Keeping Abreast of Hypersexuality: A Video Game Character Content Analysis

Abstract

This study examined male and female sexuality in video game characters. The top 20, best selling console (Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation2, and Nintendo GameCube) video games from the U.S. market for fiscal year 2003 were content analyzed. The 60 video games yielded a total of 489 separate characters with an identifiable sex for coding. Chi-square analyses indicated that female characters (n=70) were underrepresented in comparison to their male counterparts (n=419) as hypothesized. In comparison to male characters, females were significantly more likely to be shown partially nude, featured with an unrealistic body image, and depicted wearing sexually revealing clothing and inappropriate attire as also predicted. Implications for these findings are discussed using social cognitive theory as a theoretical anchor.

What is a True Gamer? The Male Gamer Stereotype and the Marginalization of Women in Video Game Culture

“…Indeed, the lack of aspirational female characters compared to male characters in current video games may indicate that the target audience is assumed to consist mostly of young men (Behm-Morawitz & Mastro, 2009;Burgess et al, 2007;Dill & Thill, 2007;Downs & Smith, 2010;Martins et al, 2009;Ogletree & Drake, 2007;Soukup, 2007;Williams, Martins, et al, 2009). Although it can be argued that this lack of female representation in video games does not deter women from playing (Daviault & Schott, 2013;Reinhard, 2009), it might still limit identification with the gamer label and thus negatively influence women's willingness to perform their gamer identity visibly (Burch & Wiseman, 2015).…”

“…The video game industry continues to create content that panders towards the presumed preferences of a young, male, heterosexual audience. These preferences are reflected in both a lack of female video game characters and hyper-sexualization of the female characters that do exist (Behm-Morawitz & Mastro, 2009;Burgess, Stermer, & Burgess, 2007;Dill & Thill, 2007;Downs & Smith, 2010;Martins, Williams, Harrison, & Ratan, 2009;Ogletree & Drake, 2007;Soukup, 2007;Williams, Martins, Consalvo, & Ivory, 2009). The marginalization of women in gaming also receives widespread attention outside the scientific discourse; for example, Anita Sarkeesian's (Sarkeesian, 2013) video series titled "Tropes versus Women in Video Games" criticizes the stereotypical and negative roles of female characters in video games.…”

Challenging the Other: Exploring the Role of Opponent Gender in Digital Game Competition for Female Players

“…1 The growth of the female gamer segment has been impeded, however, by the persistent view that games are predominantly ''male territory.'' [2][3][4] Scholarly research has tried to explain this gender bias by raising questions about popular themes, 5,6 female avatar representation, 7,8 and gaming access for women. 9,10 Related to this, a fourth possible explanation for the limited female presence in the gaming space is reluctance to engage in cross-gender competition due to cultural norms of gender division.…”

“…12,14 It is argued that digital games in particular tend to promote traditional gender ideals, for instance, by underrepresenting women and diffusing sexualized images. 7,8,15 Besides providing role models, gaming itself concerns a gendered leisure activity. Unlike many other media, such as television or radio, playing games is a behavior that is typically associated with males.…”

Mujer y pintura deportiva: La Colección del Consejo Superior de Deportes (España) / Women and Sport Painting: Collection of Superior Council of Sports (Spain)

“…Lo mismo se puede decir de las imágenes reproducidas en juguetes (Auster y Mansbach, 2012) y videojuegos (Downs y Smith, 2009;Ramírez-Macías, 2011). En el caso particular del análisis de imágenes en los textos sobre Educación Física, encontramos también diferencias en la proporción de imágenes deportivas femeninas y masculinas (Moya, Ros, Bastida y Menescardi, 2013; Moya-Mata, Ruiz, Martin, Pérez y Ros, 2017; Parra, 2001; Táboas-Pais y Rey, 2012), y de roles y caracterizaciones que asocian al hombre con una actividad física "ruda", en la que se resalta la acción y el esfuerzo y una actividad física más ligera o disminuida, de contenido expresivo o rítmico, para la mujer (López-Villar, 2011).…”