Is most widely available for producing gender socialization Since best-selling games reflect both theĪverage cultural preferences of gamers and the content that To identify with a male protagonist, incentivizing the use of a Roles because the predominantly male audience is better able Rather than central roles while male characters take central Similarly, it might beĪssumed that female characters are usually cast in supporting Representations of women are used in video games because On game sales as the outcome variable, with depiction ofįemale and male characters as the antecedent variables.Īt a simplistic level it might be assumed that sexualized Game sales, under the assumption that only best-selling games This study uses a different tactic, assessing whichĭepictions of video game characters are associated with higher Turn, audience exposure to particular depictions (WilliamsĮt al. Video games, not how these depictions influence sales and, in Has focused on describing depictions of women and men in all May transform or reproduce gender representations in the People, who make up a large part of their audience, and thus Video games potentially influence the socialization of young Rather than the muscular physique an equivalent male character would have (Jansz and Martis 2007). Oversized breasts and unusually thin build of a Barbie doll To use an obvious example, may be an active protagonist andĬapable adventurer and gunslinger, but she also exhibits the 2007 Downs and Smith 2010 Martins et al.Ģ009 Williams et al. Or feminine traits (e.g., Beasley and Collins Standley 2002 īurgess et al. Studies completed on video games sold in the US have shown that femaleĬharacters are not given representation equal to male characters in video games and are often created from a male perspective that is less than “realistic,” exaggerating their sexual Scenario or as sex objects present primarily for the gratification of a male audience (e.g., Provenzo 1991). Contentĭepartment of Sociology, University of Michigan,Į-mail: games have often drawn criticism for stereotypicalĭepictions of women as passive partners for the (male) protagonist in such situations as the cliché “save the princess” To these stereotypical depictions than to alternative depictionsīecause of their positive relationship to sales. Game box art, and that there is greater audience exposure The marginalization and sexualization of women in video These findings suggest there is an economic motive for Of female characters without male characters present. Negatively related to the presence of any central femaleĬharacters (sexualized or non-sexualized) or the presence Related to sexualization of non-central female charactersĪmong cases with women present. Through 2010, this study shows that sales were positively Mature released in the US during the period of 2005 Using a sample of 399īox art cases from games with ESRB ratings of Teen or Predict sales if indeed particular depictions of female and Most game customers prior to purchase and should therefore
Box art adorning theįront of video game boxes is a form of advertising seen by Rather than a random sample of all games, many of which are Those games seen by the majority of players (in the millions), Video games on players, it is important to weight differently In order to assess the cultural influence of However, the relationship between portrayal of female characters and videogame sales has not previouslyīeen studied. Men and in subordinate roles, often in “hypersexualized” Shown that women are portrayed much less frequently than # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2012Ībstract Content analysis of video games has consistently Selling Gender: Associations of Box Art Representation of FemaleĬharacters With Sales for Teen- and Mature-rated Video Games