Video Game Characters
Transformed by Eating Disorder Support Group
An eating disorder support website, Bulimia.com (http://www.bulimia.com/) came up with the idea of shaping video game characters’ bodies into images that represent the average woman’s measurements.
According to the educational website that provides information and support to people struggling with eating disorders, video games have grown hyper-realistic over time, yet how they still haven’t managed to portray the female – and if I may add the male – body quite right.
Time to get real about women
“Video game designers and their companies have complete control over the female bodies in their games. So why is it they so often opt to make these characters into unrealistically
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They are designed with huge breasts, curvy hips and little-to-no clothing.
With more normal measurements, video game icons such as Jade from Mortal Kombat and Cortana from Halo 4, look like they could still kick some butt.
Why are sexualized female bodies a problem?
Jesse Fox, an assistant professor in the School of Communication at the Ohio State University, found evidence that interacting with hyper-sexualized women in video games causes people to feel sexist.
In another study, women who played with a sexualized avatar were more likely to self objectify. Shockingly, when women played in sexualized avatars of themselves, they were more likely to believe that women deserve to be raped.
Sexism hits men too
The portrayal of both men and women in video games is a subject of research in gender studies and raised the issues of sexism in video gaming. If female characters are often portrayed as “damsel in distress” or semi-naked sex bombs, even for men it is difficult to identify with male video games characters, research suggests.