The Creepy Cull of Female Protagonists

[JimboUK]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/7044-The-Creepy-Cull-of-Female-Protagonists (video contains strong language and a couple of sexual references)

 

The Escapists Jim Sterling has made a video pointing out the disappearance of female protagonists in games, this is something I've noticed and it's not something that has always been a problem, during the PS1/PS2 era female protagonists weren't unusual, there weren't as many as there were males but they were there and unlike today they weren't being hidden. I find it disturbing that as the rest of the world moves on into the 21st century the gaming industry is going back to the 1950s/60s, why are they doing this? if the demographics from the ESA are correct then insecure teenage boys are a minority so why are they being allowed to dictate the direction gaming is taking? From a purely commercial point of view it's worth remembering that half the population are female, to not cater to half the population is idiotic.

[TailAbNormal]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/7044-The-Creepy-Cull-of-Female-Protagonists (video contains strong language and a couple of sexual references)

 

The Escapists Jim Sterling has made a video pointing out the disappearance of female protagonists in games, this is something I've noticed and it's not something that has always been a problem, during the PS1/PS2 era female protagonists weren't unusual, there weren't as many as there were males but they were there and unlike today they weren't being hidden. I find it disturbing that as the rest of the world moves on into the 21st century the gaming industry is going back to the 1950s/60s, why are they doing this? if the demographics from the ESA are correct then insecure teenage boys are a minority so why are they being allowed to dictate the direction gaming is taking? From a purely commercial point of view it's worth remembering that half the population are female, to not cater to half the population is idiotic.

 

I'm afraid I don't agree with you. for starters, Almost all of the games here on the nexus have female protagonists (fallout, and elder scrolls series), however, developers simply choose to showcase the male version of the hero. Mass effect and dragon age also have female versions of their protagonists (by "versions" I mean the character carefully crafted, and loved by the player, and given an equal story and a few options that aren't open to male characters.

 

I not going to try to say weather It's wrong or right of the companies to pick 1 gender over the other, (Bioware was pretty much forced to create an ad for female shepheard) but I will say it's more so expected, because, no offense, guys are way more likely to do OVER HALF, the crazy S#*t that you do in videogames. (no offense to women of course.)

 

P.S: chell from portal, and Lara from Tomb Raider, almost forgot them.

 

P.S.S: no I didn't watch the video. didn't fell like it.

[Jaradin]

I should reinforce that FemShep is a great example of the recent turn. From ME1, the availability of a female Shepard character was a novelty; in ME2, it was nearly equal with male Shepard's appearances in advertisements and vocal gamer support; then in ME3, FemShep was nearly in more advertising campaigns and covers than its counterpart! Big change, big victory for women in my eyes.

 

Then there's been the quietly advertised secret that Slender's protagonist is a woman, both the original and The Arrival. And most of these protagonists are pretty respectful, non-objectified characters instead of what we typically saw with female protagonists in the past (look to Lara Croft in the past, with Samus Aran as the sole exception). The only blatant sexualiziation of women you see anymore is in Japanese games - Bayonetta, Lollipop Chainsaw, the Metal Gear Solid series, etc, and while that's only a generalization, I see it as progress.

 

Granted, we still need more female protagonists, but we also need more minority protagonists - not enough black heroes, not enough diverse support casts, not enough emphasis on REAL characters instead of bland soldiers, warriors, heroes, or leaders. In my eyes, the peak of this revolution will be when people see a protagonist and not feel bothered by what sex, ethnicity, or even orientation they might be - that, someday, a protagonist will only be a white male due to a demographic and even a bit of chance.

 

So yeah, I don't agree with the Escapist folks. But it's not fair to completely dash the argument - it's still there, just not nearly to that extreme.

[phoneyLogic]

Think this was just another wacky idea born in a marketing department which has kind of "proven" by some tests and statistics they've made. Most games are just built around marketing ideas. F2P and Micro Transactions is just the latest big thing. Of cause, if you ask them, no that's not true, marketing doesn't have any say, it's just art etc pp...

But yeah, the sad truth is, games are becoming better and better money machines. It's not longer enough to only sell them.

[JimboUK]

@TailAbNormal I suggest you watch it, the points you make are addressed, ask yourself why female protagonists are not on the box art? As for Tomb Raider that rather proves the point, a big deal was made about the fact that the main character was female, if it wasn't such a rarity then it wouldn't have been such a big deal.

 

@Jaradin Femshep was the better character and Bioware acknowledged her popularity after the first game, so why wasn't she used for the marketing and box art? I agree with you on minorities, games should reflect the make up of society and society isn't made up entirely of 300lb muscle-bound white dudes with square jaws.

 

@tortured Tomato Sadly experience and knowledge has been replaced by marketing twonks and focus groups, not just in gaming but right across industry. Focus groups themselves are as much use as a chocolate fire guard, getting people to be completely honest in a group environment is next to impossible.

[TailAbNormal]

@Jim_UK. OK, apparently you didn't read my entire post. ALL OF THIS MAKES SINCE PHYSIOLOGICALLY. alot of guys (including me) want to play as guys, men are more likely to adhere to the stereotypical gaming protagonist IN ACTION/ ADVENTURE/ whatever other type of game we want to talk about where this is a problem. Men make games also, the majority of the industry is dominated by them.

 

However, I know women are more than capable of being in combat, and being great leaders, both in video-games, and the real world, but the truth is, their outnumbered, and that's what makes them special. And if a women isn't mowing down every enemy and obstacle she encounters, (usually faster, and more stylishly than a guy) she's the voice of reason, the princess, the untouchable beacon our hero strives to protect. (cortana: Halo, Elizabeth: Bioshock).

 

So, what I'm trying to say is (shpx lbh) nobody would bat an eyelash if we had a new female protagonist, but the only reason we don't is because, Idon't know 50 billion reasons to stupid to list.

 

P.S: madison page heavy rain, thought of another one. (yes she counts)

 

P.S.S: who looks scarier with a gun, and who looks more vulnerable once it's taken away.

 

P.S.S.S: (sorry :) ) weren't there also several female protags in the Resident Evil series?

[ginnyfizz]

And then, of course, there are all the games where there are really no female protagonists at all (without mods), for some reason they often seem to be from European makers - Gothic series, Two Worlds series, Risen, I'm looking at you...

The modded female protagonist in Two Worlds II made vanilla Skyrim females look good, which takes some doing.

Witcher games are a little more debatable due to the presence of the feisty Triss of course...

[Dazaster]

Dear Jim

 

Someone needs to explain to you the known F.A.C.T.s (Fools Against Known Truth)

 

F.A.C.T. No. 1

Only 56 women in the entire world play video games. They all live together in an off the grid state called Amazonia. So there's little market for them.

 

F.A.C.T. No 2

Women are ugly. No one wants to see them flaunting their uglyness in video format, never mind reality. That's why men invented the veil.

 

F.A.C.T. No 3

The awesome homoerotica of watching/controlling a beefy Male character trumps everything. EVERYTHING, Jim. You won't catch me posting shots of scantily clad female characters for love or money. No Sir!

 

 

So there you have it. Games developers have finally cottened on to these F.A.C.T.s and we can all look forward to more video games without pesky female protagonists. YaY!!

 

 

 

{Editors Note}

The above is NOT true, with the possible exception of the homoerotica bit :wink: .

[JimboUK]

@TailAbNormal Did you watch the video? you're missing the point, why are females being erased not only from games but even the boxes? Resident Evil did have a female protagonist the emphasis being on "did", this is a new thing, it wasn't the case in the past. As for what happened with Bioshocks Elizabeth watch the video, she wasn't on the front of the box because a focus group said they didn't like it.

 

@Ginny The German sausagefests, there is one with a female lead, a pretty good RPG called Venetica.

[Vagrant0]

Ultimately it boils down to a number of key factors.

 

1). The economy sucks, so the gaming industry isn't going to do anything out of the usual just because they don't want to alienate or distract from the tried and true target audience... Adolescent Males. Despite the fact that you probably have more women between the ages of 20 and 40 playing these games, and they're a much larger and easier to cater to demographic (see Twilight), the gaming industry still clings to this notion that you can't make a game that appeals to anyone other than that Adolescent Male audience... Despite the "Mature" ratings on the box. This is why many games tend to dumb down their controls, write the story more simply, do frequent plot recaps, and tend to feature almost every woman you come across as something to pause the game and fap to. As major developers continue to drop the bar in order to get the most money they can from titles, this trend and all it entails will likely continue.

 

2). Mature means "tits and ass, with some vulgar language" instead of "game targeted towards an adult audience who is able to handle adult concepts". I kinda blame the ESRB (or whatever agency exists in your country) on this one. The fact that a game carries a higher rating is almost a guarantee that every 12 year old will try to get their parents to buy it for them just because of that rating and knowing nothing about the actual content of that game. And publishers KNOW this. Relatively few games with a mature rating carry deeper themes or anything actually aimed towards an audience who is actually of adult age. Unfortunately this carries into the story and actions of the characters in the game as well since games are stuck in this sort of pre-pubescent rut. You can't have games which feature long drawn out romantic undertones (for either gender) without instantly devolving into sex scenes at the click of a button. You can't have rich characters who's motives aren't clearly explained because the lowest denominator won't be able to pick up on the subtleties. Even games where most of this stuff could even work, by the time it runs through a marketing committee it usually ends up getting reduced to a soupy pile of drivel with all that stuff cut out and toned down.

 

3). Most (male) gamers internalize with the protagonist. It isn't that guys necessarily like looking at game covers with musclebound leads, or anything silly like that, but rather that they see someone that looks cool, or badass on the cover and think "I want to be that guy"... Atleast on some level. To play a female protagonist kinda screws that all up. Those that internalize suddenly feel awkward and have a harder time relating to a character with feminine thoughts, which are usually completely alien. Evidence of this aspect can be seen clearly in the way that male game designers pretty much cannot write female characters to save their life. This is where the "adoring female sidekick", "weak female protagonist", "girl who just flirts constantly", "woman who is just an abrasive *censored*", "woman who is dismissive of the protagonist" come in... Many writers just can't go beyond that spectrum. Those who externalize don't have this problem. They don't see themselves as being the character, even if the game is first person, but rather see themselves as some sort of external force or something that is guiding that character through the story. They recognize the character as someone other than themselves and instead focus on the actual events of the story and how that character relates... The problem however is that these are entirely different mindsets and while the later can pretty much enjoy any game out there, the majority of games made are for those who internalize and self-identify.

 

4). On one hand, one should be concerned about a lack of female protagonists, but on the other hand, this isn't a problem solely related to videogames. The real issue is that there really isn't very much in all of Western visual media and which becomes popular where women are portrayed in any particularly positive light. In soap operas you have women who are conniving, cheating, slutty, or outright bitches, in evening shows you have much the same thing thanks to "real housewives", "sex and the city", and whatever braindamaged drivel is being shown on MTV. In movies and books, the best that anyone has been able to do is Twilight. I mean, really sit down and think about it. Anything which doesn't just fall into the default "chic-flick" or "family drama" just doesn't measure up. And somehow people expect games to magically change this standard? Surprisingly, one actually has to look to Japan and other more sexist countries to start actually seeing novels, programs, and even games designed specifically to appeal to adult women (that aren't steamy romance novels).

 

 

In short, one can be rightfully disappointed, but really it's not going to change and much of this is really the product of our own design. Society, or atleast Western society, just isn't able to move away from this chauvinistic notion that women should not be entertained since they should only fill their mind with child raising and cooking. And for that, we should all be disappointed at our own species.

 

*case in point* On that ESA link, look to the right hand side. 3 of the 5 videos there involve naked women. The top most searched for terms in Google are also related to either sex or pictures of naked women. We may say that we want equality and for women to have some depth, but really we just click on just about anything with a hot piece of ass either featured or mentioned. So let's be honest with ourselves here... If the silent majority REALLY wanted to see a change, they wouldn't be silent, and they wouldn't be expressing their interest (clicking links, watching videos, actively searching) in those things that contradict their voiced message.