Videogames: Women in videogames & Further feminist theory

Our second CSP gives us the opportunity to explore the representation and role of women in videogames.

Women in videogames: an introduction

The representation of women in videogames has long been considered sexist. Female characters are rarely playable and usually reinforce traditional gender stereotypes. Games that did feature female characters presented them as damsels in distress or sex objects.

Lara Croft of the Tomb Raider series is one of the most iconic characters in videogame history. But while she is a strong, independent playable character, her appearance and costume turned her into a digital sex object. In contrast, the character of Aloy in Horizon Forbidden West could be a sign of progress.

Tropes vs Women in Video Games

Vlogger and gaming expert Anita Sarkeesian has produced two series of YouTube videos documenting the representation of women in videogames.

Vlogging as Feminist Frequency, the series are an important example of digital feminism (and a superb resource for Media students). However, as a result, she has been a target for online abuse and threats – most notably as part of the #gamergate controversy.

Further feminist theory

We have looked at a range of feminist ideas earlier in the course including Laura Mulvey, Judith Butler, Liesbet van Zoonen, the concept of post- or fourth-wave feminism and more. We now need to explore this further with a deeper understanding of bell hooks and van Zoonen.

Notes from the lesson

Watch this short extract from Orange is the New Black star Laverne Cox interviewing bell hooks at The New School in New York:



bell hooks is a highly influential radical black feminist.

She sees feminism as a struggle to end patriarchal oppression - it should be a serious political commitment rather than a fashionable lifestyle choice: “Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression”.

bell hooks also points to the importance of race and class when studying oppression.

Intersectionality

Intersectionality is defined as the common point of two forms of oppression and how they work against a particular group of people. For example, black feminism addresses both gender and race discrimination.

bell hooks suggests that race is so significant that the experiences of gender, class or sexuality-based discrimination cannot be fully understood without also considering race.

This is important when analysing power in society. For example, men generally have more power then women – but white, middle class western women generally have much more power than women from non-white backgrounds.

Liesbet van Zoonen

Liesbet van Zoonen is an influential feminist academic and linked gender roles and the media explicitly in her 1994 book Feminist Media Studies. Some of her key ideas:

• Gender is constructed through media language
• These constructions reflect cultural and historical contexts
• The objectification of the female body is a key construct of western culture (building on Mulvey – male gaze)
• If women have to be like men to be treated equally, then equality itself is repressive

You can find the further notes on van Zoonen in this Google document (you'll need your Greenford Google login to access).

Women and videogames: blog tasks

Work through the following blog tasks to complete our work on women in videogames and further feminist theory.

Part 1: Reading - Is Female Representation in Video Games Finally Changing?

Read this short Medium feature on whether female representation in videogames is finally changing. Answer the following questions:

1) How have women traditionally been represented in videogames and what percentage of the video game audience is female?

2) What recent games have signalled a change in the industry and what qualities do the female protagonists offer?

3) Do you agree with the idea that audiences reject media products if they feel they are misrepresented within them?


And now read this short Protocol feature on Anita Sarkeesian's talk to the Game Developers Conference in 2022. This covered the progress in gender representation in videogames and references Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West. Answer the following questions:

1) How does Sarkeesian say things have changed in the videogames industry in the last 10 years? 

2) Why is gaming still male dominated? Make sure your answer here includes the statistics quoted in the article. 

3) How has the conversation shifted on representation in videogames? 

Part 2: Further Feminist Theory: Media Factsheet

Use our Media Factsheet archive on the M: drive Media Shared (M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets) or here using your Greenford Google login. Find Media Factsheet #169 Further Feminist Theory, read the whole of the Factsheet and answer the following questions:

1) What definitions are offered by the factsheet for ‘feminism ‘and ‘patriarchy’?

2) Why did bell hooks publish her 1984 book ‘Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center’?

3) What aspects of feminism and oppression are the focus for a lot of bell hooks’s work?

4) What is intersectionality and what does hooks argue regarding this?

5) What did Liesbet van Zoonen conclude regarding the relationship between gender roles and the mass media?

6) Liesbet van Zoonen sees gender as socially constructed. What does this mean and which other media theorist we have studied does this link to?

7) How do feminists view women’s lifestyle magazines in different ways? Which view do you agree with?

8) In looking at the history of the colours pink and blue, van Zoonen suggests ideas gender ideas can evolve over time. Which other media theorist we have studied argues things evolve over time and do you agree that gender roles are in a process of constant change? Can you suggest examples to support your view?

9) What are the five aspects van Zoonen suggests are significant in determining the influence of the media?

10) What other media theorist can be linked to van Zoonen’s readings of the media?

11) Van Zoonen discusses ‘transmission models of communication’. She suggests women are oppressed by the dominant culture and therefore take in representations that do not reflect their view of the world. What other theory and idea (that we have studied recently) can this be linked to?

12) Finally, van Zoonen has built on the work of bell hooks by exploring power and feminism. She suggests that power is not a binary male/female issue but reflects the “multiplicity of relations of subordination”. How does this link to bell hooks?

A/A* Extension tasks: TED talk

Finally, if you’re interested in some of these ideas, there is plenty more reading and watching you can do. For example, watch this TEDx talk by renowned Nigerian/American novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ‘We should all be feminists’:

A/A* Extension tasks: Anita Sarkeesian Gamespot interview

If you're interested in this topic and aiming for a top grade, read this Gamespot interview with Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency and think about some of the following questions:

What reaction did Anita Sarkeesian receive when she published her videos on women in videogames? You can find more information on this on Sarkeesian’s Kickstarter fundraising page.

How does Sarkeesian summarise feminism?

How has the videogame landscape changed with regards to the representation of women?

What is the impact of the videogames industry being male-dominated?

Finally, to find out more about the online backlash and #gamergate, this Guardian feature links the online abuse to the American alt-right movement also credited with electing Donald Trump.

Deadline: Complete for homework - due date on Google Classroom.