GamePolitics recently posted an article regarding a report dealing with many issues that include violence and the "Sexualisation of Girls" and how the impact of female characters in video games can influence them in a negative manner. As a female and gamer, I thought it would be interesting to comment on some of these findings.
I'd like to focus on the violence aspect specifically. Taken from the report:
"There is a notable lack of strong female characters [in video games]."
I'd love to see alot more of the 'stronger' female role models in video games. But I guess that all depends on what you consider to be a 'strong female' character. Take the Left 4 Dead franchise for example. Both L4D and L4D2 feature female characters in the game. Does a woman running around with a shotgun to protect herself against hordes of zombies depict a 'strong female character?'. Yes - I think it does. But again, L4D is a violent game often depicting extremely violent scenes. So a woman running around with a shotgun killing hordes of zombies sends a message to female teenagers that says what? That it's OK to use extreme violence to protect yourself. Hell's yeah. That's one way to look at it. If you're a concerned parent, you might look at this very differently.
Alot of the findings in the report deal specifically with younger people and teenagers. I'm not a parent so I can't comment on what I would or wouldn't do in that situation. And perhaps I've become desensitized to the level of violence depicted in video games. In fact I enjoy games with alot of action, guns, and yes, even violence. Is it wrong that I find games with guns enjoyable to play? I like shooting at other players and killing them but I'm not about to go and grab a gun and shoot someone. If you read this report you could get the impression that TV, Video Games, Magazines, Movies, Mobile Phones and the Internet should not be accessible to children because of the threat these forms of media, technology and entertainment pose to children. So that would impact about 82% of teens (aged 12-17) who might use the internet on a monthly basis (2009 statistics from here). That would be a whole lot of bored teenagers... and what do teenagers do when they're bored?
The beating up of prostitutes in games like those in the Grand Theft Auto franchise is one area focused on considerably because of the image it portrays relating to violence towards women. I would never condone violence towards women in the REAL world in any form. But I've played these games and I've participated in running around and doing that exact thing. My friends ran through the town and beat up anyone they could find with a baseball bat. Not once did I stop to think that what we were doing was wrong. I also didn't think twice about the prostitutes being beaten up or the image that this would portray. But I guess that doesn't count because I know the difference between fantasy and reality. And maybe this is the real issue teenagers face.
I'm an adult who is not a parent nor a teenager so I think the report disregards females like myself who fall out of the demographic. So I get that the matter at hand here is how adults teach their kids about violence and what is and isn't appropriate. But parents can't be everywhere all of the time. If your kids want to play a violent video game, they'll probably find a way, and they'll probably do it without their parents knowing. And while I can't give advice to parents on how to look after their kids, I can say that context is important. A video game isn't real. It's fantasy - something that has been created as a form of entertainment. I think the most important thing a parent can do for their kids is to try and help them understand the difference between what is and isn't real. I'm sure Lil' Poison's parents have this down to a fine art considering their kid started professionally playing video games from the age of four. And 'what game did he play', you ask? Well, that would be Halo - a highly competitive online game that involves weapons, violence and killing other players. It's not Grand Theft Auto but hey, according to some, it's probably close enough.
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The culture in games that have launched in recent days has lot of violence which is diverting the children. Thanks for sharing. Regards, salon management
a woman running around with a shotgun killing hordes of zombies sends a message to female teenagers that says what? That it's OK to use extreme violence to protect yourself. Thanks. Regards, Company location
one area focused on considerably because of the image it portrays relating to violence towards women. I would never condone violence towards women in the REAL world in any form. But I've played these games and I've participated in running around and doing that exact thing. Thanks for sharing. Regards, Media Relations Software
I enjoy games with alot of action, guns, and yes, even violence. Is it wrong that I find games with guns enjoyable to play? I like shooting at other players and killing them but I'm not about to go and grab a gun and shoot someone. Thanks for sharing. Regards, Investment in France
A little scared by seeing that. It must be very violent. Thank you for sharing the information!
To reduce the impact, I think the most important thing a parent can do for their kids is to try and help them understand the difference between what is and isn't real. classified |ad|memory foam mattress
You raise an interesting point in regards to games and how they relate to women. Personally, I play a lot of what many would consider violent games and am asked by females how I go about playing them. The realism in games like Modern Warfare 2 is coming out as the technology gets better and people are left to question what impacts they may have. I enjoyed that you threw out L4D2 as a great example of third person shooting game software that has a "strong female character". I'm a big fan of that game and have never given thought to the female character blasting away zombies with the rest of the male characters. The only thing I've noticed in my life is that my older brother refuses to allow his son to play or watch others play any of the Modern Warfares or anything that is violent in nature. It's probably not the answer to all situations, but it's a start. Thanks for throwing out the topic and creating a discussion. Keep up the good work!
Women now slightly outnumber men playing Web-based games. Spurred by the belief that games were an important gateway into other kinds of digital literacy, efforts were made in the mid-90s to build games that appealed to girls. More recent games such as The Sims were huge crossover successes that attracted many women who had never played games before. Given the historic imbalance in the game market (and among people working inside the game industry), the presence of sexist stereotyping in games is hardly surprising. Yet it's also important to note that female game characters are often portrayed as powerful and independent. Recepti
As you say, context is important. Crimes committed in Grand Theft Auto can't be viewed in the same light as crimes committed in real life any more than than Super Mario Bros. jumping on turtles should be viewed the same as animal abuse. There are plenty examples of digital games, music and movies that can explore touchy areas without contributing to them.
As with any gender based activities there is positives and negatives. We have come along way with legislation's and policies governing human rights - including women. These games in a well balance hand will not be a problem, however if in the hands of behavioral challenged the issue could escalate and become problematic.
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