Do games really show gender inequality?

               In recent years there has been this whole idea of women not being represented well in video games, and if they are they are usually made to be a sexual object. The argument is that most games such as the Mario brothers are always saving someone like peach. This portrays women according to some to be incredibly weak, and unable to save themselves. One foremost supporter of the change for this kind of movement is Anita Sarkeesian. The movement sort of hits home for me as I am a computer science major. I enjoy making games on the side when I have free time. I regularly compete in game jams where you make games over a 48 hour period. I have a few problems with the idea that women are poorly portrayed in games. The first reason is that men are also poorly portrayed in video games as well, the second reason is that while there are a lot of games with a male character there are a lot of game with a women being the main character as well, and the final reason is that video games are a form of art.

               The first reason is because men are also poorly portrayed in video games. My problem with the whole women being objectified in video games is that men are also objectified in video games. Not every guy on the planet has a six pack, looks ripped, or can pull off insane acrobatic stunts whenever they want. The idea behind video games is you are playing in a fantasy world to escape for a brief moment the stress of your everyday life. 

               The other issue is that some of the most popular games can have very powerful women to be played in them. For instance in world of Warcraft which is arguably the most played game in China and other countries gives you the ability to choose to be either a women or a male. They let you make any choices you want to the character. In games such as league of legends some of the most powerful champions are women. League of legends is one of the most popular games on the planet. The story driven games are where the problem comes in and to that I say it’s up the person writing the story to choose who they want to be the main character. You do not see such a huge problem with Hunger Games having a majority female protagonist, and Harry Potter having a prominently male protagonist. I see the idea of video games being held to a higher standards and I do not understand why. Which brings me to my final point of video games being a form of art.

               My final issue is that no one in this situation see’s video games as there truest form which is art. It is a whole new level of art. You can build a world where people spend hours of their time playing in it. You can choose to add unique story content to keep your world interesting. The art style, the story, and the exact type of game not only takes hours, but weeks and months to design. Grand Theft Auto is a target for most complaints. If you look at Grand Theft Auto as a piece of art you begin to see the only thing wrong with it is it shows how messed up society can actually be. They have created a world where you can literally do whatever you want and that is a massive step in video game art. If you want to golf you can drive to a golf course and golf. The world is amazing in detail and took hours of time to create, and the story line itself took months to write as well. The main issue is that women are mistreated in the game. In reality you are only looking at one aspect of the game. You are not looking at the idea that Grand Theft Auto is a replica of the real world with gameplay elements. They remove rules so you can do whatever you want, and when you do get caught you re-spawn. It would be very hard for them to reach their artistic goal of letting you do anything if they hampered how you could treat women, or removed elements most people do not like. I don’t support the actions you can do in Grand Theft Auto, only the idea that it is an amazing piece of art to be able to achieve such a large world, and the idea that artists should be allowed freedom of expression.

               Finally I think that women should start becoming a bigger part in the video game industry. I believe that if they want a specific story and art style of a game to be created then they should pursue it. I think game franchises have become stagnant and would like to see new ideas being thrown in. I think there is a perfect opening for women to start creating their own story lines. I think that if they can become computer science majors and end up getting a job in the field then you will see better games coming out. I believe that women are represented fine in video games, and would like to see society leave it up to the discretion of the artists behind the games they make. We do not have such a huge issue with other aspects of life, and I do not see why video games is where we need to start with gender equality.

http://feministfrequency.com/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/10/14/the-only-guide-to-gamergate-you-will-ever-need-to-read/