The Sexualization Of Women In The Video Game Industry

Video games have become increasingly more popular with 58% of Americans playing video games(site) and with 51% of households owning a console (site). A once considered male driven hobby (it’s a boy thing) now has about 45% female players (site). Although it has been shown that there was an increase in female players, video game companies still used sexuality of female characters to sell video games (site, one or two). Sexist themes was a popular trend in video games. Females were often portrayed as a weak, helpless character that is in need of saving (site). Males were shown as aggressive, strong, masculine heroes (site). These sexist video games may have caused a problem since video game players (games) played on average (so many hours,

Some argued that this was a way to compete in the industry and others would say the sexism imagery was just a tool to cover up for games that had nothing innovated (gaming formula is adding). Either way, sexual contact was nothing new, since it has been found in the music and movie industry. Some people (both males and females) actually enjoy the over sexualization of characters (xsomelike oversexuality-word). Although there were perks for both the seller and the gamer to have overly sexualized characters, there were also ramifications. Ramifications of overly sexualization in video games were not always apparent to either the seller or the gamer. The heighten sexual themes were in place for the male gamer, for they were considered to be the main buyer and player of video games (it’s a boy thing). Since the male generation of gamers had started to age, sexual themes were suppose to make video games less like a toy and something more tailored for an adult (game formula is adding). What was unapparent was that females were also playing video games as well and that negative consequences were occurring for both sexes (site??? Find

It seems that the male characters were stuck in this heroic male lead, where they were expected to be aggressive with little to no other personality traits. This stereotyped gender role is viewed not only by male gamers but females as well (gender difference article). Males were more likely to play one or two hours of video games per week then females. This may account for males reporting that video games interfere with their sleep and class preparation (gender difference article). It has also been shown that males and any high frequency game player, were more likely to accept the aggression and negative stereotypic images, as well as be in support of not changing this type of content in video games. Males were also more likely to hold the belief that violent and aggressive games had no negative influence on a player’s behavior or beliefs (gender