Studio Brief 2 - The Illustrated Self

Research

I have come to a part in my project where I feel as though I should educate myself more on the topic of female gender roles in video games. 

The first article I came across was called, 'Shirts vs. Skins: Clothing as an Indicator of GenderRole Stereotyping in Video Games' - however I wasn't able to access the main article because I didn't have a subscription to the site. I was however, able to read the abstract. I picked out some quotes I thought were relevant:

1. "We suggest that video games, similar to other media forms, are sources of information that children and young adults may use to determine what behaviors and attitudes are considered appropriately masculine and feminine"
2. "This analysis revealed a significant sex bias in the number of male versus female characters found in the games and among the way in which the male and female characters were dressed."
3. "Of the 597 characters coded, only 82 (13.74%) were women. The Nintendo 64 games had the fewest number of female characters, and the majority of the female characters wore clothing that exposed more skin than the male characters."

I'm really glad I came across these points because they all support my project in a way.  I am particularly interested in the last quote because I was focusing on Nintendo characters to begin and this was a good confirmation that I was on point. 

Another article I was really interested in reading but couldn't because of expensive subscriptions was, 'The Virtual Census: Representations of Gender, Race and Age in Video Games'. Once again I could read the abstract, so I picked out these quotes:

1. "A large-scale content analysis of characters in video games was employed to answer questions about their representations of gender, race and age in comparison to the US population."
2. "The results show a systematic over-representation of males, white and adults and a systematic under-representation of females, Hispanics, Native Americans, children and the elderly."
3. "Overall, the results are similar to those found in television research. The implications for identity, cognitive models, cultivation and game research are discussed."

This Wiki article on gender representation was also quite informative. I found some interesting quotes from various sections about female roles:

1. "The vast majority of female characters have been found to be non-playable, meaning they cannot be played by the gamer. This suggests a female secondary status in video games"
2. "According to data gathered by Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR), few video games have exclusively female heroes. This is in part because, according to EEDAR, "there's a sense in the industry that games with female heroes won’t sell", whichPenny Arcade attributed in part to these games receiving much smaller marketing budgets than games with male heroes"
3. "a sample of 669 action, shooter, and role-playing games selected by EEDAR in 2012, only 24 (4%) had an exclusively female protagonist, and 300 (45%) provided the option of selecting one"
4. "female player characters remain something of an exception. In 2013, for instance, Epic Games was lauded for the inclusion and portrayal of Anya and Samantha Byrne in Gears of War 3, the series' first playable female characters.^[12] Despite the positive response from female players who found her empowering, Epic Games believes that the video game market would not support a Gears of War title with women as the central protagonists"
5. "A number of games feature a female character as an ally or sidekick to the male hero. "
6. "female characters are often cast in the role of the damsel in distress, with their rescue being the objective of the game."

After reading about this subject, it really confirmed to me that I wanted to portray females as the heroes - especially in games where there was no option but to play as a male character. I am going to continue swapping the gender of popular game heroes and disregard what is considered feminine by society or the gaming industry because I believe women can be the hero without being scantily clad.