The Good, the Bad, and the Sexy

A few years ago, I took a wonderful class with a wonderful professor called "The Psychology of Women".  The class, not the professor. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when I signed up for it, but it quickly became one of my favorite classes.  It was one of a handful of classes that made me think, "This is something I could do for the rest of my life." But social psychology isn't exactly a great field for someone with only a B.A.

Instead of tests, we had weekly quizzes. We had discussion days once a week, but my favorite project was when we had to violate gender norms for a day. I ended up cross dressing, and it ended up still being one of the most fun days I've ever had in college, partially because I ended up confusing the hell out of the other people in the coffee shop. 

Instead of a final exam, we had to write a research paper. The topic? "Anything we've talked about in class." The length? "As long as it needs to be." You know, the two things that a class never wants to hear in regards to a paper.

Still, it is nice to be allowed that freedom. In most classes, I would much rather see a list: "Here are five topics. Pick one and turn in four pages of drivel." (No, wait, that was just my English classes.) But writing about anything in a subject I was interested in? With no page limit? It must be my birthday! It was a good day to be a geek.

After much hemming and hawing, I had it narrowed down to two subjects. The first: Role models.

When I was a kid, my hero was Eileen Collins, who, among other things, was the first female commander of a NASA mission. I wanted to be just like her when I was a kid. I had big plans to be the first person to step foot on Mars. I even got to meet her, years later, when I was in high school and had since decided the life of an astronaut was not for me. I was too starstruck to say much of anything...I wish I told her how much I looked up to her.

What I wanted to know was who do young girls look up to today, and how does it impact their ideals? It seems today that most of the role models young girls have to follow are Miley Cyruses and Selena Gomezes. Is that how you would pluralize their names?  You know the type: pop stars, whose values lie in fame.  Many TV shows that feature girls as lead characters also feature catty behavior, backstabbing, and girls just being awful to one another. And it's not just TV shows, either.

"College was Plan B. I was still hoping for Plan A, but Edward was just so stubborn about leaving me human..." - Stephanie Meyer, New Moon

Fuck you, Bella Swan.

Listen to this NPR story about the effects of reality TV shows on girls. Girls in the study discussed here who regularly watched reality TV think that it is more normal to gossip and compete with other girls, and are less likely to trust other girls. Also, one in four girls expects to be famous. I really hope this is the scariest thing that you've read today. There's a lot more to the story than what I've just mentioned, so I really recommend you listen to (or read) it to get a better understanding of this study.

Obviously, this is important stuff. Unfortunately, I could find very little research about this topic at the time.  So, I switched it to my second topic. You guessed it: video games.

"Wait, wait, wait--" I hear you cry. "Aren't video games sort of a step-down from role models?"

Okay, role models are really important. But here's something else to consider: in 2010, 46% of game purchasers were female. No doubt this number has risen since then, especially with the popularity of casual games, such as Words with Friends and Angry Birds.

Girl gamers like myself are on the rise! When I was in high school, I would often walk into game stores and see that I was the only girl in the place. When I go to game stores today, I'm not usually the only girl in there. Men still outnumber us, but we're out there, and we're not afraid to frag your ass.

But what do gamers--both women and men--see when female characters are featured in games?

Let's start with some examples, shall we?

Princess Peach. The literal girl in the tower waiting to be rescued. Apparently possesses teleportation abilities, because she's always in another castle. She finally got her own game in 2006, where she got her special powers from her emotions. Also, if you Google "Princess Peach Game" because you can't remember the title, the first few results are dress-up games.

Cooking Mama. That kind of says it all.  And no, this isn't an actual image from the game, but a VG Cats comic about the game. Ah, sexism. Mama can't fix it.

Mia Fey. From the Ace Attorney games, Mia serves as the main character's mentor. She proves to be just as competent or even more so than the other male characters in the game. Mia is a great character, but I can't fail to notice that her boobs are the size of basketballs. Also, she manages to get killed after the first episode in the game. But she comes back. Sort of.

Lara Croft. What kind of feminist gaming blog would this be if we never mentioned her? This tomb raider brought female game heroes to the spotlight. She is easily one of the most recognizable female game characters in history. She's a total bad ass, and...

Oh, right.

"It was a defining moment for me as I watched her strut seductively across my screen and into the sex symbol status that would turn the gaming world on its head. Fast-forward eight years through the evolution of next-gen hardware, multimillion-dollar budgets, and massive acceptance of games in pop culture. Still, Lara Croft continues to personify an ongoing culture clash over gender, sexuality, empowerment, and objectification." - Zoe Flowers, "Getting the Girl"

We could go through examples of the good, the bad, and the sexy until Cthulhu wakes. It's not difficult to see the problems these characters present. But one nice thing (if there is a nice thing) about these issues is that they're all fairly obvious. Lara Croft? Kicks a ton of ass, but there are two reasons why a lot of gamers like her. But what about the more subtle things? Things that aren't quite in your face as Lara's boobs. 

My God. Sometimes I wish game developers would name their characters something like "Tits McGee". At least then they're being honest with themselves.

There are two last characters that I'd like to introduce you to. 

In the blue corner, weighing in at 90 pounds, we have Yuna. 

And in the red corner, weighing in at 120 pounds (because the skirt adds on a few) we have Lulu.

FIGHT!

I'm know what you're thinking, so I'll clear this up right now. Yes. Square Enix's obsession with belts had gone this far. Her skirt is made out of belts. Her whole skirt. How do you make something like that? How do you even move in that? How do you follow the main hero around for over 100 hours wearing something like that? This skirt confuses and irritates me. But I digress.

Let's start with Yuna. The game is centered around her, after all, even though she doesn't actually reach playable character status until Final Fantasy X-2. While we're on the subject, X-2 happens to be the first Final Fantasy game to feature a woman as a main character. Thanks for that one, Square Enix. And that's not even getting into the Dressphere system. -_-'

Yuna is charged with saving the world, and of the three female leads, as the most important role in the game's story. She's a feminine character: soft spoken, pretty, and supportive of the other characters. In battle, Yuna's relegated to healing the other party members; a background task. When she's used offensively, she summons aeons--magical creatures that you collect like pokémon--to damage enemies for her. She can also whack things with her stick (sorry, staff), but it doesn't do much of anything unless she's grossly overleveled. On the positive side, Yuna's pretty realistic looking. Once you get past the fact that she looks like a strong wind could knock her over.

Lulu's pretty much Yuna's opposite. She tends to be seen as cold-hearted and cynical, but when you get down to it, Lulu's a bitch. She's more competent than Yuna, who needs to be rescued more than once throughout the course of the game. In battle, her magic attacks inflict a ton of damage on enemies. She also can throw stuffed-animal bombs at them, which like her skirt, perplexes me. Her appearance? Yet another pair of giant boobs and a highly accessorized outfit. I honestly believe that her looks are to balance out the un-feminine qualities in her.

Okay, examples are great. And we've all heard that negative portrayals aren't good for us, but they're everywhere: TV, movies, ads...what makes gaming so special? Why are these characters so bad for us, when things like this can be found in every other form of media?

I got one word for you: immersion.

When you watch a TV show, there's always some distance between you and the show. You are a viewer, not a participant. When you play games, you become that character. You control their actions, get involved in the world, and you are the one who makes everything happen. This is even evidenced, in some way, by how we talk about games. When you're talking about how many hookers you killed in Grand Theft Auto, you don't say, "Niko waited until the hookers came out and ran them over, and then Roman called." You say something like, "I made Niko run over all the hookers, and then Roman called." More likely, though, you say something like this: "I ran over all the hookers and then my cousin Roman called. He asked if I wanted to go see beeg American tee-tees." In fact, plenty of games have been criticized for not having a likable enough main character...or a character that players can relate to.

Here's another interesting thing about immersion: the stronger the storyline, the stronger the immersion.

Think about any game you've ever played. When were you most into it? What game stays in your brain, even after you've put down the controller? Most likely, it's one with a good story. Right now I'm playing through Radiant Historia, and it's probably the most epic DS game I've played. It has a great story, and it makes me want to continue playing, because I want to know what happens next.

This even happens with games with skeleton plots, but to a lesser extent. Take the Pokémon games. Sure, collecting the gym badges, raising pokémon, and breeding wailords with skitties is all pretty fun. But one of the best parts of the game, and still my favorite, is defeating Team Rocket. Aside from defeating the Elite Four, everything after that felt like an anti-climax. I dare you to find another game where so many kids all cried out the same thing: "Oh my God, Mom, NOT NOW! I'm fighting Giovanni!"

Mothers will never understand the feeling of defeating Team Rocket for the first time.

Other than making us act like crazy people, what does immersion do for us? It makes games more fun, for a start. But we also are more likely to internalize the messages that our games are sending us. 

Messages like don't steal pokémon, or some 10-year-old punk ass kid will come and crush your organized crime ring.

So what does that immersion do to us? Plenty, it turns out.

In 2008, two researchers studied the impact that games have on body image. Both men and women in the study played games that had a high focus on the characters' bodies--a wrestling game and a volleyball game, respectively. The study revealed that body esteem decreased for both men and women.

Body esteem = the emotional way we feel about our bodies.

There was some decrease in how the participants viewed their sexual attractiveness, though this ended up not being statistically significant. If you paid attention in your stats class and actually understand what that means, good. Explain it to me.

But wait! There's more! With your purchase of lowered body esteem, we'll throw in an increased tolerance of sexual harassment and rape myths, absolutely free! WHATADEAL!

What are rape myths?

Well, I'm glad you asked, Melvin. No, they don't have anything to do with Zeus, the original, "hide your kids, hide your wife".

Rape myths are false beliefs that people hold about rape. Some common ones include:

• Rape is sex.
• A victim of rape should "forget about it".
• Rape is only perpetrated by strangers.
• Rape is a relatively rare crime.
• Women "ask for it" from the way they dress or act.

While we're on the subject, let's clear a few of these up.

1. Rape is not an act of sexual gratification, but rather and act of violence or domination.
2. Nearly one-third of rape victims suffer PTSD as a result of their rape. Rape changes your life. It is not something you can "forget about".
3. About 70% of victims know who their attacker is.
4. One out of every 8 women has been the victim of rape.
5. Most rapes are planned. Rapists target women that appear vulnerable. No one "asks" to be raped. Not ever. The rapist is solely responsible for the rape.

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle!

I like this study a lot, so let's go through it, shall we? Participants--both women and men--were shown a series of images of either congressmen and women, or sex-typed game characters. After the images, participants read a true story of a female student being sexually harassed by her male professor. Participants responded to the story by indicating how serious they though the incident was, how much empathy they had for the victim, how much blame they placed on the victim, and what would be a good punishment for the professor.

The researchers found that tolerance for sexual harassment was the highest in the group of men that had viewed the sexy game characters, but women who viewed the sex-typed characters displayed the lowest amount of tolerance for harassment. Exposure to violence in video games had a positive correlation to rape-supportive attitudes and endorsement of rape myths.

Most of us are aware of sexism in video games (and if you weren't before, you sure are now!) but we don't realize just how much it can influence our thoughts.

Why am I still doing this, then? Clearly, video games are evil and make us violent, sexist pigs.

The answer is very simple.

Because I love video games. I love to play them, I love to talk about them, I love to write about them....  Knowing all this doesn't make them any less fun for me. Developers are going to keep making them, and we'll keep playing them. But while we're saving the world, keep an eye out for things that shouldn't be there...and the things that should be.

Next up: Dragon Age: Origins

Image credits:
Princess Peach - http://www.mariowiki.com/File:PeachNormalSPP.png
Cooking Mama - http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=252
Mia Fey - http://aceattorney.wikia.com/wiki/Mia_Fey
Lara Croft 1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lara_Croft
Lara Croft 2 - http://www.oddee.com/item_96977.aspx
Yuna - http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Yuna
Lulu - http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Lulu

Works Cited

(Barlett C P Harris R J 2008 impact of body emphasizing video games on body image concerns in men and women)Barlett, C. P., & Harris, R. J. (2008). The impact of body emphasizing video games on body image concerns in men and women. Sex Roles, 57, 419-433.

(Dill K E Brown B P Collins M A 2008 An examination of violence and gender role portrayals in video games: Implications for gender socialization and aggressive behavior)Dill, K. E., Brown, B. P., & Collins, M. A. (2008). An examination of violence and gender role portrayals in video games: Implications for gender socialization and aggressive behavior. Sex Roles, 38, 425-442.

 (Entertainment Software Association 2010 Essential facts about the computer video game industry)Entertainment Software Association. (2010). Essential facts about the computer video game industry. Retrieved from http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_Essential_Facts_2010.PDF

Martin (2011) (Martin M 201110 Reality tv turning girls into fame monsters?)Martin, M. (2011, October). Reality tv turning girls into fame monsters? Retrieved from National Public Radio Web site: http://www.npr.org/2011/10/19/141508287/reality-tv-turning-young-girls-into-fame-monsters

Citations done in APA format. Fuck yeah.