Women Sexual Exploitation Rrepresented in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

Female Characters: An Audience Study on Male Gamers in PlayerUnknown’s

Battlegrounds Surabaya Community

Vian Ahmad Saputra

English Department, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Airlangga
vianahmads97@gmail.com

Abstract

A survival battle royale video game, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, has achieved huge
popularity as it hit millions of downloads on Steam application in less than a year after being
released. The ability to freely customize the character is often misused by a number of male
players, especially when it dealt with female character. Instead, it ends up with a female
objectification as many male gamers actualize their desirable women figure through the female
characters by dressing them in sexy and revealing appearance. By applying male gaze theory by
Laura Mulvey, this study aims to examine how female character is being sexually exploited in the
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds video game by the male gamer. As the method, this research
used participant observation and qualitative research approach. Then the data were analyzed by
using feminist psychoanalysis as the fundamental basis on Mulvey’s Male Gaze theory consisting
of scopophilia, narcissism, and fetish. After conducting an in-depth interview, the result shows
that female characters tend to be used and exploited to satisfy male gamer’s sexual fantasies
toward women in the real life.

Keywords: Female objectification; Fetish; Male Gaze; Narcissism; Scopophilia

1. Introduction
In this 21st century, men and women are still differentiated either from their physics or
roles, therefore making the men occupied the highest position. This phenomenon leads to the
supremacy of men over women because they are considered to have more superior physics and
role in the society (Sultana 2011). Women are still found to be differentiated from men for their
jobs, roles, education, and in other positions in society. Similarly adapted in Indonesia, the country
where some of the society still applying the patriarchal culture, considering women to have a role
as the caretaker of the children and handle household responsibilities. Mulvey asserted that male’s
endurance and physical strength are translated to political power. In contrast, women’s lack of
sophistication in society makes them ended up in home as child-bearer (Mulvey 1989).
The supremacy of men leads to the domination over women which resulted in valuing
women as only “object”, for instance considering them as a sexual object to pleasure their need.
Those practices are widely depicted in many kinds of media. As Laura Mulvey in her Visual
Pleasure and Narrative Cinema stated that man can live his fantasies through the semantic order
by imposing women on the silent image of woman where woman as the carrier of meaning
(Mulvey 1989). By the fact that today’s society still adapted the patriarchy values that put men as
the dominant and posses power, in contrast with the women who are positioned as inferior (Tyson
2015).
Among many issues which possibly lie in video game, female objectification represented
by the female characters in the video game might be one of the most recognizable issues within
numerous kinds of video games that have been created so far. For example, players especially
male gamers are often used and dressed their female character in a sexy and revealing outfit,
creating a character with an excessive sexual feature, and controlling their female character to do
anything as they pleased including sexual action. It is supported by the study conducted by Dietz
which found that out of 41% of average video games which were devoid of female characters
used by both male and female players, 28% of them were portraying women as a sexual object
which is illustrated on the character’s physical appearance or sexually-oriented action (Dietz
1998).
In the 21st century, more video games present the female character as strong and more
dominant. For instance, PlayerUnknown’s Battleground which allows player to choose a female
as their main character. Today, there are many female characters in the video games to be
represented as a combination of masculinity, sensitiveness and gentleness which makes women
seen more powerful (Gauntlett 2002. Even though some of the video games are still portraying
women as a passive character, many video games which more appropriately represent women in
video game are emerged. This fact is affected by number of women who play the video game
which is significantly increasing in recent years. According to Entertainment Sofware
Association’s report in 2013, 55% of the players are male while 45 % are Females (Entertainment
Software Association 2013). However, the data from Entertainment Sofware Association shows
that male players are still dominating the video game world. As a consequence of the domination
of male players in the video game world, women characters are often shown as an oversexualised
character to attract more gamers to play the video game.
Regarding this issue, there are several video games showing the same pattern and
potential to be discussed, for instance, Fortnite Battle Royale. Released in 2017, this is a survival
battle royale video game which provides customizable characters. It also has the same gameplay
as PlayerUnknown’s Battleground. However, it is not chosen as it has a cartoonish graphic which
makes the video game less realistic.Next video game shared similar issue is Rules of Survival, a
survival battle royale video game. The video game was released on November 17, 2017 in beta
version for mobile device and May 30, 2018 for PC platform, this video game also has the same
genre and gameplay as PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. However, this video game is not chosen
because its popularity and hype are not as huge as current chosen object. The last is Free Fire
video game. Released in early January 2018, this video game also adopts the same genre and
gameplay with PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds which is survival battle royale. Even it is very
similar, but it still different compared to PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds as the game access is
only limited on mobile devices. Thus, it implies that the graphic offered in this game is not as
realistic as PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds which is PC games. Even the graphic quality of
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is more stable both in mobile or PC version. Compared to all
video games mentioned above, this research will analyze PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds as it
fits the criteria by the writer for the research.
PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds (2017) video game is chosen as it is indicated having
gender representation issue. As the technology continuously developing, many game developers
compete to create a better quality of games to satisfy gamers who are craving for a remarkable
game. Commonly stereotyped to be an escape from reality for a while, video games are also used
by many gamers to express their alter ego, personal feelings, emotions, or even used as a media
to satisfy their desire or pleasure or something. The most recent trending video game worldwide
was survival battle royale video game, for example, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds or known
as PUBG developed by Bluehole for the PC platform and Tencent Games for the mobile version.
The video game was first released via Steam application on 23 March 2017 in the early access
beta form for PC. Video game inspired by battle royale accumulates high popularity (Columnist
2017). This fact is not surprising, as PUBG itself hit 10 million sales as 9 May 2017 based on the
video game’s official Twitter. Therefore, this research uses PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is
chosen as it suits the criteria needed for this research.
According to the object chosen which is a video game dealing with gender representation
and objectification on female’s body, some related studies with issue relevant will be used as
references for this research. A research by Diah Ayu Okiyanti in her thesis discussed Male Gaze
in Lara Croft character provided by Tomb Raider (2013). This research discussed how a female
character is being portrayed sexually by male players, as she argued that those players amazed by
Lara’s sexy appearance. Even though Lara Croft is an active and main character in the video
game, they are still shown powerless and in control of the players behind the Male Gaze. Another
one is a research conducted by Zaheer Hussain and Mark Griffiths in 2008, conducted a research
about gender swapping cyberspace especially in video games. Based on the result of their
research, it is revealed that gender swapping appeared to influence the playing performance in the
video game. The interaction and impression among the players might be different as other players
might interest by the female character without considering who is the real player behind those
character actually. The next one is conducted Selen Turkay and Sonam Adilnof in 2010. They
conducted a study about the character’s appearance customization as one of many important
aspects from the video game. They found out that each player might have different opinion about
character customization.
Stuart Hall’s reception theory which consists of dominant- hegemonic position, the
negotiated position, and the oppositional position (Hall 1993) will be use to sort the
participants’ respond. Then the data are analyzed using feminist psychoanalysis which consists
of scopophilia or is also known as the pleasure in looking, narcissism which is developed as the
result of scopophilia as the audiences see an object as a mirror version of himself or herself and
Fetish which is how women body, face, and appearance are turned into a source of a visual
pleasure (Mulvey 1989) alongside with the Male Gaze theory by Laura Mulvey. In other words,
this study will reveal how female character is being sexually exploited in the PlayerUnknown’s
Battlegrounds video game by the male player.

2. Methodology
2.1 Research Approach
In analyzing the issue lies in the object on this research, this study will apply participant
observation as the method of the research and qualitative research approach to collect the data.
Participant observation is a method used in conducting a research where the researcher takes part
in the culture or event which is their object of the research (DeWalt 2002) to learn more the
concept and aspects of the culture or event they are researching. The qualitative research approach
is a research that attempts to make sense of or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings
people bring to them (Denzin and Lincoln 2000). Those definition is similar to the one who is
pointed by Shank, that qualitative is an empirical enquiry in obtaining meaning done
systematically (Shank 2002). So, the writer use in-depth interview in collecting the data from the
respondent to get a more spesific answer to the research.

2.2 Data Source

This research took PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds or known as PUBG developed by
Bluehole for PC platform and Tencent Games for the mobile version of the video game, also the
transcript of the recording as the result of the in-depth interview.
The secondary data of this analysis is obtained from either online and offline sources
including books that dealing about female objectification, theory of game and gender, articles
with issue relevance, and other academic sources to support the analysis and theorist’s debates in
the field of gender representation..

2.3 Technique of Data Collection

There are several steps used in collecting the data of the research. First, Find 10
respondents that meet the criteria who is a male, age range 17-30 years old from the
PlayerUnknown’s Battleground Surabaya community and is limited only to the members
of PUBG Indonesia group, play the video game at least three times in a week, and also using
female characters. Then deep interviewing the respondents using the questions prepared before.

2.4 Data Analysis

After collecting the data, the writer writes and then summarizes the transcript of the
interview. The transcript of the interview is written by using Bahasa Indonesia. Then, the
responses of the respondents are being sorted using Stuart Hall’s reception theory which consists
of dominant- hegemonic position, the negotiated position, and the oppositional position (Hall
1993). Then the data are analyzed using feminist psychoanalysis which consists of scopophilia,
narcissism, fetish (Mulvey 1989) alongside with the Male Gaze theory by Laura Mulvey.

3. Results and Discussion

As the media continue to develop, men’s objectification toward women shows that
women are represented as their sensual and sexual object. As the fact that women are identified
as a new instrument to please men’s sexual desire as an impact of woman erotic image which is
often displayed in the media (Dardigna and Weibel, as cited in Ceulemans and Fauconnier 1979).
As mentioned in the theoretical framework, scopophilia, narcissism, and fetish are the important
things in this study.

3.1 Scopophilia
Based on the result of the interview, most of the participants explain that they gain
pleasure from looking at the female characters which they have been created. They say that the
body of the female characters and the clothes they wear make the female characters look sexy.
The beauty of the female characters made by the players also becomes one of the factors that
attracts the male gamer. Those beautiful and sexy appearances are combined together to meet the
criteria of ideal women for each male gamer. Even though female characters in PlayerUnknown’s
Battlegrounds mostly have Western beauty standard, the globalization has made Western beauty
standard can also be applied in Indonesia (Arimbi 2011).
“The female characters I made were based on my ideal women. It is hard to find our
ideal women in the real life, so the easiest way to fulfil my pleasure of ideal women is
to apply it in the PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ characters.” (VI, 21 May 2018)
“I like to see beautiful and sexy girls in real life. So, in playing PlayerUnknown’s
Battleground I also create my female characters according to my type of girl. I also
dress them in a sexy outfit, just to make them look sexy.” (OG, 24 May 2018)
Based on the responses of the participants mentioned above, it can be inferred that they
make their female characters according to each of their view on ideal women. They also dress the
female characters based on their idea of sexy women. The reason lies behind it is because they
want to please their sensual and sexual desire by staring at their female characters which look like
the women they like. However, this is not the only factor for every participant to please their
desire in using the female characters.
“I dress my female character using a mini skirt and something like a bra. I find it unique
to see women in a sexy clothing running and firing a weapon. For me, it gives tomboy
looks of women and I like it.” (AA, 21 May 2018)
AA on his answers shows that some gamers also take pleasure in starring at sexy women
carrying a gun and killing people which they find it different from every woman. For some of the
gamers, beautiful face and sexy looking body are not the only factors which attract them, but they
also need something unique combined with the beautiful face and sexy appearance.
This analysis based on the participant's responses find out that PlayerUnknown’s
Battlegrounds’ female characters are used by the male gamers to please themselves by looking or
staring at it. This fact is still acceptable for men as the female characters on the PlayerUnknown’s
Battlegrounds video game are only virtual characters who cannot give any responses to the male
gamers as they use the female characters as an object of sexual pleasure. Based on Laura Mulvey’s
theory of male gaze, female characters in the video game are proved to be the object of male
sexual desire even if they are only a fictional and visual character.

3.2 Narcissism
Narcissism is developed as the result of scopophilia as the audiences see an object as a
mirror version of himself or herself (Mulvey 1989). Narcism in this context deals with how
players control the characters. All of the characters in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds do not
have any supporting characters. In other words, the female characters used by each player in the
video game is their main character. Some of the participants are connected emotionally to their
female characters because the female characters are the only characters they control through the
entire game. In addition, the female characters in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds used by the
male gamers will not only be a source of pleasure by staring at it, but they are also used as objects
in terms of that they are more than just scopophilia, but they are called as narcissistic.
“In playing this video game as a female character, I feel like I need to move carefully
in the game because I need to protect my female characters like I protect other women
in the real life.’ (MF, 23 May 2018)
“Like I have said before, I create my female characters based on my ideal women. So,
whenever I play the video game, I feel like I am playing it with my dream girlfriend. I
don’t want her to die so I move carefully to keep them alive.” (AA, 21 May 2018)
The participants also experience narcissistic through the video game because of the
female characters they have created before that are based on their type of women in real life. From
the analysis based on the participants’ responses above, through scopophilia, players see their
female characters as the reflection of themselves by imagining that they are playing the video
game as their ideal women represented in the female characters. Because of that, they have to be
careful in controlling their female characters, so they will not lose and witness their characters get
hurt or even die.

3.3 Fetish
Fetish, relating to the video game, can be gotten from viewing the beauty and sexiness
and other objects attached to the video game’s characters which can invite an erotic pleasure for
the audiences. For example, some of the participants like women which are strong, having a short
hair, beautiful, and tomboy. Some of the participants also like women with a beautiful face, girly
appearance. This fact means that the ideas of ideal women are different for each participant
perspective. In other words, gamers are creating and customizing their female characters based
on each of their view on ideal women.
Dominant- hegemonic
“ I create my character based on my ideal women in real life, so when I play the video
game, I imagine that I am seeing my dream women whenever I see my female
characters.” (TY, 21 May 2018)
“I dress my female character using a mini skirt and something like a bra. I found it
unique to see a woman in a sexy clothing running and firing a weapon. For me, it creates
a tomboy looks of a woman and I like it.” (AA, 21 May 2018)
From the participants’ responses, it can be inferred that almost all of the gamers follow
their own views on ideal women even though they are not aware of it. MF denies and opposes
against the idea that gamers are creating their female characters based on each gamer’s views of
ideal women, but he can not explain the reason why he customizes his female character in his
chosen style.
Opposition
“The character I am creating is not based on my ideal women. I also dress my female
characters in clothes that I find suitable for my female characters. I do not know why I
am customizing my female characters using that dress, but sometimes I choose the
clothes for my female characters because I think if they wear those clothes they look
more beautiful.” (MF, 23 May 2018)
However, he mentions that his female characters look more beautiful when they wear the
clothes of his choice. Based on his answer, it can be concluded that he is also customizing his
female characters according to his own view of ideal women.
“Whenever I play the video game and see my female character which I have dressed in
a sexy outfit, I feel like my body responded to it. I feel like I want to have sex with such
of women.” (DW, 21 May 2018)
The participants explain how their instinct and body react to the female characters
displayed in their video game. They explain that it does not occur every time they play the video
game. It only occurs on a specific point, for example when they play with the camera angle then
accidentally it zooms into the specific parts of the female characters’ body such as boobs,
cleavage, and camel toe (before it gets patched by the developer to remove the camel toe shown
before). Another reason that affects the reaction of the player’s body is their erotic fantasies.
These erotic fantasies trigger their body reaction, mostly erection, which respond to the gamer’s
erotic instinct when they see the body shape and specific parts of the female character’s body in
the video game.
In this analysis, it is found that the participants can please their sexual desire by
fantasizing about the female characters only if the female characters fit each of their own ideas of
ideal women. They turn their female characters’ beautiful and sexy looks into their sexual
pleasure. They argue that they substitute their ideal type of women in real life by representing it
into a visual character and gained the pleasure by staring at it which they can not do it in the real
life.

3.4 Video Game as Virtual Escape – Video Game vs Real World

Video game is played by people for various purposes, such as one of the sources of the
players’ fantasy as Sherry and Lucas find out that gamers use video games as methods for
accessing to (at least one) the psychological states, one of them is fantasy (Sherry and Lucas, as
cited in Przybylski et al 2010). Therefore, the respondents of this research are using the female
character in PlayerUnknown’s Battleground as their source of fantasy.
The idea of sexiness and beauty in Indonesia is basically different from the Western
beauty concept, however, the globalization has made Western beauty standard is also applied in
Indonesia (Arimbi 2011). Even though female characters in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
mostly have Western beauty standard, the players are having their own ideal women which are
based on their own views towards Western beauty standard. So, the differences between server
played by Indonesian gamer (SEA server) does not stand as a boundary, but it only divides the
player in playing in their region, so that they will have a relatively stable ping.
“The female characters I create are based on my ideal women. It is hard to find our ideal
women in real life, so the easiest way to fulfil my pleasure of ideal women is to apply
it in the PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ characters.” (VI, 21 May 2018)
“I like to see beautiful and sexy girls in real life. So, in playing PlayerUnknown’s
Battleground I also create my female characters according to my type of girl. I also dress
them in a sexy outfit, just to make them look sexy.” (OG, 24 May 2018)
“I dress my female characters using a mini skirt and something like a bra. I find it unique
to see women in sexy clothes running and firing a weapon. For me, it gives tomboy
looks of women and I like it.” (AA, 21 May 2018)
“Honestly, I consider to see a representing image of women in the virtual world as sexy
characters, then it gives me pleasure. It is not what you can see or do in real life, so I do
it in the video game by not dressing my female characters in any single clothes, and just
leave them wearing the underwear.” (DF, 21 May 2018)
The video game developer successfully substitutes women for the gamers with the virtual
image of women represented in the female characters. Mulvey in her Male Gaze theory splits the
unconsciousness of male to escape from castration anxiety; saving guilty object trough
punishment or forgiveness, and substitute women with a fetish object (Mulvey 1989). The female
characters of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds serve as a sexual object for the players for the lack
of sexual feeling gotten from women in the players’ real life. Another reason is because of in real-
life there is a limitation for their behavior, so they can not do what they desire to do freely. The
male gamers use and create the female characters as how they desire their characters to look like
their perspective on ideal women, and then turn them into the object which satisfies and
pleases their sexual desire as the characters are powerless against male gamers’ will. The sexual
fetishism usually happens on an unliving object.
4. Conclusion
From the analysis, it is concluded that the concept of women objectification represented
by female character in video games is not only shown by portraying it as a less dominant, weak,
and passive character, but also sexually. However, it is not rarely found video games which offer
a female character who is strong and dominant. It turns out that players make use the female
characters as a substitution of women in term of sexual object. They kind of shifting the female
character into a fetish object by dressing them to be physically appealing and sexy as their desire.
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