Representation of Gender

Lo
To begin to investigate the concept
of representation of gender in
computer games
 Starter
You go into a shop to buy a birthday
card for your dad list the kind of
pictures that you would see on a card
that said For my Dad
Do the same task for cards for
Task 2
mums/mothers
Name as many male protagonists as you can from computer
games

Name as many female protagonists as you can from computer

games
 Task two
Consider the following statements which do you
agree with and why?
Men and women are different. These differences
are purely genetic and society/family, cultural
experience has no impact on the expectations of
women or men or the way that they behave.
Major differences between the way that men and
women are perceived and behave are due to the
way that they are brought up and the images and
ideas that they are given through society/culture.
All media texts are re-presentations
of reality.
They are entirely constructed versions of reality.
When studying the media it is vital to remember
this - every media form, from a home video to a
glossy magazine, is a representation of
someone's concept of existence, encoded into a
series of signs and symbols which can be read by
an audience.
Therefore, representation is a fluid, two-way
process: producers position a text somewhere in
relation to reality and audiences assess a text on
its relationship to reality.
If you arrived from earth from another planet what
impression would you have of women from looking at
these images?
What are the
differences between
the way men and
women are
represented in video
games?

Why do you think this

is?
 Interesting article about excuses giv
en for not featuring female protagoni
sts in computer games

Gamergate and who plays computer

games
 Representation in Tomb
Raider
Learning objective
To consider typical and atypical
representations of gender within a game
trailer
 You can construct your own table of 'typical' male/female characteristics, as
perpetuated by the media. Try to list at least ten for each.

Typically masculine Typically feminine

Tough Fragile
Hard Soft
Sweaty Fragrant
Gender

Gender is one of the basic categories we use for

sorting human beings, and it is a key issue when
discussing representation (along with race,
culture, age etc.).
Essential elements of our own identity, and the
identities we assume other people to have, come
from concepts of gender - what does it mean to
be a boy or a girl?
Many objects, not just humans, are represented
by the media as being particularly masculine or
feminine - particularly in advertising - and we
grow up with an awareness of what constitutes
'appropriate' characteristics for each gender.
Or cultural ideas of gender.
Representations of Femininity

Feminism has been a recognised social philosophy for more than thirty
years, and the changes that have occurred in women's roles in western
society during that time have been nothing short of phenomenal. Yet
media representations of women remain worryingly constant. Does this
reflect that the status of women has not really changed or that the male-
dominated media does not want to accept it has changed?

Representations of women across all media tend to highlight the following:

beauty (within narrow conventions)

size/physique (again, within narrow conventions)

sexuality (as expressed by the above)

emotional (as opposed to intellectual) dealings

relationships (as opposed to independence/freedom)

Representations of Femininity (2)
Women are often represented as being part of a
context (family, friends, colleagues) and
working/thinking as part of a team.
In drama, they tend to take the role of helper
(Propp) or object, passive rather than active.
Often their passivity extends to victim-hood.
Men are still represented as TV drama characters up to 3
times more frequently than women, and tend to be the
predominant focus of news stories.
The representations of women that do make it
onto page and screen do tend to be stereotypical,
in terms of conforming to societal expectations,
and characters who do not fit into the mould tend
to be seen as dangerous and deviant.
Representations of Masculinity

'Masculinity' is a concept that is made up of more rigid

stereotypes than femininity. Representations of men across
all media tend to focus on the following:

Strength - physical and intellectual

Power

Sexual attractiveness (which may be based on the above)

Physique

Independence (of thought, action)

Having agency and control
 Terminology write one/two down
each lesson
Stereotype- a widely held but fixed and
oversimplified image or idea of a particular
type of person or thing.
Archetype - the original pattern or model from
which all things of the same kind are copied or
on which they are based; a model or first form;
prototype. a collectively inherited unconscious
idea, pattern of thought, image, etc.,
universally present in individual psyches.
Example of an archetype is a hero being
muscular or a princess being beautiful
 Terminology
Countertype - The definition of a countertype
is a positive stereotype and emphasizes the
positive features about a person.
Sexualised - make sexual; attribute sex or a
sex role to.
Objectified - to reduce somebody, or
something that is complex and multifaceted,
to the status of a simple object
 Terminology
Dominant ideology - In Marxist philosophy,
the term dominant ideology denotes the
attitudes, beliefs, values, and morals shared by
the majority of the people in a given society; as a
mechanism of social control, the dominant
ideology frames how the majority of the
population thinks about the nature of society,
their place in society, and their connection to a
social class.
 Terminology
Dominant reading - A dominant reading also
known as an invited reading, is the desired
effect of the text such as an advertisement.
The position of a viewer who can identify with
the hegemonic (dominant) position and receive
the dominant message of an image or text
(such as a television show) in an unquestioning
manner.
'Dominant' readings are produced by those
whose social situation favours the preferred
reading;
 Negotiated reading
'negotiated' readings are produced
by those who inflect the preferred
reading to take account of their
social position
 Oppositional reading
'oppositional' readings are produced
by those whose social position puts
them into direct conflict with the
preferred reading
 Key terminology for computer
games
Avatar: A player character, usually
customisable.
Virtuality - Existing as or by means of
digital media: a virtual classroom.
Relating to or existing in virtual
reality: a virtual encounter in a
computer game.
 Equilibrium
Disequilibrium
Enigma code
Action code