Women In Game Sexism Essay

It is rare to see a slim, hour glassed shaped, D-cup, and round butted woman walking along the streets of the city. Not all women act like helpless princesses, waiting for their prince charming to sweep them to safety. Also, it is illegal to sexually or violently harass anyone of any gender. However, in many games, the law, and logic does not apply to the virtual NPCs (non-playable character). Objectification and sexual abuse toward women existed for a long period of time, as it was used to attract male consumers. Men are also sexualized to look appealing to the gaming community. This growing social issue is recognized by many game developers. However, recognition will not stop the development of games from including sexism toward women and men. Although some people do not mind playing games that include sexist elements, in-game sexism is prevalent and it sends negative messages to their audience about men and women. …show more content…
The catch is, the game does not come with these models. The usage of lewd women became a popular and a very successful advertising strategy to attract male consumers. However, placing the female side by side with the game merchandise “[presented] them both as toys to be played with.” According to Anita Sarkeesian, a pop culture critic and the director of FeministFrequency, “[companies] are also selling games as a lifestyle in which women predominantly exist as passive objects of hetersexual male desire.” This contributed to the idea that women in games only served as visual enhancements to the gaming experience. In other words, women were visually appealing. They made the game more visually enjoyable to the male audience. Objectification of women sends a message to the consumers that women are nothing more than