintentional gender misrepresentation.
Gamble is a mother of two girls and she discussed in the interview that they love
wearing pink but they also love playing soccer in the backyard. [Emily] would never do
anything to diminish [her] daughters creativity or interests. Having parents that let their
kids have the interests they enjoy no matter their gender is important. If a young girl

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were to play video games, its important for the games that she plays not have any
prevalent gender stereotypes. Women in video games are specifically coded to be
naked or have exposed sexual body parts (Zorrilla). While young girls are growing up,
they are exposed to these visuals. While being exposed to unattainable body
proportions, they assume those are the standards of beauty that they need to achieve.
In 2012, an interview was conducted with Aris Bakhtanians, a famous competitive
gamer. Jared Rea, a Twitch.tv community manager, asked Bakhtanians if it was
possible to produce fighting games without perpetrating violence and sexual
harrassment toward women. Bakhtanians responded, You cant. You cant because
theyre one and the same thing. Sexual harassment is part of a culture, and if you
remove that from the fighting-game community, its not the fighting-game community
(Graham). Explicitly confessing that major video game creators promote violence and
sexual harassment against women is dangerous towards the consumers who chose to
play these video games. When a video game player is exposed to this type of message,
they may end up feeling as though this behavior is natural.
Brad Bushman, a professor of communication at Ohio State University, claims
that video games differ from exposure to violence and sexism in other forms of media
because a player is taking an active role. We know people learn better when they are
actively involved," he says. "When you watch a film you may zone out, but when you
play a video game you cannot zone out. You are the one who controls the character's
actions" (Sifferlin). Influencing video game players with this mentality of misogynistic
values reinforces centuries of oppression women have experienced.

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Breaking gender constructs in video games is important in order end imprinted
sexism in our world. Creating female characters who are just as equal as their male
counterparts is critical to ending what has been implemented into video games since
their creation. Video game developers need to implement equal representation in the
creation of their games. As female players increase, so should the representation of
women in the games that they play. Ending the sexualization of women will not only
help self image in women, but also encourage women to be inspired by strong female
characters.

Works Cited

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Graham, Mark, William H. Dutton, and Manuel Castells. Society and the Internet: How
Networks of Information and Communication Are Changing Our Lives. Oxford: Oxford
UP, 2014. Print.
Lynch, Teresa, Jessica E. Thompskins, Irene I. Van Driel, and Niki Fritz. "Shibboleth
Authentication Request." Shibboleth Authentication Request. Journal of Communication,
n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2016.
Sifferlin, Alexander. "Here's What Sexist Video Games Do to Boys' Brains." Time. N.p., 13 Apr.
2016. Web.
"Video Game Minority Report: Lots Of Players, Few Characters." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily,
n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2016.
Zorrilla, Michele. "Video Games and Gender: Game Representation." Video Games and Gender:
Game Representation. Radford, n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2016.