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In my mind, video games are made solely for the player's personal entertainment and fun. In some cases, they allow us to jump into another dimension and explore the fantasy world we often dream of being apart of. They could even act as a living, breathing book. Why read about Nathan Drake's adventures when you could relive them yourself?
Even though I happen to be a male gamer, I find the way the female body is expressed in video games very demeaning and unethical. But why would I question how females are presented in a game when in most cases, they're simply there to appeal to and draw in the younger male demographic?
While I don't really agree with all of the studies proclaiming violence in kids linked back to video games, I do think certain situations or thought processes could be affected. A close friend of mine joined the military because of Call of Duty. Not because he wanted to serve for our great country and what it stands for, it was simply because he wanted to go off and shoot some bad guys and be a bad*** like he could be in a video game.
In reality, you don't get to respawn back at your home base after you die and repeat the process. One mistake in the heat of a battle and your gone forever. You don't get a second chance.
According to a recent CNN report, they mention that 90% of kids ages 8-16 play video games. If you're a boy, on average you play more than 13 hours a week. If children are exposed to games at such an alarming amount of time, then what are their thoughts on women have large, skimpy breasts?
Often the female player is found where a skinny, tight outfit that will most likely reveal a women's thigh and stomach area, and a lot of cleavage. In MMOs, in particular RIFT, women have an entire different outfit system than what the men would wear.
The same item equipped on a man would be clipped apart for a women. The icon for RIFT is a women wearing a breastplate to protect her breast only and leather tight pants for her thighs. A man wearing that same outfit would be covered head to toe in full plate metal action.
Besides, who in the right mind would want to charge into a fight with their breast, arms, and legs all exposed to be harmed? Would they not want those areas to be covered up for better protection? Perhaps they just want to look good while they perform the dirty work.
In Grand Theft Auto IV, one way for your character to regain health is to have sex with a prostitute. You just have to walk down a dark alley and find a woman wearing next to nothing and you get into a car with her. A charming cinematic then pops up to show a car shaking back and forth.
If you drive away during the "process," the girl is forcefully thrown from the car into the street. Players also have the option to shoot her to death and get their money back. If you think that is right in any way, that is sick.
Then we have games like Silent Hill 4 that not only promote women looking "sexy" and wearing skimpy clothing attire, they reward you with it. If you complete the game four times, one the characters, Cynthia, will wear "some sexy lingerie."
Why would women want to pay $60 for a game they tells their role in our society is simply for sexual pleasure. Here in the U.S., there are roughly 97 men for every 100 females in our nation. If the women are the clear majority in our population here, why would game developers not try to reach out and attempt to appeal to that demographic? Statistically, they would potentially make more money.
In a study taken three years ago on Forbes, female gamers were reportedly on the rise showing a 28% increase in the U.S. alone. Yes, there are still more men playing video games than there are women, but that is mainly because most games solely appeal to the men demographic, not the female.
Not many girls want to run around blowing the heads off of zombies in Left 4 Dead or going on a killing spree in Call of Duty multiplayer. Don't get me wrong, some women relish in commencing upon those things. Not all women cherish that idea however.
Sexism in games seems to be apart of our gaming society now. It isn't an issue from my viewpoint that is going to vanish any time soon. It is a problem that needs to be addressed though. It is highly unethical and just plain wrong to portray women being some sort of sexual tool for a mans entertainment. They're humans too you know.