I found a couple youtube videos which someone made that dealt with stereotypes in video games. The person who made them can be found at www.myspace.com/stereotypesinvideogames
Stereotypical African American in Video Games
Asian and Latino Male Character Roles
Gender Stereotypes in Video Games
Although the creator of these didn't have too many video game sources, they still got their point out there. Video games have many stereotypes and misrepresent genders and ethnicities. This fantasy world can be dangerous and tell the younger generations that our world is really like that.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
Abstract for Final Project
Gender Images in Video Games
In video games, a man is displayed as the big strong dominant figure, while the woman is seen as the damsel in distress. In my final project, I want to touch on how video games display gender roles. These roles and images influence the people that play them, especially the younger generations. I feel the way genders are displayed influence younger generations and make them believe that the way men and women act are norms.
When it comes to genders, the man is the main character most of the time. Most games display men as tough guys, while women needing help or flaunting their sexuality. There is also the damsel in distress scenario in games. For example in the games: Mario Brothers and Zelda, you are a male character who is trying to save a princess. Both show a strong white heterosexual male completing many tasks and fighting their way to save the women. Women are shown as skinny, model-like females who flaunt their sexuality. Games where you get to play as female characters, such as Tomb Raider and Resident Evil, you will notice that they wear clothes that appeal to a mostly male audience.
In my final project, I will include explanations on video games and relate how they display their gender roles. I want to show how a media device like video games use their fantasy worlds to influence our society. In these games, it is established that a hero is a muscular white male, so men must try to be like this. Women flaunt and act a certain way, so it pressures females to become more like these fantasy women.
I will use references from the movies Tough Guise and Dreamworlds 2. I will also use references from background stories of the games and any pictures or youtube videos that show how genders are displayed.
In video games, a man is displayed as the big strong dominant figure, while the woman is seen as the damsel in distress. In my final project, I want to touch on how video games display gender roles. These roles and images influence the people that play them, especially the younger generations. I feel the way genders are displayed influence younger generations and make them believe that the way men and women act are norms.
When it comes to genders, the man is the main character most of the time. Most games display men as tough guys, while women needing help or flaunting their sexuality. There is also the damsel in distress scenario in games. For example in the games: Mario Brothers and Zelda, you are a male character who is trying to save a princess. Both show a strong white heterosexual male completing many tasks and fighting their way to save the women. Women are shown as skinny, model-like females who flaunt their sexuality. Games where you get to play as female characters, such as Tomb Raider and Resident Evil, you will notice that they wear clothes that appeal to a mostly male audience.
In my final project, I will include explanations on video games and relate how they display their gender roles. I want to show how a media device like video games use their fantasy worlds to influence our society. In these games, it is established that a hero is a muscular white male, so men must try to be like this. Women flaunt and act a certain way, so it pressures females to become more like these fantasy women.
I will use references from the movies Tough Guise and Dreamworlds 2. I will also use references from background stories of the games and any pictures or youtube videos that show how genders are displayed.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Just some random post
So I happened to stumble across a game trailer which caught my eye. The name of the game is Resident Evil 5. It is part of the Resident Evil series for game console, where you play a character in a 3rd person shooter view. The series has to to deal with zombies and you, they player, killing these zombies. Now what was interesting about this trailer was that the story line takes place in Africa; where apparently the zombie virus "originated".
The main hero is a white heterosexual male, running around killing Africans infected with the virus. They also portray African cities as wastelands and try to make it scary or dangerous. Apparently it is okay to kill these "zombies" because they are not people, they are monsters. I never really took into consideration how the media and gaming industries portray violence against others as a norm until I took this class. While watching the trailer, I felt that the game was racist, and that they were emphasizing the gender portrayals (the man being muscular and the female being skinny and wearing "the outfit"); so I looked for any discussion on the game in a game forum.
Forum Link
In that forum, I was pretty shocked at what some people said. One person said that it was not racist because it did not blatantly say you were killing all Africans. It kinda shocks me how some Americans do not notice stereotypes and bad portrayals of ethnicities in these kinda games. To them, its not racist unless it is brought up to them that it is. It also makes me wonder if the game developers were just substituting the AIDS virus with this zombie virus.
The main hero is a white heterosexual male, running around killing Africans infected with the virus. They also portray African cities as wastelands and try to make it scary or dangerous. Apparently it is okay to kill these "zombies" because they are not people, they are monsters. I never really took into consideration how the media and gaming industries portray violence against others as a norm until I took this class. While watching the trailer, I felt that the game was racist, and that they were emphasizing the gender portrayals (the man being muscular and the female being skinny and wearing "the outfit"); so I looked for any discussion on the game in a game forum.
Forum Link
In that forum, I was pretty shocked at what some people said. One person said that it was not racist because it did not blatantly say you were killing all Africans. It kinda shocks me how some Americans do not notice stereotypes and bad portrayals of ethnicities in these kinda games. To them, its not racist unless it is brought up to them that it is. It also makes me wonder if the game developers were just substituting the AIDS virus with this zombie virus.
Unsettling Settler Societies
In Unsettling Settler Societies introduction, the authors write about how these settler societies are just European colonies.
"If we define 'settler societies' as societies in which Europeans have settled, where their descendants have remained politically dominant over indigenous peoples, and where a heterogeneous society has developed in class, ethnic and racial terms, then it becomes clear that the 'settler societies' must be seen as falling along a continuum rather than within clear and fixed boundaries"
I found that quote interesting because it basically stated that Europeans establish their settler societies and have their descendants continue and enforce the political power/laws over any minority or native peoples. They were able to create their own classes, based on the European class.
When they colonize their "new land", they start their history on that day, denying indigenous population's history. The pre-history is considered irrelevant and boundaries are established between native history and history. These settlers also bring with them the European classifications: merchants, laborers, slaves, etc. Along with those they have a class/race hierarchy. Settler societies are like mini-European states. It is like being able to view the "exoticism" of another country in the comforts of your own home. They would also establish political power, which had the power to rule over native people, who knew little to nothing about the European political power. The authors use the word "internal colonialism" to describe the political and economic restraints used on racial/ethnic minorities and indigenous people within these settler societies. European settlers were able to exploit and rule over new lands. This book was interesting because it explained how these settler societies were established and into how they saw the minorities and indigenous people.
"If we define 'settler societies' as societies in which Europeans have settled, where their descendants have remained politically dominant over indigenous peoples, and where a heterogeneous society has developed in class, ethnic and racial terms, then it becomes clear that the 'settler societies' must be seen as falling along a continuum rather than within clear and fixed boundaries"
I found that quote interesting because it basically stated that Europeans establish their settler societies and have their descendants continue and enforce the political power/laws over any minority or native peoples. They were able to create their own classes, based on the European class.
When they colonize their "new land", they start their history on that day, denying indigenous population's history. The pre-history is considered irrelevant and boundaries are established between native history and history. These settlers also bring with them the European classifications: merchants, laborers, slaves, etc. Along with those they have a class/race hierarchy. Settler societies are like mini-European states. It is like being able to view the "exoticism" of another country in the comforts of your own home. They would also establish political power, which had the power to rule over native people, who knew little to nothing about the European political power. The authors use the word "internal colonialism" to describe the political and economic restraints used on racial/ethnic minorities and indigenous people within these settler societies. European settlers were able to exploit and rule over new lands. This book was interesting because it explained how these settler societies were established and into how they saw the minorities and indigenous people.
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