(Grades 6 -12) Research Package - Saskatchewan Elocution and

This House regrets the portrayal of females in video games. Saskatchewan Elocution and Debate Association 1860 Lorne Street, Regina, SK (306) 780-­‐9243 info@saskdebate.com Facebook: Sask Debate www.saskdebate.com INTRODUCTION
Before coming up with the arguments for your case, take the time to do a fair bit of research. Reading articles
about the resolution will give you an idea about what kind of action to take. You may find that some things are
already in place, while other ideas have no information on them because they are not popular topics for the
media. It is important to focus on concepts that you can support with research. So above all, before you do
anything, gain a good knowledge base.
This resolution is a great one to start the debate season with: “This House regrets the portrayal of females in
video games.” A resolution like this is open to a lot of different interpretations.
Try looking at some of the big themes of the debate: How are women portrayed in video games? What makes a
good representation – or a bad one? Do video game companies have a social responsibility to represent men
and women equally in the industry? Are some characters regrettable, and others less so? Why do you think that
women are portrayed this way? Do video games reflect existing societal biases, or create them? Or both? Look
for the contradictions. These are just a few ideas to get you started. Try brainstorming more ideas with your
partner and your club, then focus on what case you want to build – on both the affirmative and negative side.
The key to running a good affirmative argument in this debate is to remain focused. The more focused you are
on what you want your plan to achieve, the harder it is for the negative team to attack you.
Your plan could be to argue that female video game characters represent a male media bias, or that the industry
is failing female consumers. Additionally, you could highlight the benefits of other role models. All of these
cases have good arguments behind them and good evidence to support them (but there may be other approaches
that you should also explore – this is your chance to solve this problem!). It would be hard to argue all the
possible points in the little time you have. When developing your plan, be prepared for possible negative
attacks and then strengthen your case. Don’t leave yourself open to attack!
It is beneficial to remember the same things as the negative team. You don’t know what the affirmative team
will do, so you should do a lot of research and become very knowledgeable about this subject. That way, you
will be ready to deal with anything the affirmative comes up with. It might help to write down many pieces of
evidence on different cards, but only plan on using a few of them, depending on how the affirmative team
defines the debate. Remember, preparation is just as important, if not more important, for the negative team as
it is for the affirmative team. You must have prepared evidence too!
Try summing up the main theme of your case in one clear statement – either for the affirmative or negative.
Then, make sure you have 3 to 5 key points in your case that relate back to your theme or “caseline”. During
the debate, make sure both your constructive arguments and your clash relate back to your caseline and attack
the opposite team’s caseline.
To win a debate, you must show the judges that you triumphed over your opponents on some key arguments
and that you presented the stronger case. you have done a good job as the affirmative team mentioning
evidence for every point you make, and the negative team has argued against you but has failed to support
themselves with articles and statistics, then show the judges that you have a more concrete case. Mentioning
your superior evidence should tip the balance of the debate in your favor if both teams have done a good job of
clashing. In your final rebuttal speeches, in addition to your final clash and summary, refer back to the big
theme of your case and how it was proven superior to your opposition’s development of their theme.
-Adapted from an article written by Garrett Richards, Fall 2004
2 UNDERSTANDING DEFINITIONS
When you get a resolution, you pick out two types of key words to understand:
-Terms specific to the topic that everyone needs to agree on to debate, like ‘video games.’ You define this in
the first affirmative speech.
-Words that require a specific type of argument from debaters, like ‘portrayed.’ You define your stance on this
using your caseline and arguments.
Understanding the burdens:
In a debate, ‘regrets’ means that there is a moral and practical reason to desire a change to the status quo.
Affirmative:
The side that agrees with the resolution must prove that female video game characters have not been
effectively fulfilling their obligations to the video game audience and/or society. To meet your burden, prove:
-There is a moral or practical reason for the actors to reject the existing portrayal of female characters OR
-The portrayal of female characters in this way causes harm
You also need to prove that:
-This House has an obligation to demonstrate the benefits of an alternative portrayal
Negative:
The side that disagrees with the resolution must prove that the existing portrayals of female characters have
succeeded in meeting their minimum requirements. Alternatively, the negative side must demonstrate that
rejecting these characters would harm the actors. This can be done in one of several ways:
-There are no equally effective alternatives, or better choices, for female characters OR
-Prove the video game industry is fulfilling their requirements through existing portrayals OR
-Prove the problems identified by the affirmative are caused by a lack of time, resources or the
actions/inactions of an external party and that the characters need minor fixes and would then work well
The Big Debate:
Each debate topic has an underlying disagreement about what way society should do something. In this case,
the argument is, is there an obligation to reject current portrayals of female characters?
Position 1 –There is an established criteria for success, and an expectation of a goal, which the games. This
lack causes harm.
Position 2 – There is no obligation (or need) to present female characters in a different light, and existing
characters are the best alternative. Any identified harms are minor compared to the potential benefits of
existing characters’ inclusion.
3 Please note:
For the purposes of creating a brief and manageable overview of
the debate topic, and/or ensuring articles remain ageappropriate, enclosed articles have been edited down by SEDA’s
Program Coordinator.
If you wish to view the full articles, please follow the provided link
at the top of the article.
Thank you for your understanding.
4 AFFIRMATIVE
VIDEO GAMES: DUDE, WHERE’S THE DIVERSITY?
Dakshana Bascaramurty
The Globe and Mail
July 31, 2009
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/video-games-dude-wheres-the-diversity/article4213745/
Researchers at the University of Southern California looked at the top 150 games on the market in 2005 and
2006 and found that while gamers have a bounty of white, muscle-bound, gun-wielding men to choose from,
women and ethnic minorities seem to be MIA.
Eighty-five per cent of characters were male and 80 per cent were white, while women, blacks, Latinos and
natives were portrayed as stereotypes or grossly under-represented.
"When a group exists and is portrayed badly, we all recognize that as damaging. But possibly even worse is
the invisibility of the group in the first place," said Dmitri Williams, the lead author of the study.
He said the results were especially troubling because women account for 38 per cent of all gamers and there
are more minority children playing video games in the United States than their white counterparts.
While the number of black characters in games was in proportion to the U.S. population, Mr. Williams said
game developers are behind the times and still haven't had a Cosby Show-style awakening to push them to
create black characters beyond the athletes in Madden NFL football or gangstas in 50 Cent: Bulletproof.
Toronto gamer Alice Stancu has been playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl on her Nintendo Wii all week, and
instead of choosing to play a mustachioed plumber or a toadstool, she's been picking Princess Peach, a rare
character who can actually go toe-to-toe with her male opponents.
"[Women]are usually the romantic interest or the best friend. They're never a fighter or anything like that," she
said.
5 WE NEED MORE WOMEN IN VIDEO GAMES
A new study shows that females are missing from videogames, in which 85% of the characters are male
Jacob Aron
The Guardian
July 31, 2009
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2009/jul/31/videogames-gender-balance
Videogame players may be more diverse than ever, but for game characters the digital realm is still very much a
white man's world. A study published this week looking at gender, race and age has found that female and
minority characters are severely under-represented.
US researchers examined the top 150 games from March 2005 to February 2006, including titles such as Doom 3
and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. They discovered that 85% of characters are male, compared to just 49% of
the US population. The figure rises to 90% for player-controlled characters.
Black, Hispanic and Native American characters also fail to reflect their real-life counterparts, and mainly appear
in sports games or titles that reinforce racial stereotypes, such as 50 Cent Bulletproof.
Dmitri Williams led the research, published in the journal New Media & Society. He suggests that media underrepresentation can be an indicator of social inequality.
"In television, it was always a landmark moment when some minority or disenfranchised group appeared on the
screen for the first time," he said. "That kind of visibility is really the first step toward leading to public
consciousness and equal treatment. These cultural markers matter."
The disparity could be due to a lack of diversity in game developers. "Many have suggested that games function as
crucial gatekeepers for interest in science, technology, engineering and math," said Williams. Without suitable
characters to relate to, under-represented groups may be less likely to work in the games industry.
Although female players represent 38% of all gamers, only around 11% of developers are women. Women in
Games is an organisation intended to address the games industry's gender imbalance. Westecott, who sits on the
group's steering committee, thinks that game publishers may be to be blame.
"The tendency towards stereotypical action heroes displays a certain conservatism on the part of the publishers
and their marketing departments," she said.
Videogames no longer occupy a niche. They are now big business, enjoyed by people from all parts of society.
Isn't it time the games reflect that? Do you think women and minorities are under-represented in games?
6 VANCOUVER VIDEO GAME JAM BREAKS GENDER STEREOTYPES:
Game jam seeks to challenge male-centric views in video games
July 13, 2013
CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-video-game-jam-breaks-genderstereotypes-1.1364491
A new group is seeking to challenge gender stereotypes in the gaming world, by bringing together
developers, designers and artists to create a video game with a strong female protagonist.
The group, i am a gamer, is hosting a 48-hour event at Vancouver's Centre for Digital Media where
150 developers have been tasked with creating a new video game.
Satellite sites have also been created in San Francisco, Denver and Boston and gamers from around
the world are participating remotely from as far away as the UK, Brazil, and Australia.
The marathon "game jam" began Friday at 6 p.m. PT and concludes at 6 p.m. on Sunday.
The goal, said organizer Kimberly Voll, is to send a message that male-centric views in the gaming
industry have a negative impact not only on gamers but on society as a whole.
Voll, who is a professor of software engineering and game design at the Centre for Digital Media,
said popular video games often reinforce harmful stereotypes by portraying females as oversexualized, one-dimensional characters.
She said this weekend's game jam aims to dispute the prevailing opinion that video games are for
guys and that games with strong, female lead characters will not sell.
"We should celebrate all great games, regardless of the gender of the lead character. But what we
have right now is a great imbalance," Voll said.
Voll said she was stunned when she read a recent article that quoted a creative director at a major
gaming company that said games with strong female characters won't succeed.
7 TAKING ON GAMES THAT DEMEAN WOMEN
By Jesse Singal
June 22, 2013
The Boston Globe
http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/movies/2013/06/22/anita-sarkeesian-takes-video-game-tropes-that-demeanwomen-and-takes-heat-for/37Q3CmQqLZY9zUWUTbUSFJ/story.html
It’s hard for me to imagine what it must be like to be a woman gamer. As a man, after all, my gender is
overrepresented in the world of video games. Most game developers are men. On those rare occasions when
games offer up compelling, nuanced characters, they’re almost always male. Plus, when I venture into the
online gaming world, no one is going to [threaten me].
Unfortunately, the opposite is true for female gamers. In short, there’s a pretty stark divide between the
experiences of male and female gamers, and that’s why I think Anita Sarkeesian is an important pundit at the
moment.
Sarkeesian runs a video blog called Feminist Frequency, and since 2011 she’s published a series of YouTube
videos called “Tropes vs. Women.” In them, she examines pop-culture tropes that she sees as perpetuating
stale or offensive ideas about women.
In 2012, she launched a Kickstarter campaign to create a new series of videos, this time focusing on portrayals
of women in video games, and asked backers for $6,000. This resulted in a campaign of brutal online
harassment, including… an online game, since taken down, in which players could physically assault her.
The silver lining was that the abuse brought the problem of misogyny in gaming some much-needed attention,
and Sarkeesian’s Kickstarter campaign ended up raising almost $160,000.
So far, she appears to have put the money to good use. The first two videos focus on the “Damsel in Distress”
trope, a common one in gaming (she plans to release videos on 10 tropes in total). Damsels in distress are
more objects than people, women “reduced to a state of victimhood” and little else, as she puts it in one of the
videos.
The classic example is the princess in “Super Mario Bros.,” but Sarkeesian cites dozens of recent games that
display the full range of developers’ creativity when it comes to figuring out new ways to [hurt] women
characters to provide male protagonists a reason to get up in the morning.
She thinks the heat directed her way “goes back to gaming culture. There is a deep sense of entitlement
coming out of a section of the male gaming community that feels entitled to their games, and they’re
threatened by the mere idea of someone even talking critically about [games], especially a woman talking
critically.”
8 Does she ever feel physically endangered? “That’s complicated,” she said. “Sometimes there are certain types
of harassment that are very specific or that are immensely violent or threatening and are tied to concerns about
location. Those are very worrying, for obvious reasons.”
What makes Sarkeesian’s videos so strong is that, like any effective debater, she’s deft at anticipating
rebuttals. In her videos, she explicitly denies the idea of a one-to-one causal link between what a gamer sees
on-screen and how he or she acts in real life. At one point, she allows that “game creators aren’t necessarily all
sitting around twirling their nefarious-looking mustaches while consciously trying to figure out how to best
misrepresent women as part of some grand conspiracy. Most probably just haven’t given much thought to the
underlying messages their games are sending.”
“Cultural influence works in much more subtle and complicated ways,” she says later. But these games do, she
argues, have a powerful ability to shape “cultural attitudes and opinions,” an argument she will likely continue
to flesh out in future episodes.
There simply aren’t enough women working at high levels in the gaming world for it to correct course on its
own, so only external pressure can improve matters. “As critics and as fans and interested parties, we need to
put pressure on the industry . . . [to say] ‘we expect more from you,’ ” she said.
So what would improvement look like? To Sarkeesian, it’s not that complicated. Developers “need to make
these amazing, awesome, AAA titles with a female protagonist,” said Sarkeesian. “An an actual well-rounded,
awesome, complex and deep female character.”
9 TROPES VS. WOMEN IN VIDEO GAMES: WHY IT MATTERS
Video games are more important than ever before, and so is cultural criticism of them
By: Paul Deen
May 31, 2013
Imagine Games Network (IGN)
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2013/05/31/tropes-vs-women-in-video-games-why-it-matters
Video games are more important than ever before. They’re travelling further, they’re making more money,
they’re reaching more people and they’re telling us more stories. Their influence upon society is more
significant than it has ever been and this is why one of the most important video game Kickstarters of last year
wasn’t a video game itself, but something that set out to examine the medium, taking a close and critical look
at the characters that games portray and the tales that they tell.
Last summer, amid all its indie experiments and old-school revivals, the crowdfunding website played host to
Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, which aimed to raise just $6,000 to fund a video series examining how
games depict women. Its creator was the feminist and critic Anita Sarkeesian, and these videos would become
the next season of Feminist Frequency, an ongoing web series that “explores representations of women in pop
culture such as TV shows, movies, comic books and video games.”
Over the next three years, Sarkeesian would look closely at depictions of women in a wide variety of media
and highlight where they were represented unfairly, stereotypically or as inferior characters. Her aim wasn’t
just to spotlight the sexism she found, but also to explain in clear and simple terms why and how it was wrong.
“I focus specifically on deconstructing recurring patterns that tend to reinforce or amplify pre-existing
regressive notions or attitudes about women and women’s roles,” says Sarkeesian, who hopes to swing things
in the other direction. “The power of pop culture stories should not be underestimated and there is an
enormous potential for inspirational stories that can have a positive, transformative effect on our lives.”
It’s important to remember that Sarkeesian isn’t attacking gaming, only the disappointing stories it sometimes
tells.
[Sarkeesian’s first video is] alarming in its clarity. Sarkeesian finds so many examples of the same depiction of
passive and often completely helpless female characters that they begin to blur together. For some gamers, her
first analysis of sexism in games may be difficult to swallow, as might be the thought that there are more of
these to follow. Most of us play to enjoy ourselves, to have fun and to unwind. We wouldn’t be comfortable
with the idea that we might be engaging in a game that marginalises its female characters or portrays them in a
poor light but, as Sarkeesian reminds us, we can enjoy the hobby but still criticise what it depicts.
The stories that our games relate are being passed on to our next generation; they’re giving us (particularly our
children) cues as to how we should behave and what our expectations are. The trope of the Damsel in Distress
is not a healthy or pleasant thing to pass on because, as Sarkeesian says in the video, “It’s not just a synonym
for ‘weak.’ Distilled down to its essence, the plot device works by trading the disempowerment of female
characters for the empowerment of male characters.”
It’s also important to remember that we challenge such representations and fix such problems by first
identifying them. That’s step number one on the road to fairer representation in gaming and, let’s not forget, to
better storytelling too. These stereotyped characters are both sexist and also boring, the result of lazy writing
that doesn’t challenge how we think about ourselves, and gamers should never have to tolerate what is boring.
10 BODY IMAGE: THE FEMALE (AND MALE) IMAGE IN VIDEO GAMES
Kristen Willfong
March 29, 2011
Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/article/body-image-the-female-and-male-image-video-games
In video games today it’s not unusual to see a woman with a perfect hourglass figure and complexion, running
around in skintight outfits attempting to save the day. Alongside this beautiful woman is an equally attractive
man, wielding a powerful weapon and seemingly impervious to attacks. Together these two characters can
overcome the game’s ultimate evil, usually without breaking a sweat and ruining their make-up.
While it isn’t unusual to see an attractive, effeminate male character appear in a game, it is unheard of to find
a masculine female character in a game, let alone one that would be viewed as attractive. [Additionally] it
seems as if these games are under the belief that the less a woman wears the more protection they have.
The men in these games are also shunted into a category of overly masculine, to the point where is seems
ridiculous. In the recent releases of Street Fighter 4 and Tekken 6, both series introduced a new character that
broke the usual male fighter mold by making them obese. While they are good fighters, these characters come
off more as comic relief while you watch them flip through the air and perform high kicks that would
normally be impossible for a person of that body type.
The male characters are just as objectified as the female characters but the masses don’t seems to take notice.
Besides, who would want to have a ‘regular Joe’ as the main character of a video game?
In the game Army of Two there is a female character by the name of Alice Murray. While she doesn’t go out
into the field to do her own fighting, she still plays an intricate part in the game as mission coordinator and
gathering intelligence on the targets of said mission. Unlike many of her female companions Alice appears in
casual clothes consisting of jeans and a tank top, has a pixie style haircut, and a tattoo. While there are fans
who find Alice attractive, she is considered abnormal in the industry for not being particularly busty and
remaining fully clothed.
With the graphic capabilities of today’s games and the boundaries that are being pushed, the plastic women
and men in these games are starting to fall to the wayside as more and more people question them. Rather than
lose those people, tweaking the images of characters to come and making them more realistic will not only
decrease the warped views of women and men, but it could potentially bring in buyers that would normally
stray away from the unrealistic characters. The Tomb Raider series had their star, Lara Croft, redrawn and
with her sudden realistic measurements came a new group of fans.
In the end, rather than continue the cycle of scantily clad women and their Herculean male counterparts in
games, it may be wise to release games with realistic characters. These new characters would bring in fresh
fans, driving the gaming industry forward to new venues as well as silence those people who claim that games
are continuously putting their female characters in positions of objectification and letting men know that they
don't have to be a bodybuilder to get the girl.
11 THE NEGATIVE PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN VIDEO GAMES
December 14, 2012
http://sophiabickley.wordpress.com/page/2/
***Please note: Appropriate for High School audience only***
The video gaming industry is one that has always been dominated by a mostly male audience. Just like any
industry, the video gaming industry caters to the desires of their most faithful and promising consumers, men.
Unfortunately, a large part of catering to the desires of men when it comes to video games, means creating
women characters that are sexually objectified and designed to fulfill the fantasies of men. These characters
have unnatural bodies and are often treated in sexist ways.
Beasley and Standley point out that the strong sexual messages that female characters in video games send to
their players can have a serious affect on the actual attitudes about women that those players hold.
As mentioned before, it is clear to see that these female characters have been designed and even dressed to fit
the liking of male audiences. One of the prime examples of a female video game character that is dressed in
skimpy and overly sexualized clothing is Lara Croft from the game Tombraider.
With the opportunity to interact with the avatar of Lara Croft in a virtual world at any time, men are able to not
only gazing at her, but they are able to actually interact with her in a virtual world.. She is the ideal woman,
fantasized in the eyes of men. “Intelligent, resourceful, and brave, Lara is despised for her figure by many and
loved in spite of it by others.” (Arol) The hypersexualization of Lara Croft as a character within video games
contributes to the negative portrayal of women within video games as a whole. Lara Croft is one of the most
iconic female characters in the history of video games. Therefore, the portrayal of her character within video
games will have a great effect on the portrayal of female characters in other video games.
Lara Croft is not the only example of a female character whose attire and appearance reinforces negative
stereotypes about women. Female characters within Grand Theft Auto are always portrayed in negative ways
that reflect poorly on women and reinforce the stereotypes that exist about women in our society. Female
characters in the game are not only dressed in revealing clothing, but they also behave in ways that portray
women in a very negative and degrading light; they are prostitutes. In this game, it is not enough for female
characters to appear in a sexually objectifying way, they also have to behave in a sexually objectifying way.
The negative portrayal of women in this game allows for men to live out any evil fantasies that they have
about women, that they would not be able to live out in real life because doing so would not be socially
acceptable. While the negative portrayal of women in these games reinforces negative stereotypes about
women and gender roles, it also creates new attitudes about women and about what is considered to be
acceptable behavior towards women.
It is important to acknowledge that by giving players the ability to engage in virtual violence, video games are
opening many potentially dangerous doors for those players who mistake the virtual for reality and therefore,
carry their violent virtual behavior over into their real life actions.
Many studies have proven that there is, in fact, a great chance that the gender roles and portrayals that we see
in video games, has an impact on what we will later consider to be appropriate attitudes and behaviors. Gender
roles are an important part of our lives and society. We look to these roles for cues on how to behave and form
attitudes about others around us. “Thus, the roles internalized by the child, including gender, become for the
child, and later for the adult, a basis for other roles and for action..” (Dietz, 42) “These messages could be
particularly influential for children who are currently developing their attitudes and expectations.” (Miller and
Summers, 734 ).
12 NEGATIVE
FEMALE FANS LOVE NEW GRAND THEFT AUTO DESPITE DEMEANING CONTENT
Laura Sydell
September 20, 2013
NPR
http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/09/20/224300193/female-fans-love-grand-theft-auto-v-hateit-demeans-women
Grand Theft Auto made video game history this week: The latest version of the game had a record $800
million in sales on its first day. As with past versions, the game is generating controversy over its glorification
of violence and drugs and its demeaning portrayal of women.
But around 15 percent of its fans are women, who find much to like about the game, even if they do have some
ambivalence about it.
Game developer Whitney Hills, 28, says initially she was nervous about even trying it. "Most of the press
surrounding it was — Oh, it's a prostitute-killing game, you know," she says, "like this entire game is about
murdering people and the worst things humanity can possibly do."
But, a few years back, with a bit of trepidation, Hills tried Version 4. To her surprise, she says she found the
writing to be "incredibly sly, intelligent and subversive."
"You can just cruise around in your car or any number of cars and sort of just experience the open world and
listen to the radio, which always has great music on it," she says. And the commercials crack her up.
Chelsea Stark, a gamer and critic for the website Mashable, says it's just as fun. "Everything is clearly this
satirical image of Los Angeles and Southern California. And it's almost like appreciating something like South
Park, where you're like, this is just satire of what criminals are," she says.
Stark says one of the big draws of Grand Theft Auto is that it is a really full and complicated world and
between heists you can explore it. Among the game's details are sendups of social media; there's a fake
Facebook called LifeInvader and a fake Twitter called Bleeter.
As in previous versions of Grand Theft Auto, there's a strip club; you get points for groping the women while
avoiding the bouncer's attention.
Stark admits she is ambivalent about those parts of the game. "It's hard for even me to reconcile. I'm like, I still
like this game a lot, I get why it's problematic because I'm a critic. But I also appreciate it for being fun."
One of the most innovative features of Grand Theft Auto V is that you can switch perspectives from Michael,
the suburban bank robber, to Trevor, a meth dealer and gunrunner, or to Franklin, an aspiring crook. That's
where Stark starts to feel frustration. "For the first time you can play three different characters, and yet it's like,
couldn't one of them have been a female?" The creators of Grand Theft Auto turned down a request to talk to
NPR, but in other interviews game developer Sam Houser suggested that women didn't fit into the
hypermasculine narrative.
Gamer Karen Price, 43, says she understands some of the ambivalence about the game, but she thinks most
grown-ups are smart enough to get that it's satire.
13 [NINE] FEMALE GAME CHARACTERS I’M NOT ASHAMED TO SHOW MY DAUGHTER
By Chad Sapieha
November 11, 2012
Financial Post
http://business.financialpost.com/2012/10/11/ten-female-game-characters-im-not-ashamed-to-show-mydaughter/?_lsa=3515-757c
The Dead or Alives of the world are still going strong, but each passing year brings more female game
characters who aren’t defined by their [looks]. We’re seeing more smart, capable women who can take care of
themselves – and maybe even save the world while they’re at it. Here are 10 of them.
FemShep (Mass Effect) ‘FemShep’ is what folks have taken to calling the female alternative to the male
version of protagonist Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect games. Strong-willed and authoritative, she
commands respect in those around her. But she’s also believably sensitive and caring in the right
circumstances. She’s a delightfully well-rounded virtual woman.
Chell (Portal)
This prisoner of labyrinthine science labs may not talk much, but she makes up for her silence with an
indomitable spirit that manifests itself in her refusal to give up.
Faith Connors (Mirror’s Edge)
Cynical and rebellious for all the right reasons, Faith makes her living as a courier on the streets of a corrupt
and repressive city. She gets by on her wits and considerable parkour skills while wearing the most sensible
footwear you’re ever likely to see a woman wear in a game.
Carla Valenti (Indigo Prophecy)
She’s a detective with an enviable work ethic and a knack for finding connections that others would miss. She
may be a bit too obsessive to serve as a role model, but that makes her no less compelling or admirable. & Evil
Jade (Beyond Good & Evil)
She takes care of orphaned kids, has a job as a photojournalist, and moonlights as a world-saving revolutionary
in her spare time, all while dressed for comfort. Would that more action/adventure game heroines had her
charming, non-nonsense attitude and self-assured spunk.
Kate Walker (Syberia)
A career-driven lawyer with an open mind, she proves herself a confident and wily conversationalist and an
adept solver of tricky puzzles. (2013).
Lara Croft (Tomb Raider)
Recent incarnations portray her with realistic body proportions and a fleshed out character. Next March’s
Tomb Raider reboot/origin story looks like it will portray her as a smart, adventurous, and determined young
woman proficient in getting herself out of tight spots.
Claire Redfield (Resident Evil)
Capcom can’t seem to keep from dressing most of Resident Evil’s female cast members in revealing clothing
(some of Jill Valentine’s outfits clearly aren’t standard police issue), but there’s no denying Claire Redfield is
a capable and respectable crusader against bio-organic terrorism. Calm in battle and quick to rescue those in
need, she even saves her male counterparts once in a while.in
Samus Aran (Metroid)
Good for Nintendo for making the intergalactic bounty hunting star of one of its earlier game series a woman,
and double the kudos for having never sexualized her. In most games we rarely see more of Samus than her
eyes through a helmet visor as we watch her skillfully eliminate aggressive space pirates and alien jellyfish. 2
14 STUDY: VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES DO NOT CAUSE REAL VIOLENCE
May 23, 2013
Robby Soave
The Daily Caller
http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/23/study-violent-video-games-do-not-cause-real-violence/
Consumption of violent video games, movies and television programs is not a significant contributing factor to
actual violence, a new study found.
Instead genetic predisposition and upbringing largely determine a person’s propensity for violence, wrote the
study’s authors.
The study, published last Friday, was conducted by Christopher Ferguson of the University of Texas A&M,
James Ivory of Virginia Polytechnic University and Kevin Beaver of Florida State University. The researchers
used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, and measured whether a variety of
factors — including exposure to violent media, upbringing, and genetics — correlated with criminal behavior.
“A history of teen delinquency, lower intelligence, and a history of school problems all predicted adult
criminality,” wrote the study’s authors. “Media use was not associated with either increased or decreased risk
of adult criminality.”
In the wake of mass shootings such as the one at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., some pundits
have blamed violent video games and TV for inspiring the perpetrators to commit violence. But the research
suggests that legislators and pundits who decry violent media are whipping up a moral panic over something
that doesn’t inspire real violence, wrote Ferguson.
“Politicians can look like they are ‘doing something’ or (as the NRA and their political allies did) try to
distract the public from issues like gun control using a moral panic over media,” wrote Ferguson in an email to
The Daily Caller News Foundation, noting that the National Rifle Association also blamed mass shootings on
violent media.
Identifying violent media as the “bad guy” in crime stories may also be easier for people than examining the
complicated intersection of nature-nurture factors that produce violence, he wrote.
“It’s nonsense, but more comforting than to acknowledge that some of these events we really just can’t do
much about,” Ferguson added.
15 ARE SUPERHEROS AND VIDEO GAMES AFFECTING BOYS’ BODY IMAGE?
By Naomi Perks
ParentsCanada
June 17, 2013
http://www.parentscanada.com/family-life/are-superheroes-and-video-games-affecting-boys-body-image
Turns out Barbie isn’t the only doll with unnatural dimensions. Did you know that if G.I. Joe were real, his
biceps would be 27 inches, a size that is apparently impossible to achieve naturally? Not to mention a
washboard stomach that would make even Ryan Gosling envious.
I remain disheartened by the ubiquity of über male bodies in toys for boys. G.I. Joe, Batman, Superman, Power
Rangers and even Rescue Heroes are created with dysmorphic body types. At a recent preschooler Halloween
party, I noted not one girl was wearing pink, and only one was dressed as a “princess” sporting the traditional
blue Cinderella dress. For the boys, however, superhero was the dominating theme. Towel capes and T-shirts
emblazoned with “S” would not suffice. Instead, their costumes were replete with fake six-pack abs, biceps
and pecs. Would we let our daughters strut around with fake bums and breasts? Of course not! So I ask you,
why is it OK for our boys to strut around in fake muscles?
Much has been written and said about the unhealthy way that girls internalize unrealistic body images, but
neither are boys immune to the images they see and the body types they normalize. A 2008 McCreary Centre
Society study found that only 19 percent of boys in Grades 7 to 12 reported being satisfied with their body
image, while 31 percent of healthy weight boys were trying to gain weight.
These figures suggest that boys want to look like the images they see in their toys and on TV. According to
Paul Gallant, an eating disorders researcher in Vancouver, factors contributing to boys with eating disorders
include “pressures to fit in at school and an unhappiness with their own bodies” when compared with friends
who had the “perfect body.” Sound familiar?
You may be asking yourself, is it really that bad if my son wants to exercise and be healthy? No, but the
problem arises when unattainable images, low self-esteem and body dissatisfaction combine to develop into
something bigger. It’s when boys start to feel as though they are not good just as they are, or when, as Dr.
Takashi Hirata, a primary care physician in the U.S., writes, “when the focus is on conforming to an ideal –
not about having a healthy body.”
16 THE BODY IMAGE REVOLUTION – ROSIE MOLINARY
Sandy Ross
Body Bliss Central
http://bodyblisscentral.com/rosie-molinary/
Anyone who’s interested in body image issues knows that there’s a big hairy finger waving in disapproval in
the direction of the media. The disapproval hinges around the digitally-perfected, relentless, fantasy depiction
of women’s bodies and its impact on negative body image.
Rosie Molinary, a recent guest on The Body Image Revolution, suggests it’s time to stop blaming the media,
and instead change ourselves to improve our body image. “The media is not innocent, but we are complicit,”
says Rosie. When we see something that is offensive, we must give feedback in the form of complaints and
even cancelling subscriptions, and letting them know why we have cancelled those subscriptions. Otherwise
they will keep doing what’s working and have no incentive to change. Financial feedback works, in other
words.
But that is only part of the solution, because we believe we can’t be happy unless we’re perfectly beautiful. As
Rosie says – it’s not your nose (or any other specific body part) that’s making you unhappy! “We can’t be
happy until we’re internally happy,” she says. And when that happens, we can take on the work that we’re
meant to be doing – and we can begin that process by giving ourselves permission to plug into our passions,
and let go of obsessing about our body image.
We also talked about how everyone feels like “The Other” at some time in their life, how women of different
races have different community expectations of what a “perfect” woman of that race looks like, great tips for
building support around yourself while you change your language and appreciation of your body and
improving your body image, how to deal with your family and friends who want to express their “concern”
about your size and shape, how important it is to prepare comebacks for body snarks and how to do that, how
we can learn what we need to heal by noticing how we judge others – and much more!
17 HOW TO FIGHT SEXISM IN GAMING? GET MEN TO PLAY FEMALE CHARACTERS
Amanda Hess
June 13, 2013
Slate Magazine
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/06/13/women_in_gaming_women_make_up_half_of_all_gamers_
but_video_game_characters.html
Even Chris Kirk, in his piece for Slate criticizing the rank sexism that still dominates the gaming industry,
recycles the idea that gamers are "almost entirely men" and that they'll stay that way as long as video-game
developers keep churning out games targeted at them.
In fact, women do actually play video games—almost as frequently as men do. The Entertainment Software
Association released a report this week showing that 45 percent of gamers are female, and 46 percent of the
most frequent game purchasers are female. So why doesn’t the industry develop more games that acknowledge
their perspective?
Sarkeesian’s critics say that it’s because women just won’t buy them. The reality is that men won't. As one
male gamer told Sarkeesian: “[F]emale protagonists aren't as interesting as males in the gaming world. Get
used to it!”
The problem is not that women don’t play games. They do. The problem isn’t just that women are vastly
underrepresented as developers of games, though they are. The problem is that women are buying and
playing games despite the fact that the products often don’t view them as equal protagonists. As Alyssa
Rosenberg notes at Think Progress, “Being underserved by media doesn’t mean that people stop consuming
it.” The statistics proffered by the Entertainment Software Association help swat down the misconception that
women are not gamers, but they also help justify the products already on the market.
I'm not suggesting that women stop buying games with male protagonists. A change in the gender
representation in gaming will require a significant shift in the consumption habits of male gamers, not female
ones. We know that women will buy games featuring male characters, but we don’t know if the 55 percent of
male gamers will consistently shell out for games featuring female protagonists. (Though judging by the
outrage that ensues whenever Sarkeesian registers a gender imbalance, some of the industry’s most devoted
customers do not seem amenable to this idea.)
As it stands, if you want to make a game that both men and women will buy, you make a game that features
men. I’d like to see an industry survey that registers gamers’ attitudes toward the gender of the characters
they’d be willing to play. Then we’d see where the gender imbalance of the gaming world really stands.
18 GRAND THEFT AUTO: ONE OF BRITAIN’S GREATEST EXPORTS
Dave Lee
BBC News
September 17, 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24066068
As the latest installment of the super-violent series hits the shelves around the world, many are taking a step
back and assessing the cultural impact of a title that has changed not only the games industry, but perhaps even
the entertainment business as a whole.
"The cultural impact and artistic quality of the game also demonstrates just how far video games have come,"
remarks Richard Wilson, head of games industry trade body Tiga, "[It] clearly shows they are now on a par
with film, television and animation, and deserve to be treated as such."
Development on GTA, which was originally called Race 'n' Chase, began in 1995. It reached the shops in
1997, but not without controversy.
"Here was a game where you could be the bad guy," recalls David Kushner, author of Jacked: The Outlaw
Story of Grand Theft Auto. Before they made GTA, it was DMA's Lemmings that had been taking the gaming
world by storm.
"There were drugs, prostitutes, random violence. While those are the sorts of things we've seen for some time
in other forms of media, books, films and so on, this was a problem for a lot of people, because they felt that
children had to be protected from this content."
For an industry that was used to games being mostly for kids and ‘nerdy’ adults, this was a massive awakening
- and the backlash was immediate.
"People felt concerned that the player, just by playing this game, was somehow perpetrating the violence and
actually being criminal," Mr Kushner remembers, "When in fact, what they were doing was twiddling their
thumbs and moving pixels around a screen."
There were calls to ban the game in several countries around the world. In some cases, they were successful,
such as in Brazil. The ban was later lifted.
But had the game simply been about violence, it would not have stood the test of time, argues Brian Baglow, a
writer on the first title in the series.
"The games sector had always been very good at blowing stuff up - creating more realistic bullet holes - but
they had no real cultural relevance. "It's not necessarily up to us to shout from the rooftops about how clever
we are, how progressive we are or how sophisticated we are. It's our place to make stuff that's as good as it can
be."
[With] every new game, it appears, in some markets at least, that the outrage is diminishing - both within those
working in the media and others in political circles. Mr Kushner says this may be put down to one simple
thing: gamers have grown up.
"I think the gamers are now in power. People in their 40s-50s - they don't feel threatened by games anymore.”
19 THE LAST OF US DEVELOPER REFUSED TO DOWNPLAY FEMALE LEAD ON THE BOX
Paul Tassi
December 12, 2012
Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2012/12/12/the-last-of-us-developer-refused-to-downplay-female-leadon-the-box/
The other day I wrote a piece about Bioshock Infinite lead Ken Levine’s very frank assessment of what sells
video games from an “off the shelf” perspective. The controversy was that despite a wondrous floating city
and a host of colorful characters, the decision was made to make the Infinite cover simply a grizzled man
holding a shotgun.
The idea was to appeal to a broader demographic of “frat guys” who like typical military-style shooters. True
fans would know what Bioshock Infinite was either way, so why not try and ramp up the mass appeal?
Well, today we have something of a counter point to that coming out of Naughty Dog. Creative Director Neil
Druckmann spoke to VG247 about his decision to showcase the game’s female lead, Ellie, front and center on
the box art. He could have moved her into the back and given Mr. Grizzled Male the center spot, but
Druckmann is fighting back on the notion that a female lead can’t sell games off the shelf.
“I believe there’s a misconception that if you put a girl or a woman on the cover, the game will sell
less. I know I’ve been in discussions where we’ve been asked to push Ellie to the back and
everyone at Naughty Dog just flat-out refused.”
He goes on to talk about how his characters were influenced by the recent discussions about females in video
games. Or rather, how they weren’t influenced:
“I tried not to be mindful of too many outside influences, which is things like the industry, and how
women are portrayed. I believe that should not affect a person’s writing. It’s about trying to find
core truths in your story, and then letting that be the driving force.”
I’m not sure where I land on this whole box art debate. I support Ken Levine’s right to try and appeal to the
traditional shooter market by sacrificing originality on the cover, but I’m also fully on board with The Last of
Us showcasing their female lead as well. If she’s a hugely important character, why not feature her?
I think there’s perhaps too much weight put on box art in general in this day and age. Yes, there is an
uninformed “casual” gaming public out there, but it’s a lot of guesswork as to which box art actually attracts
which audience. Is the appeal to frat bros enough to offset the possible loss of women? Does either group truly
care about box art that much? I’d have to see some hard data before a definite conclusion can be reached on
this issue, as right now it seems to be more about PR and starting or avoiding controversy than anything else.
20