Videogames: Introduction - Women in videogames

Part 1: Medium article - Is Female Representation in Video Games Finally Changing?
Read this Medium feature on whether female representation in videogames is finally changing. Answer the following questions:

1) How have women traditionally been represented in videogames?
Women are typically either objectified or “damsels in distress” in many major video games

2) What percentage of the video game audience is female?
42% of the video game demographic is female

3) What recent games have signalled a change in the industry and what qualities do the female protagonists offer?
Tomb Raider, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, The Last of Us, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and The Walking Dead series have female protagonists
characters who are role models for real women, because they are strong, independent, intelligent, willful and compassionate.

4) Do you agree with the idea that audiences reject media products if they feel they are misrepresented within them?
I disagree, most of time people play video game as sorce of entertainment and diversion they are not expected to relate with the character or to be represented so the audience wouldn't reject the product.

5) What does the writer suggest has changed regarding recent versions of Lara Croft and who does she credit for this development?

Game industry is aware of this and is making strides to change the way they represent women because they are losing sales by misrepresenting nearly half of their audience.

Part 2: Tropes vs Women in Video Games – further analysis

Visit Anita Sarkeesian’s ‘Tropes vs Women in Video Games Series 2’ YouTube playlist and watch ONE other video in the series (your choice - and feel free to choose a video from season 1 if you prefer). Write a 100 word summary of the video you watch:

Title of video: 

Damsel in Distress: Part 1 - Tropes vs Women in Video Games

100 word summary:
Nintendo 64 created a game called Dinosur Planet. The game stared a 16 year old protagonist Krystal (travelling through time and fighting monsters with magical staff). She was strong, capable and heroic. However it never got realised because Shigeru Miyamoto thought it should be third installment in his star fox franchises instead. Next 2 years Nintendo did the exact thing. Rewrote and redesigned the game and realised it as Star Fox Adventures for the Game Cube in 2002. The revamped version the protagonist Krystal turned into Damsel In Distress and spent vast majority of the game inside a crystal prison waiting to be saved by new hero, Fox McCloud. Krystal was given a skimpier and more sexualised outfit. 

Part 3: Anita Sarkeesian Gamespot interview

Finally, read this Gamespot interview with Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency and answer the following questions:

1) What reaction did Anita Sarkeesian receive when she published her videos on women in videogames? You can find more information on this on Sarkeesian’s Kickstarter fundraising page.
While I always expect some level of harassment when discussing gender issues online, this time it's a more extreme and sustained torrent of sexism, hate, and threats.

2) How does Sarkeesian summarise feminism?
Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings.

3) Why do stories matter?
Stories have embedded myths and messages and can be carriers of positive, heroic, or subversive values, but they can also propagate or reinforce negative stereotypes and oppressive social norms

4) How does Sarkeesian view Samus Aran and Lara Croft (the two protagonists from our upcoming CSPs)?
Lara Croft appeals to me and to some other women I know because she's independent and very capable, but at the same time, there's no denying that she has often been presented as a sex object
The quicker you complete the game, the more of her suit she takes off at the end; her femaleness is presented as a reward, something for players to ogle.

5) How has the videogame landscape changed with regards to the representation of women?
We now see a slightly larger number of female characters and more protagonists,

6) Why are Mirror’s Edge and Portal held up as examples of more progressive representations of women?
both characters are women of color, and both serve as the protagonists of their own games without being overly sexualized or objectified, which may be partially due to the first-person perspective

7) What are the qualities that Sarkeesian lists for developers to work on creating more positive female characters?
Very briefly, some very basic things I look for in female characters are: protagonists with agency not tied directly to their sex appeal;

8) What is the impact of the videogames industry being male-dominated?
Game companies need to intentionally change their male-dominated spaces and internal cultures to actually shift away from the old boys' club mentality and atmosphere-

9) What did Sarkeesian hope to achieve through her ‘Tropes vs Women in Video Games’ series?
My hope is to clearly present the issues surrounding women's representations as a systemic problem by identifying reoccuring patterns.

10) What media debates did Sarkeesian hope to spark with her video series?
It's also really important to me that my viewers understand that engaging with media is not always an all-or-nothing situation.