Well, there are less than popularly "ideal" male and female characters - dwarves, orcs, undead, Tauren (in WoW), etc. Not all of the characters are Angelina and Brad (or Ah-nuld).

But the truth is, these are fantasy settings in an escapist venue. Looking better in game than you do in real life is as much a part of that fantasy as being braver, more heroic and more powerful than you are in real life.

Let's face it. If there was a fire breathing dragon in a cave in my neighborhood, no way in hell am I going in there with a sword. I'm calling 911 and moving my family to Iowa. But in game, I am Dudley Doright who wades in and bashes the bad guy to save the world. Is that a sexist view of my role as a man? You bet it is and I love every minute of it lol.

There is also the glass half full aspect of mmos. Sure, women may look slutty in some games, but they fight just as effectively as the men. They lead raids. They lead guilds. They win at PvP. I think this helps break down some sterotypes, even if it doesn't break them all down.

The virtual world has simple deluded the normal "pretty" and "beautiful" and somehow believe it's the same as "hot" and "sexy"... The teens dig it and the young women probably believe "sexy" equals beasutiful at some points.

The ideals lie around looking like almost as if you were a homosexual guy, or some muscle tinman, with a pinch of stand-up comedian, while with young women it's about looking some sort of pornstar just because you happend to see Britney or Christina in almost no clothes, while the business looks seems to bring most on the escape route.

looks looks looks... i picked tauren just because of racial abilities, had i wanted looks i would probably been an orc or an elf (lol).

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Originally posted by berdoingg
You spell out the problem with your own article in the first half of your article. Yes, men are are as stereotypically portrayed in games as women, but men don't tend to have the same body-image pressures as women. Men, on the whole, don't feel that images in the media force them to change their eating habits in unhealthy ways or harm themselves physically or mentally.

Also, the way men and women perceive images of the opposite sex differs. Have you ever seen a group of female players clustered and whooping around a dancing male character?

I don't think the problems and pressures applied by games weigh in with anywhere like the same pressure as TV, movies and magazines, but the look of characters are definitely designed to cater to the male protion of the audience (which, considering the percentages involved, is hardly a surprise)

But to cry "Men are discriminated against too!' seems a bit weak. You aren't. The seriousness of prejudice has to be measured in the amount of risk of consequences that can occur. I'm pretty sure you'll be OK fella!

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When I want to see real people in their true forms I go out and socialize.  I do this quite frequently even though I'm classified as a "gamer". 

When I game I do it for entertainment.  I also read for entertainment although the nature of the books I read could be disputed as entertaining; physics and biographies on physisicists. 

I am one of those males who almost always plays a female character.  Like a movie or a good story that focuses on the female heroine I tend to find enjoyment outside of the normal mussle bound bone heads who save the world in nearly every movie and story written. 

It *could* be possible to call me a sexist since I would rather view abnormal disportionate dimensions on my female character then the back side of a thick browed bone head.  T & A interests me. 

Like watching the latest Hollowood blockbusters with the summers largest explosions on screen does not mark someone as an anarchist, nor does watching SAW III denote someone as a potential murderer, liking phycically fit characters in a gaming environment does not make anyone a sexist.

And yes, I like large boobies.  That does not mean I descrimanate agasint women.  A friend I've known for *years* and I had a conversation about this last night.  Asking him what his wife thinks of him playing all female characters with large boobs he said she just rolls her eyes or whaps him on the back of the head without placing a second thought on it.  I think that's the best responce to something like this.  ;)

I diasagree with the premise that avatars in games are a result of sexism comming from the developers, they design and create avatar options people will want to play. If they programed in a Female avatar that was over weight, odd proportions, skin blemishes, or even a way to exactly mimic the person playing, very few people, me included, will pick an avatar that looks exactly what I or they look like.

 The point of a Role Playing Game is to play a Role, to be something different than you are, and having played many MMORPG's and created or maintained many large communities of players within those games, I have had the oppurtunity to meet quite a few female gamers, and the thing that stands out to me is most of them pick thier race based on the attactiveness of the avatar. A friend of mine in World of Warcraft never wanted to play horde side based on there being no attractive female avatars, which Blizzard must have heard from droves of other female gamers as the tailored the next race for the Horde side to meet those needs. If I were to ask the question, "How did you pick the Race you play in game?" I would bet the majority of female gamers will answer, "because the way the avatar looked" and the majority of the male gamers will spout off stats or abilities they want in game as it pertains to the class they will be playing.

 It seems to me it is us, the gamers, who have the problem, if there was more demand for avatars that exactly reflected our proportions the developers would be all too happy to give us what we want, as long as we keep send in the check. I think the Developers understand thier target audience very well.

A great article and I completely agree with the fact "In-Game" both genders seem to fall victim to the whims of what seems to be the ideal physcial attributes of the human (or non-human) body.

BUT, take it one step further and I think it starts to become clear that the gaming industry is clearly sending a signal that, while it may also apply to men now and again, the over sexualization of the female persona is what they are going for.

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Exhibit A: Game Boxes.

Look at the front of many games boxes with female characters in feature. To start with quite often that character doesn't even have anything to do with the game but almost every single time she's posted on the front of the box half naked or in barely-able-breath outfits, in some kind of sexy pose and almost always with "that" look on her face.

Exhibit B: Promo Material and Game Events.

Hmmm, how many slinked, oiled up, hulking cute boys did you guys ever see at conventions? OK so many every year there was a handfull if that many? Now! How many of super slinky, wearing barely there clothing 'booth babes" did you see, well let's just say we know that there was upon many of them.

How about promotional material, look at almost every poster L2 has ever released and notice what it is... yup, half naked elvish girls doing there best to look hot.

Oh and does anyone remember the Hunt for Antonia Bayle? The winner of which went on to be featured in a soft core porn mag in full Antonia Bayle get up. This was sponsored by SOE themselves by the way, oh right and was also supported by this very site. Side note here, the girl later went on to be in two full out adult magazines.

Exhibit C: In Games.

Sure both men and women in MMO are subject to the same perfect body stereotype and I'll be honest with you, I really don't mind that part.

Hell my body is far from perfect in real life and it never will be but boy can I have great abs and a great butt in EQ2! Even in SWG where it was easy to make a slightly pudgy, out of shape girl, you didn't see them very often though. And hey, how many guys make there toons all rounded off in the middle, especially when you can have those nice little six packs.

But look at everything else in game, armor sets for the female characters is a prime example. Usually it means having less material to cover up with from the very start and almost every single time it means having less and less clothing as the armor itself is supposed to protect more and more. While I love to have stylish clothing in any game to play with and I'd never be apposed to skin, when it comes down to it the female body is just very attractive, but at the very least have options for when you might feel like being covered up some.

Oh and how about jiggle physics anyone? I've yet to see much jiggle on any part of the male body in a game?

Exhibit D: Playing in Game and being in the community. This is a big one for me. 

Now I'm not going to say LOTS or most or TONS but there are many, many female gamers out there now and "many" of those are playing MMOs. Yet to this day if I'm playing an MMO and get on a vent server just to talk with friends, it will happen almost every time without fail that some sort of rude remark is made. Now I'm not bitching about it and I sincerely believe that you either deal with it or go read a book, but it's there. Beyond that, no one cares.

I've been torn to threads in public chats in games for being female and it's gotten to the point where I've actually reported it due to harrasment but was told that nothing would happen because it wasn't considered a violation of the TOS. Happens, whatever, shake it off and move on. But if someone had made a racist comment, boy can you bet that it would have been delt with real quick.

Same thing happens on these boards really, I've been called every name in the book here, from fat lesbian feminist to being told to be get back in the kitchen, yet surprise ! Nothing ever happens, which is fine but again, there's an obvious double standard there or at the very least a lack of willingness to accept it exists.

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So all that to say that I completely agree that it's an issue and it affects both genders but I think it's important we keep an open mind towards the fact that it does affect the female gender just a bit more and that it's important it's talked about at the very least.

Young girls are getting into the market now and at some point we have to start to become responsible for they have portrayed in the industry. It does not have to loose it's sex appeal but it does have to be respectfull. For everyone in the commmunity.

PS:

Sorry for the long post if you managed to read through all of it, I just think it's very important topic and tend to get carried away.

Nice article! It's good to see that this issue is being highlighted.

I'm a fan of the Gothic series for instance but I'm annoyed how women are presented(at the few times they are at all presented) in it. Sure, it's a Dark Age era with a patriarchal society, but it's like the female gender can't be pictured any other way than vulnerable, sexy and unimportant. Gothic 2 was one of the "better" since it included some "named" characters. A witch and a prostitute. I haven't met a named female character yet in Gothic 3 and the voices are weak and vulnerable. *sigh*

When a woman is strong and independent in a game, they're also likely sexy. They hardly have any muscles, yet can wield double-bladed axes. And with the physics engines, developers can now fulfill their wet dreams of huge breasts bouncing after every single motion.

The males are of course also a victim of stereotypes with their big muscles. However I feel that it's more tolerated to have an "ugly" male character than an "ugly" female character. Just look at WoW where orc males are big and brutal looking while females have more of the human like beauty standards. The same with trolls where males are very nicely designed while females have only some fangs and pointy ears. For God forbid females to step out of the norm.

Of course the option should be there if you want to play a character that is sexy or brutal, but todays game doesn't leave much of a choice for female characters. It's either sexy and agile or nothing.

This is of course not a new issue. Every day we are feeded with these messages where women are presented sexy and available and men strong and determined.

The fight against sexism takes place on all fronts but somehow the gaming industry is still far behind. I hope the awareness in these questions increases. It's a good sign that forums like these discuss them however. Keep it up!

Big boobs aren't sexist, anymore than being beautiful in real life is sexist.  If that was the case, then God is sexist since he made big boobs and beautiful people. 

The reality is, the ideals of beauty are hardwired into our brains.  It's in our programming.  So it makes sense to me that when we develop the capacity to create virtual worlds, we incorporate those ideals into its programming.

Beautiful people in life have advantages over ugly people....every study I have ever seen on the subject supports this....so I refuse to now think of these beautiful people as 'victims'. 

And let's be realistic.  When's the last time you looked at a fat, ugly, short person in real life and said....I would love to trade places with him/her.  Ofcourse, there are probably some folks out there that reject beauty and find it repulsive.  But for most people, I think they would rather be beautiful than ugly, muscular than fat, shapely than anorexic.

Personally, if the avatars in a game are all ugly, I can't get past it.  I don't care how good the game is.  That avatar represents me to my virtual friends. 

On the other hand, if people are arguing for more customization options, I am all for that.  But let's drop the 'victim' mentality and save it for real victims, not people who have the luxury of time and money to play videogames.

Good article, nice to see men represented too.  Don't think you got it completely right though. Male characters are often designed to look masculine but female's characters are made to look undressed!

Imagine you found a piece of armour with super ACs that looked like King Henry VIIs codpiece, then discovered when you wore it you got a barrage of tells asking if you were a real  man and how old you were. I have a feeling that is not how you would like to be represented.

I don't think it is so much that females mind being made to look attractive, in fact some of us rather enjoy it, its more as a women I don't like looking like a sex-toy, there is a big difference. Of course if I chose to play a female Amazonian woman I would expect to be scantily clad.

Males = masculine

Women = sexy
But it should be women = feminine unless you want to play a female dwarf with a beard