Female Characters in Video Games (Potential Minor Spoilers Inside)

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Dragonistic
Firstly, try to avoid any major plot spoilers particularly new games. I've mentioned some early and/or well known things about Tomb Raider and Bioshock so if you wish to know nothing of these games, come back later.

This seems to be a fairly hot topic right now, largely prompted by the revival of Tomb Raider I found myself discussing this with friends and the gaming industry seems to be as well particularly with fuel from Bioshock Infinite's Elizabeth. There's some serious politics occurring largely between developer and publishers, specifically publishers pushed to put female characters in the shade (see: The Last of Us, Remember me and the cover of Bioshock).

Most critics blame pure sexism, that publishers and/or gamers believe women in video games should be support characters and little more then objects to look at with small uses every now and then. Questions arise though over whether or not it is because there aren't good games with female leads? Is that because they are female leads or bad games? Is it because games with female leads get less exposure or attention as they are deemed less likely to succeed? Subsequently are gamers made to believe that female leads aren't as good based on the games we've had or do they genuinely believe so for other reasons? Ultimately these are unanswerable to a large degree but I have my own questions and opinions on the matter from the gamers perspective and I'd like to hear others.

I generally would rather play as a male character over a female because I can get in that role much easier then one of a female. I love to fill in the blanks in stories and play in ways which I would believe myself to do, as a female playable character I find myself struggling to relate.

Ignoring the fact that I generally think Lara Croft is an uninteresting character from any perspective, playable or not, in the new game there's been alot of buzz over a rape scene. One of my friends would tell me at this point it makes less sense to have a male lead there so a female is the only option (which is correct) but I would argue that a rape scene is not necessary period as we've seen many a gruesome scene with a male being tortured etc. in any variety of ways which I would find just as 'wrong' but with a key difference. I can't put myself in the shoes of a woman being raped by a man as I can never for any ridiculous reason be put in that situation (though I could be raped by a man it would be different, I can't say I'd want too try either). Ironically the rape scene turns out not to be one, I believe if you fail the event Lara is just strangled to death but my point remains.

However in Bioshock Infinite Elizabeth is the main character though she is not playable and I have absolutely no problem with that. Booker (playable) is effectively a support character and I am not being the lead. Would I want to play as Elizabeth though or a female in Bookers role? No. Once again I find myself relating to both playable and non-playable characters as I can put myself in the playable characters shoes. I can relate to his perspective of himself and of Elizabeth much better then an equivalent female. The key here for me is the difference between playable and non playable genders, I do not have any problem with female characters being not only useful but infact the true lead of a game but I would still not want to play as them as I can't think as they would or do as they do in any situation.

An excellent example I picked up in the media is a publisher proclaiming to developer (I don't remember exactly which or the exact wording) that male players would find it awkward playing as a female and being intimate with a male. I wouldn't find it awkward, but I wouldn't be able to relate to my character as I don't find men attractive and would therefore not see the attractive qualities in them. Flip the situation and as a male I could see what would and wouldn't be attractive about the female even if both characters are essentially the same.

I love to lose myself in the world of a game. Even in an FPS with no real story I want to lose myself in the game as with the right formula of effects, controls etc. I will panic under fire and feel as if I'm there rather then as if I'm playing as if I'm there (Battlefield for me). In that FPS it doesn't much matter male or female from an objective standpoint as there's no story reasons one way or the other so I'd rather be like myself, male.

In a story driven game a void forms between me and character if I can't relate and I can't relate to being a woman for the rather simple and obvious reason that I am not a woman (none of you jokers out there say anything otherwise on that). I don't mind if my male playable character is not even particularly important, a female character can be the lead and I have no problem so long as I'm not expected to be them and get in their mindset.


So what does the rest of GTP think?
Do you think female characters should be support characters only?
Can you play as the opposite gender and truly immerse yourself in their story?
If not, why?

For me, it's no and no. I'm fine with female characters being in and even lead a game but I would still rather PLAY as a male as I can more easily adopt their role in the story which will unwind before me. I wish I could put myself in a woman's shoes both in real life and not though as I'd love to know what goes through their minds sometimes!
 
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I would like to open with a video:



I agree with some of the issues that have been creeping up to be, well, issues. It's a sad thing that developers have to fight their publishers to get a female into the lead role, even if it fits the game very well. I also agree that having female characters in games that are relegated to being a walking pair of boobs is ridiculous in this day in age. It's also hugely dumb to have Elizabeth not on the front cover of Bioshock Infinite and such.

Personally, I don't really mind playing as a female. That's probably because, well, I can't really identify with most one-dimensional, chavtastic gun-bros either. I would've played Crysis 3 if Prophet was female, I'd be playing Bioshock Infinite if Booker was female. I'd continue with Dishonored if the character was female and I'd still be hyped for Thief if I had to play a woman.

However, I do realise that I'm not the mass market. The mass market does identify with gun-bros a lá Gears of War, ridiculous hard-ass types like Kratos and your random hipster-scumbag like Dante. Gaming is still largely dominated by a male audience, at least if we're talking about console and PC gaming. So, yeah, games will cater to the largely male audience - which identifies much more with the examples above than with, say, Lara Croft. Which, in and of itself, isn't something that has to change. Because, frankly, I don't think it's intentionally sexist behaviour or anything of that sort. People don't buy games to worry about being politically correct or anything, they buy them to relax and have some fun.

And that's why I think the whole topic is way overblown. Yes, there are some minor issues here and there that should be discussed. Yes, there are some things that I, personally, perceive as bigger issues. Overall, though, I don't think 'sexism in gaming' is as huge a topic as it is made to be at the moment.

Nobody went up to a boy thirty years ago and scolded him for playing exclusively with his G.I. Jones action figure and tried to talk him into playing with a Barbie. And neither should that be happening with games now. Sure, there are some cases where someone created an awesome "Barbie" and the publisher is throwing a tantrum about it not being a G. I. Jones, which sucks. Giving someone a G. I. Jones also doesn't mean you have to adorn it with downright offensive depictions of women.

But it certainly isn't a huge disaster if the majority of players prefer G. I. Jones over Barbie. I don't know, this is just such a non-issue to me. Like a lot of what feminism 3.0 has been going on about lately (in Germany, at least).
 
I couldn't agree more that the subject is blown out of proportion, to the point I had to stop and think to myself am I a sexist gamer? Then I think to myself how ridiculous it is to even concern myself with that as I know I'm not sexist out in the real world and games are my own experience. For that reason I have mentioned the politics but I don't wish to focus on them, others may if they wish of course though.

I don't particularly identify with gun-bros (nice term) either, a boring character is boring regardless of their anatomy and they become almost completely interchangeable. This comes back to my generic FPS paragraph where if it doesn't matter who the character is particularly I would rather be more like myself even if only loosely. Prophet as example, I tend to forget about Prophet the character and just become a pseudo self inside the nano suit which is of course male. That said I understand Prophet, if suddenly Prophet is female it wouldn't quite sit right with me because I don't feel a female would act in the same way as male version does even if only in the details which don't affect the main story arc. This would detract from the raw gameplay for me as I'd be inherently aware of that and it creates inconsistency in my mind when I'm doing my part of filling in the blanks, it would feel like I'm gender swapping each time a cutscene kicks in or a female is acting out of character to what I would imagine in the cutscene (neither of which is a desirable outcome for me).

Back to Bioshock I don't find the core gameplay particularly special but the story and environment has me sold so far. The interactions between 'myself' and Elizabeth are key even at the early stage I am in the game, though Booker doesn't necessarily react exactly as I would myself I can understand his decisions and actions. Similarly I understand the ways in which he is treated, I feel once again it wouldn't be quite right if nothing changed except Booker's gender though nothing he or I has done absolutely requires a male.

Of course, it's not just the gender which can drag me away. Dante is a great example of a character who is just so far down the road I don't want to play as him unless the gameplay was 100% to my tastes at time of purchase, which it isn't. I always need some vague connection, even if only small. Gun-bros are a little closer then gun-girls for me in the sense that 2/10 is closer then 1/10, neither grab me but one is still a little ahead.

Frankly it's a mindset I wish I could get over as I feel like I could miss out on good games because of it, but as long as I'm still having fun I don't much care.
 
I've been thinking much about this lately as well, and you've both covered some good points. I don't have that much to add really.

I would say there's some definitive sexism in the gaming industry as a whole. Female characters tend to be in the background, are often uninteresting and I very often get the feeling they're just there for visual titilation.

I think the general lack of interesting, well written and meaningful female characters has got a lot to do with the fact that the majority of writers are men, writing games for men because they're the biggest market. This makes a lot of sense, but I can't help but feel that it's this that puts of women of video gaming. Sort of a vicous circle.

I think the gaming industry would have a lot to gain from getting more women to play as well.

It seems that an increasing number of players are getting bothered by it though, which is a good thing in my opinion, and the way I see it, we can only gain from getting more diverse and well written characters, male or female.

As for which characters I can connect to, I think it's more a question of the characters personality than gender.
 
To be honest I'd be surprised if you get much discussion in this thread, I mean it's hardly likely anyone's going to pop in here and be all 'I hate women and they should never be in games ever!'.

Gaming has always been sexist, from the fact that women in the industry earn on average 25% less than men (I think that's what I read, anyway) to the fact that games for girls are invariably something to do with horses or are full of pink. The dismembered bikini-wearing torso meant to promose Dead Island: Riptide that was quickly canned didn't help much either. It really, really needs to change.

I have to say, though, I'm pretty much blind when it comes to your player character. I mean in the same way I don't notice if I'm playing as a white man or a black man, I don't really notice if I'm playing as a woman. Mirror's Edge, for example; Ok so I did notice, but I didn't think about it after about ten seconds. I guess it's just one of those things that when it's done right, you shouldn't notice, unless the game is about inequality or features it as a theme; I'm pretty sure San Andreas would have played a lot differently had CJ been white for instance. I am (to contradict myself) pretty sick of playing games as a white male though, whenever I have the choice I choose pretty much anything but the white male. Except for Tekken, that is; Brian Fury and Forest Law (who isn't white, actually) are my usual tag team.
 
Whilst the Uncharted series has some pretty well written female NPCs you can also play as them online. Brink would have had female characters but they stated that the required change in hit-box size was too much by the time they thought about it. Quite a bad excuse really.

I'm not sure why it's difficult to 'fit into the skin' or mindset of a female character though. I had absolutely no problem playing Tomb Raider. The games that do have playable females, as far as I'm aware, aren't particularly written differently from their perspective, which is a shame. That's one way to lengthen the appeal of any game, due to seeing and needing to tackle the game from a different perspective.

Actually, Dead Island is the only game I can think of that has two (that's half) main characters who are female that you can choose. That game does also differentiate in abilities, so the experience of playing through the campaign can be quite different - perhaps why I've put almost four hundred hours into it.

EDIT: There is also going to be Beyond: Two Souls don't forget.
 
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Dead Island reminds me of another good example, I've been playing Left 4 Dead 1 recently co-op with 3 other friends. It doesn't take a genius to guess which character is chosen last, the only female in the game. This despite the fact that 2 of those 3 I've discussed this matter with and don't understand my view yet they still act in the same way or perhaps she's just the most boring character, it's difficult to be sure.
 
I usually pick a woman if I can choose between a man and a woman, simply because I prefer to look at a woman all day than looking at a man back.

However if we're talking about the gaming industry, I guess woman are treat again like some sort of decoration which is sad. It's true that most game are made for young men and feature woman that just act like toys but it's slowly changing. Nintendo is trying to get a hold of girls, by releasing games aimed towards yound girls and I think it's a good things.
 
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