Sexism in video games

Recently I had an in depth conversation with my older brother regarding sexism in video games and the bias towards men being the stronger characters.

Naturally it is generally assumed that male characters will be stronger and more purposeful than female characters within the context of video games however that in no way brands females as redundant or inefficient. In fact, as representations in video games have evolved there are more and more female characters that are self-reliant and formidable on their own.

My brother’s opinion was that the game intentionally portrays females as weaker than males in order to be coherent with reality. Inherently, men (biologically) are stronger than females therefore in game, males should be more efficient than females. However my rebuttal was that the archetype of the typical female is no longer as vividly apparent. There are independent female characters, contrasting the ‘damsel in distress’ model or the supporting model.

With examples such as the protagonists of Mass Effect (Shepard), Dragon Age (Hawke), Final Fantasy XIII (Lightning), Parasite Eve (Aya Brea) and Metroid (Samus) there are females out there that ascend the stereotype of the ‘inefficient character’ whilst avoiding becoming overly sexualised items of attraction.

Sadly, this breach of the archetype is conflicted when female protagonists such as Bayonetta (Bayonetta) and Nina Williams (Tekken/Death by Degrees) come into effect whereby they are clothed in skin-tight outfits or alternatively, near to nothing, and although are independent and self-reliant, are also created entirely to be ogled at by a demographic interested solely on appearances.

In the end we came to the conclusion that despite the evident improvement in the rise of female characters being efficient and independently powerful, sexism would be apparent in video games for years to come, just as there remains to be fragments of sexism in reality now. In a sense, the sexism in video games, parallels the same impacts in reality, to a certain degree.