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LaChaun Freeland

May 9, 2017

Gender Stereotypes and Sexism in Video Games

Video games, a pastime that didn’t reach mainstream popularity until the late 1970s

and early 80s, has become a mainstream form of entertainment over the past few decades.

The popular hobby has evolved from arcade-style gaming to gaming in the comfort of one’s

home, or anywhere they can access a Wi-Fi connection. The graphics have upgraded, the

platforms have changed, but the one thing that remains the same is the lack of equality within

the video game genre. Video genre has made a history of catering to the male population,

which was understandable because, for a while, video games were believed to have been a

predominantly male pastime.

Things have since changed, with female gamers making up more than half of the

gaming community (Shaw). Despite this rise in female gamers, there is still a considerable

amount of gender stereotyping and sexism found within the genre of video games. The

stereotyping and sexism usually goes unnoticed thanks to good stories and enjoyment, but if

a gamer were to look past the catchy music, intriguing cutscenes and fun, and take a look into

video games using a feminist lens, then they would have no problem discovering the issues

that lie within the genre.

The video game genre fails to cater to both the female community and its battle

against sexism, by using one of its most famous video game tropes, the damsel in distress.
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Mario Brothers provides as an example. As one of the most popular gaming franchises, this

game has set up the format for several games that followed it. Mario Brothers franchise is full

of archetypes that do not conform to a feminist ideal of thinking. The archetype of the hero,

Mario, can best be described as: “the ego consciousness which leads one forward and takes

risks.” (Sherman) There is nothing wrong with this archetype, as every story needs a hero, but

in comparison to Princess Peach, Mario defines a masculine stereotype. Princess Peach is the

main goal, first kidnapped by the game’s villain, because of his overwhelming obsession with

or affection for her. The game starts the princess off as an object for taking and not as a

person. The villain of the game takes her as his possession, not as a person and it is the player’s

main objective to help Mario acquire her from the tower she is now locked in.

Princess Peach has been credited as one of the most popular damsels in distress

throughout video game history (Sherman). In the video game, the princess puts up no real

fight to keep herself from being kidnapped. In the scenes leading up to her kidnapping,

Princess Peach can be seen standing there looking helpless as the villain scoops her up and

carries her from her castle. There is no reluctance and no struggle, she just allows herself to

be taken. If you take the game at face value, you’ll conclude that the princess had to be taken

to further the game. Looking at the game using a feminist lens, one could understand that the

princess exudes an overwhelming amount of weakness, and implies that women as a whole

are weak and require men to save them.

Since the initial creation of Mario Brothers, a multitude of other games and one could

argue that things have changed and that women are portrayed differently in video games.

One argument is that some women within video games are the heroes of their games now,

an example being the Tomb Raider series. This is true and at first glance making a female
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character the hero of a video game may seem like progress, it exposes other sexist notions

within the genre. While there are people in the gaming community that can respect and

possibly even love the idea of a gun-toting female badass that is resourceful and capable of

taking care of herself, if using a feminist lens to analyse Tomb Raider, critics can determine all

of the flaws included.

The main character of the Tomb Raider series, Laura Croft, is an overly sexualized

character. The purpose of this point is not to shame the character or state that women should

not have a sexuality, it is to point out the impracticality and hyper-reality of the characters

sexualisation. Laura Croft, since her conception has become an object of male pleasure. With

an exceedingly unrealistic sized bust, which barely fit within a t-shirt, became known almost

primarily for that and not the game itself. To prove this, if you were to search the word Laura

Croft, the words hot or sexy, are sure to follow in Google’s auto-complete option. This proves

that Laura Croft, the heroine of the Tomb Raider series, has fallen is recognized not for her

skills as an explorer or her adventures, but because she is considered pleasing to the eye.

Aside from her top half, Laura is supposed to be a gun-toting explorer whose outfit

does not reflect that in the slightest. She is seen wearing a tank top, which can be

understandable in desert climates, but her shorts are impractical for any exploration. Laura’s

signature booty shorts contribute to her over sexualisation as a woman, because they are

meant to be sexy or at least cute. Alluding to the fact that style is more important than

practicality for women. If Laura Croft were a man, creators would never think to have her so

exposed. Had she been a male explorer, she would have been wearing long pants and a

properly fitted shirt, similar to Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series. If men can be seen

wearing practical clothing in their games and creators do not have to resort to the over-
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sexualisation of male bodies to create intrigued, why is it necessary for them to objectify

women. The very idea of picturing a male character in barely there shorts and a tight t-shirt

is laughable, so why is it seen as a norm for women?

Poor outfit choice is not only found in the Tomb Raider series, it is actually a trend in

most video games. Women characters, even warriors wear revealing clothing. An example of

this could be the Guild Wars series, in which women warriors are seen wearing crop tops and

thongs, with very little material covering intimate areas. While this may be visually pleasing

for people who enjoy admiring the female form, why is that the primary objective? Especially

when men characters within the game have an excess of clothing, more suitable to be

considered armour. It raises the question: if men are wearing acceptable armour that covers

vital parts of the body, why aren’t the women? Why are the women, who are supposed to be

fighters, hunters or anything else within the range, reduced to becoming eye candy? It is

because, “woman is so thoroughly conceived within the sexual logic that strong female

characters must also be beautiful that her strength can easier be overshadowed by the

fantasy of her as a dominatrix, an erotic spectacle, and as a sexual commodity” (Brown).

Women dressing sexily is not the only point of sexualisation of a female within the

video game genre. The body of Laura Croft is not just an isolated incident within video games.

Often characters within these games have a tiny waist, taut abs, and large breast or hips.

While there are people with bodies like that, it is not the standard. The lack of representation

within these games gives a twisted image of what women should and will look like. By creating

this visual in video games, and making it a standard across the genre, it creates this image of

what women should look like. Looking at feminist lenses, this is detrimental to the growth

and development of people that play these games. Which can be proven, by looking at a New
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York study, that tested the change and effects that digital media had on the children that

played them (Sims).

The overt sexual nature of the clothing in video games is often praised as the culture

helping women take back sexuality. It is also arguable that the women are empowering for

owning their sexuality. This is false, as these characters are not owning anything. These

characters have not expressed any need to own sexuality. These characters are created for

the sole purpose of being sexy. The women in these games are not seen as capable women

who can fend for themselves but instead seen as objects that offer no more than seduction.

For example, in the Halo series, there is an artificial intelligence named Cortana, who is naked.

In an interview, the game’s franchise director Frank O’Connor was asked about Cortana’s

nudity and his response was:

So one of the reasons she [chooses to appear without clothes] is to attract and

demand attention. And she does it to put people off so that they're on their guard

when talking to her and she has the upper hand in those conversations. It's kind of

almost like the opposite of that nightmare you have where you go to school in the

nude. You're terrified and embarrassed and she's kind of projecting that back out to

her audience and winning intellectual points as a result. (O'Connor).

The male artificial intelligence are not seen as nude when they interact with other characters,

so why is Cortana? Why is it that the female character in the game must rely on her body and

her sexuality in order to have the upper hand in an intelligent conversation, while the male

characters can simply interact? This is something that is so normalised within video game

culture, we don’t even question why it is happening.

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In addition to the poor clothing choices and oversexualised physical attributes of

women within games, video games have a habit of lacking in diversity. The lack of diversity

centres around the body types women are given. Several games within the genre seem to

follow the same body design for women. In video games, women are seen with slender waists

with protruding breast and hips. Are there women with plus-sized frames found in video

games? Yes, but this is an inclusion that is rarely found. Women with slender body types have

become the popular or ideal frame for women in games. This is because video games have

“One [body type] designed to be sexually appealing to the presumed straight male player.”

(Sarkeesian).

Video game creators developing a standard of beauty for women distinguishes itself

as anti-feminist because this hasn’t been done for men. Looking at video games such as

Mortal Combat, there is a clear variety of male body types. There are male characters that

follow the slender, athletic frame, characters that have significant muscle mass and even a

sumo style character. Meanwhile, all of the women fighters in the game have the same body

type. All of the women are slender, with larger hips or breast. “It’s as if male characters are

free to embody whatever physique best communicates their personality or abilities, but when

it comes to the designs of female characters, that kind of imagination and creativity often

doesn’t seem to exist.” (Sarkeesian). This leads to the assumption that women characters do

not need to be as diverse as the women in the world, as long as they fit a male’s desirability.

The sexualisation of a woman and these “attractive” body types, often lead to a bigger

issue within video games. This issue is one of the women being nothing more than background

decoration. The women as background decoration trope is defined as:

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The subset of largely insignificant non-playable female characters whose sexuality or

victimhood is exploited as a way to infuse edgy, gritty or racy flavouring into game

worlds. These sexually objectified female bodies are designed to function as

environmental texture while titillating presumed straight male players. (Sarkeesian)

Women in video games and their sexualisation have a tendency to be used as sexual

playthings or even victims of brutal violence, sometimes to further a plot but often as

background objects. This can be seen by taking a look at the Hitman series. In just the

advertising, Hitman manages to fetishize violence towards women by, posing assassinated

females in lingerie. Captioned for these advertisements included phrasing like “Beautifully

Executed” in order to appeal to viewers. This marketing technique is best explained as:

This Drop Dead Gorgeous trope, as it’s called, is commonly used in other forms of mass

media, especially in fashion advertising. It is the collusion of violence done to women’s

bodies and the fact that it is often sexualized. The idea being that a dead woman is

still inherently beautiful, even if her body has been maimed, her life stolen from her,

something arousing still remains available for male consumption. (Sarkeesian)

These techniques are anti-feminist because they aren’t used in advertisements featuring

men. Looking again at the Hitman series, all the ads featuring men feature their dead bodies

in unprovocative poses and wearing more than their undergarments.

The video game genre manages to perpetuate several gender stereotypes in addition

to its sexist ideals. This can be seen by looking at series such as The Witcher. The Witcher

follows an alchemist who fights the supernatural in order to keep towns and the world safe.

While there is nothing wrong with that plot, there is a lot wrong with the characters and their
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development throughout the game. In the game, the main character Gerald is cold,

emotionless and stern. The only emotions that Gerald shows are anger, and emotion that

leads to violent responses.

While there is nothing wrong with having these character traits, the problem comes

from a point in the game where someone asks him why he is the way he is, and he states that

“I can't cry. I’m not a woman, so I don't know how…” This one line changes the entire outlook

of the character’s being if you are using a feminist lens. By including this line, creators have

implied that Gerald is a “man’s, man”. He is tough, strong and callus. That because he doesn’t

show emotion he is a true man and hero. This creates the idea that, showing emotion is purely

a female trait. It alludes to the idea that showing emotion is weak. If women only show their

emotions and showing emotions is a sign of weakness, didn’t the game just imply that women

were weak creatures?

Gender stereotypes are not just found in games that have strong male leads, they are

also found in games where the female character is the heroine. In recent years the Mario

Brothers franchise released a game that reversed the damsel in distress style of their games.

The game Super Princess Peace (2006) features Princess Peach as the heroine who must save

a kidnapped Mario and Luigi. In Super Princess Peach, Princess Peach is given four powers all

of which are mood swings. “Essentially Nintendo has turned a PMS joke into their core

gameplay mechanic.” (Sarkeesian). This differs greatly from Peach’s male counterparts who

had power-ups that had nothing to do with their emotions. The power-ups within the

standard Mario Brothers franchise are strength or agility based, meanwhile the female

heroine is ruled by her emotions. By doing this, creators have reinforced preconceived

stereotypes of women.
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Is the video game genre awful, in terms of how they treat and portray women? No,

but the tropes that were highlighted in this paper, are definitely things that could be worked

on. By drawing attention to some of the minor details that help make the genre what it is, we

can help to create an equal environment as far as the gaming community as a whole, and the

creation of stronger, realistic and well-rounded characters. In order to do this, one needs to

stop taking things at face value and accepting what creators release. As a whole, we should

take the time to view all forms of media with a feminist film and take the time to ask why

things are necessary, and then we can figure out how to change them.

It should not be assumed that video game culture has little or no respect for the

female community. Instead it should be assumed that a lack of information or education on

the harmfulness of these gender stereotypes is the main cause for their inclusion. The

increased sexualisation of female characters, the stereotyped weakness, and the lack of

diverse body types are details that typically go unnoticed with gamers, but when actually

looked into going against every feminist ideal there is. If video game culture could work on

eliminating some of these tropes, they wouldn’t be glorifying or promoting a sexist or gender

stereotyped mindset of who women are and what they have to offer.
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Works Cited

Brown, Jeffrey A. "Dangerous Curves: Action Heroines, Gender, Fetishism, and Popular

Culture." University Press of Mississippi (2011).

Dewitt, Scott Lloyd. "Review: What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and

Literacy." (n.d.).

Lynch, Teresa, et al. "Sexy, Strong, and Secondary: A Content Analysis of Female Characters

in Video Games across 31 Years." Journal of Communication (2016): 564-584.

Sarkeesian, Anita. "All the Slender Ladies: Body Diversity in Video Games." September 2016.

Shaw, Adrienne. "Gaming at the Edge: Sexuality and Gender at the Margins of Gamer

Culture." University of Minnesota Press (2014): 304.

Sherman, Sharon R. "Perils of the Princess: Gender and Genre in Video Games." Western

Folklore (1997): 243-258.

Sims, Christo. "Video Game Culture, Contentious Masculinities, and Reproducing Racialized

Social Class Divisions in Middle School." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society

(2014): 848-857.