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Women in Video Games

1. Super Mario

Princess Peach is a huge cultural icon, being one of the longest lasting characters within the Nintendo franchise. But unlike other characters in every mainline Mario game, Princess Peach’s main role is to be rescued. Princes Peach has to be kidnapped within the first 15 minutes of the game. And the rest of the game is about saving the damsel in distress who is dependent on the male lead (Mario). Princess Peach’s image is self-explanatory, depicting a stereotypical appearance of a princess. She is portrayed as a fragile, delicate character that needs to be protected. She carries no weapons only a parasol that acts as an an accessory to complete her signature pink girly look. Princess Peach’s name also says alot about her character. The fact that her name is “Peach” is used to degrade her to the status of a mere object, as if she is not a human being.

2. Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V gives a prime example of discrimination against women in video games. The game’s portrayal of women is viewed as uncreative props ready to be used, leered, harassed, and killed just for the gamer’s experience. While males are the main characters in the game, women are scarce and underrepresented. Despite not having any women main characters, the game also sexualizes them, allowing players to purchase them and use them in any way they like. The women in the game wear skimpy clothing that barely covers their body. They are illustrated to have a thin waist, curvy hips, and big breasts. However, women are not just sexualized but also physically abused and objectified. The game encourages players to kill the women and even rewards them for doing so. They are shown as housewives, while others are seen as prizes to be won – a very old-fashioned perspective. The game is clearly misogynistic and celebrates abuse, prostitution, and sexual assault.

3. Hachi Koi

Another game introduced in the Nintendo franchise is Hachi Koi. Hachi Koi is a game about touching girls, the male protagonist is set with a mission before he dies, he wants to be able to love every woman that has romantic feelings for him. A highlight about this game is that the creator went out of the stereotypical role for a female character, creating different types of body shape. Even though the creator created different body shapes, the main purpose of the game is to let users pick out their ideal type, to place their sexual desires upon. Hachi Koi created their content upon sexualizing their characters allowing users to touch any female character they pick, and giving them the task of fulfilling their sexual desire by tying them up or applying lotion to the character’s body. The game’s representation of women within Hachi Koi is degrading and humiliating.

4. The Witcher 3

The Wild Hunt is the third franchise to The Witcher, a role playing video game that is based upon the fantasy series novels by Andrzej Sapkowski. The game follows a playable character named Geralt who is trying to find his adopted daughter, Ciri. Ciri is a strong girl with extraordinary powers that can destroy the world yet, she is not trusted and is allotted a man (Geralt) to protect her. In addition, many women are portrayed as monsters and creatures, obstacles created for Geralt to fight and overcome. They take the form of beautiful naked women, who use their beauty to seduce their prey in order to attack and kill them. The Witcher’s universe is oppressive towards women, by marking women’s physical appearance as a sexualied weapon to seduce men and grab the attention of male gamers. As a result, women aren’t just being sexualized but also depicted as evil beings that are predators and men are their prey/victims. This representation of women corresponds to the numerous stereotypes of women seen within thousands of famous video games.

5. Horizon: Zero Dawn

Horizon: Zero Dawn, the game takes place in a post apocalyptic world into the future, it is a third person action game that follows the story of a woman named Aloy. Women are equally represented in the game, whether they’re a protagonist, antagonist, warrior, or leader. Where in many other video games women has the stereotypical role or sex objects. Horizon: Zero Dawn moves past the typical male and female role by focusing on the characters personalities. With this focus on mind they made all their women characters distant and different. Adding color to different women characters along with different body shapes and personalities. The game’s representation of women challenges tradition, by grouping male and women characters in tribes where both of the genders share power and spiritual beliefs. In the game, gamers also get to experience side quests, meeting different women from different tribes who are also represented as a strong symbol for women. This type of representation shows that women in video games don’t have to be male to be significant. With their strength and motivation these characters are able to make a difference within the world, even if they’re not the main. With Horizon Zero Drawn players aren’t given a single female hero but a whole collection of different women that play hero’s within their own world. This representation should be an example of how every woman should be shown and treated within every video game within the gaming industry.

6. Mortal Kombat 11

Mortal Kombat is an arcade fighting game that was created by Midway Manufacturing. The game allows players to choose any character they like to fight. In recent years the creator of Mortal Kombat wanted to empower women representation within the game. He chose to dress the characters appropriately and created them as equally strong, while some are even more powerful than male character withins the game. The art director of Mortal kombat said,”Our design is just getting more mature and respectful. You’re not going to wear a bikini to a fight. You’re not going to be showing so much skin. I think it’s just what the game is about: You’re going in to fight for your life, and you’re not going to be wearing such scantily clad items.” This type of representation of women should be followed by other games as well. Not only that but the game contains one of the most playable female character unlike other fighting games.

7. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

There are games that let players pick a female character as main, but it is even more rare to see a female character as a default player, Ninja Theory does just that. In the game we follow Senua of Hellblade, she is one of the strongest female characters that has emerged into the gaming world. The game narrative involves Senua struggling with psychosis, players watch as Senua overcomes her darkest demons. Moreover, Ninja Theory does an amazing job at making Senua realistic by having Senua wear armor and war paint. Senuas clothing shows signs of wear, tear, blood, and mud. The proportions of Senua’s body show no sign of sexual features. The game rejects stereotypes and the notion that female characters must adhere to patriarchal expectations. Furthermore, the game shows that Senua is not defined by her ailment nor her gender, Seuna is a true representation of how female characters should be represented within the gaming world.

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