Young men make up the largest demographic of video game players, which is why female characters are often depicted as sexually objectified. However, the audience is becoming more diverse as women, LGBTQ people, and other groups increasingly play games. This shift has led to calls for more inclusion but also backlash from the original male audience. When Anita Sarkeesian launched a Kickstarter to examine sexism in games, she faced relentless online harassment, exemplifying the gender issues in gaming. Her high-profile experience brought more discussion to problems of sexism, and hopefully video games will soon be an industry where people of all backgrounds can enjoy playing.

1. Gender and Media
Project
Sex and Gender in video games
By Josh Taub

2. Typical female game characters:

3. Why is this the dominant representation
of women in video games?
Because the largest demographic that plays
video games are young men.
These are the type of female characters the typical gamer
wants to see

4. However, the audience for video games is rapidly changing.
Women, homosexuals, and other groups that aren’t typically associated with video games are now
becoming a substantial part of the video game user base.

5. This shift had led to both calls for more diversity and better representations of
women in games…

6. …and to much resistance and backlash by gaming’s
original straight-male audience

7. The Anita Sarkeesian Debacle
This women ran a kickstarter campaign to
fund a series of videos examining sexism in
video games

8. … It did not go well for her

9. The unrelenting harassment and misogyny Sarkeesian faced
sparked a newfound interest and debate on the issue of women
and feminism in video games
Something of a martyr figure for feminism-minded gamers, the abuse Sarkeesian
endured became the quintessential example of the gender issues facing video
games.

10. Ironically, Sarkeesian’s vocal, hateful detractors ended up inadvertently kicking the
video game feminism debate into high gear.
Gender issues and sexism in video games are much more discussed now
than they were before the Sarkeesian incident

11. For the record:
 There is nothing wrong with straight men enjoying looking at attractive
women in entertainment products.
Sexy female video game
characters are not an
inherently bad thing, and we
should not tell people that
they aren’t allowed to have
something that they enjoy

12. The issue is that EVERYBODY should be able to enjoy
video games, not just straight white males.
There should be a place for women and other groups in this industry and culture
as well. There should be more games and characters that reflect the interests of
these audiences, and they should be able to play and enjoy games without fear
of harassment or sexism from the community.
It’s not that we need
much less of this:
It’s that we need
much more of this:

13. Hopefully the day when EVERYONE of all
genders and races can enjoy video games will
come soon