As some of you know, I run an online forum called Pixelgasm, which is dedicated to all forms of nerd art, but more specifically video games, and even more specifically, bead sprites. One of our long-standing members, Faith, writes for a number of blogs and is constantly mentioning the forum and it’s amazing members, for which we are all very appreciative - except for one former member (who was eventually banned from PG for insulting multiple members who had done nothing to deserve it, and just causing unnecessary drama in general). Even after being banned from Pixelgasm and deviantART, this online terror of a person has been seen popping up here and there on other sites spouting insults and flat out stupid opinions that don’t apply to those at which she directs them, but always are a clear statement of her poor character. The latest outburst from her was on one of Faith’s blog posts about different types of “girl gamers” and how some efforts to even the playing field in the gaming industry for females have only made things worse for them - it was a fantastic article, but this person was just plain hateful towards Faith and other staff on the blog.
I don’t mean to carry on about the former PG member, but I wanted to describe the situation which has motivated me to offer my opinion (a dude’s opinion) on…
Girls That Play Video Games
First off, guys and girls are different. That’s just science at work - and I wouldn’t want to have it any other way. Clothes are designed and manufactured to cater to these differences, television shows (and even entire stations *cough* Lifetime and Spike *cough*) are geared towards one gender or the other, and everything else from toys to magazines do the same because of the simple fact that guys and gals like different things, save an overlap in the middle that appeal to both.
There have been some groups of females in the past that seem to think that the video game industry has not joined the ranks when it comes to equal representation of the sexes, and I may be inclined to agree - however, consider the following:
- The amount of women’s clothing (as well as the number of different kinds of clothing for women) that is available in stores, online shops, etc., far outnumbers men’s clothing. The proof is in the department stores with entire floors dedicated to women’s clothing, but only one small corner for men. Online shops have nearly twice as many sections for women as they do for men, on average. Even the numbers on eBay are staggering: 1,362,280 results for women’s clothing, 646, 091 for men’s clothing - and that doesn’t include shoes!
Simply put, women like to buy clothing more than men do, so the clothing manufacturers make more clothing for females. Likewise, more men like to play video games than females, so the industry markets more of its material to men. If women want an equal share in video games, then there needs first to be an equal percentage of girls that play video games.
I understand that this is only one example, but to make a point, no man has ever said to another (let alone created a website to campaign for the cause): “there aren’t enough clothing choices for me out there…I wish the clothing manufacturers out there would cater more to our needs!”
Okay, so where am I going with this? Wasn’t I talking about the current state of the female voice in the video game industry? Well, I still am, but I’d like to make clear a broader point before I dive into the topic - every industry caters more strongly to one gender or the other, that’s just how it is because, like I said before, dudes and chicks are different.
So the video game industry doesn’t cater enough to females, some say? The history of gaming will clearly show that the further back in time one looks, the higher the percentage of male gamers versus female gamers will rise, thus suggesting - nay, proving - that percentage of game-loving ladies, moving forward, is increasing, and therefore the difference between those fractions is becoming smaller by the hour. From my observations, the percentage of games marketed toward girls has increased as well. The number of “girly-colored” handheld systems available has also increased. Additionally, the number of female lead roles in games has also risen, not to mention the ability to create your own character in a lot of games, so hey, you can be a girl or a guy, and you can even make it look like you! These games are my favorite, actually, and I generally spend more time creating my character than I do playing the game.
I suspect the problem is not that the industry hasn’t catered (and been catering for years) to the females that play games - it’s that they either haven’t catered fast enough, or well enough, for some of the female gamers anyhow.
Concerning the rate of gamer-related items marketed towards women, it will only increase as fast as companies in the industry can expect to make money from those marketing efforts. Let’s face it, they may love their jobs, but making games is just as much about making money as it is in the film industry. If the demand (and therefore the money) is there, then so will be the supply. That’s business 101.
Now, moving on to the good stuff - the content of the games. I’m talking about the roles that male and female characters play, the outfits that they where, and the size of their…brains? i kid…
A lot of complaints from the roughly one third of gamers that makes up the female gamers is either that the majority of games [that they want to play] does not have the option to play as a female, has a female character that is inferior to the male character in the game, or the role and/or outfit of the female objectifies her in poor taste. I’ll admit, I find it hard to believe that the girls of Soul Calibur II are wearing historically accurate battle clothes, but it’s not like Kilik, Maxi, Astaroth, Hong (Yunsung), Mitsurugi, Nightmare, and Lizard Man don’t have outfits than expose significant portions of skin. The “objectification of men” may not be as severe as it is of women, but it is there - it’s just that we don’t give a shit.
Here’s a comparison I just thought of (and may not have thought through too well):
- An argument can be made that men don’t mind playing as female characters in games since they’re used to having the option to play as male characters the majority of the time. I personally choose female characters over male characters because they are generally quicker, and more agile. Of course, I don’t doubt there are plenty of guys that choose the female characters when given the option, simply because they want something nice to look at, and guys are not as easy on the eyes as girls are.
- An argument can also be made that men don’t mind being objectified in video games as much as women because they’re not used to it. It makes them feel special that a women would even bother objectifying them! But it’s true, most male character roles in video games make them inherently ripped, strong, bad-ass, violent and able to swoon the ladies - which certainly does not accurately characterize most real-life men, and less so those that are prone to play the games.
What’s my point? Well, it’s clear that men love playing a game where the male character is anything, or everything, that they are not. It’s been done since the 70’s and there hasn’t been one complaint from guys about this, because it’s a fantasy experience, like taking a vacation. I don’t live in the Bahamas, but I went there on vacation because it’s a lot nicer than Pennsylvania. Likewise, video games provide that “vacation” from a job, spouse, family - whatever! A lot of female gamer advocates have expressed to the industry that they want their equal share in the games that are produced. They want an equal number of games for females, an equal stat bar as a female character in games with both genders available to play, and they don’t want to play as a scantily clad, big-breasted woman…wait a minute - If guys like playing a character that is everything they are not, why don’t women enjoy the same experience? Probably because females are more likely to consider this representation objectifying, but I don’t see it that way.
The representation of men and women characters in video games seems equal to me, or at the very least, proportionate to the numbers - so what’s the real problem?
Feel free to leave a comment telling me what you think!