The video game industry since it’s beginning has been largely male dominated. As a result, games are aimed at males who are anywhere from their early teens to their late 20's. This audience for which many games are made, favored games in which they can be someone who they can’t be in the real world. Games were made to allow them to rescue the damsel in distress, be a member of a gang, fight off aliens, go to war and even simulate flights. However this audience also allowed for sexism in games to arise, showing male dominance over women as well as objectifying women. With the assumption that sex sells and the fact that video games primary audience is male, games have become increasingly sexist, carrying many forms of sexism from the subtle to the blatant in games going as far back as Mario and as recent as Grand Theft Auto.
A classic example of male dominance and female frailty resides in games such Mario. The plot is simple; the protagonist (Mario) must rescue a princess (Princess Peach) from the antagonist (Bowser). This cliché and over done storyline is sexist, showing that women cannot fend for themselves and are delicate, frail and innocent creatures with no hope of saving themselves. While this is the same story concept that we are told as bedtimes stories when we are children, it gives young girls the idea that men are stronger and that they are weak and helpless, further instilling sexism to younger generations. Not every woman is incapable of saving herself. This shows that men believe they are more powerful than women and are the only ones capable of going on an adventure and rescuing someone.
Another way in which women are objectified in games is by typically being weaker playable characters. For example, in Dynasty Warriors 5, while there are female characters they are not as powerful as the male characters. Male characters have stronger attacks and better weapons. In the Final Fight Series, female characters may have been faster than the male characters but were still much weaker in comparison. This further supports this idea that some men have of women being weaker than they are. This means that when women, given the option to play a female or male, will typically choose the male character. The same goes for men. Leaving this ideal for both men and women that female characters are weak and that it is always better to choose a male.
Male dominance is not the only form of sexism in video games. Objectification of women, as well as the treatment of women as merely objects, can be seen in many games. One particular example that has been in recent debate is the Grand Theft Auto series. In this game you are allowed to do anything you want such as steal a car, kill innocent people and exploit women for sex. Many of the women are also scantily dressed and there are even strip clubs in the game you can visit. This gives the idea that women are merely sex objects there for men’s pleasure, demeaning women and treating them as if they are not even humans.
Tomb Raider, while having a female hero still shows signs of sexism. The original Lara Croft had large breasts, a tiny waist and slender hips and was usually wearing shorts, a cropped tank top, a backpack and thigh holsters. She was the ideal woman that any man would be happy to play. Not only was she tough and strong, she was also beautiful. This however shows that when men want a playable female character she must be strong and have the body similar to Jessica Rabbit, cartoony and disproportional. Also in later games, the designers even created breast movement, so not only does she have big breasts, but also now they even move as she moves. While this would seem to create more realism, is it really necessary? Why for instance, can she not be attractive but proportional? This however, in the most recent Tomb Raider to be released in 2011, has changed so that she is not as objectified, yet still beautiful.
These are not the only examples of sexism in video games and there are certainly more than the few described in this essay. Games need not objectify women to be fun or make female characters weak and helpless. If video games are to hope to gain a stronger female audience, designers must learn to create female characters that both men and women want to play.
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