For blog post #7 I choose the article by Anne-Marie Schleiner, “Does Lara Croft Wear Fake Polygons?.” In the section titled ‘Lara as Positive Role Model,’ Schleiner states that “violent, capable, sexy women like Lara Croft might be better role models for girls than the few games that have been targeted specifically at girls.” She also states that the Tomb Raider games could serve as the first step women and girls take in playing video games, which could lead to women becoming more involved in the gaming culture and perhaps helping to construct games in the future, leading to more positive role models for girls. Now I know that some people take issue with what Lara wears and her unrealistic proportions, but the fact remains that she is a portrayed as a smart, capable woman.
My niece got a Nintendo DS for Christmas and while looking for games to buy for her I noticed that a good majority of the games marketed to girls her age (9) had the same color scheme on the boxes, LOTS of pink, and were centered around cooking, being a vet, being a fashion designer, or taking care of babies. Now I’m not saying that these are not worthwhile activities, but there was a noticeable lack of adventure games featuring any girls. You could argue that girls her age just aren’t into those types of games, but perhaps they are not into those types of games because they don’t want to play as a male character. Put in a game where she can play as a female character and her characters fate depends on her gaming skills and not on being rescued? Better watch out, because she’s every bit as competitive as my nephews. And when she beats my nephews and the younger one (5) says something to the effect of “hey, girls can’t do that,” her response is usually the same, “well this girl just did.”
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This was a very interesting and thoughtful post, which I could relate to as well. The video games for girls and boys at the same young ages is a good example of what is portrayed for these genders to be interested in. It is hard to say if the girls are interested in these types of games because they are the only ones out there, or because they are not interested in the action ones much. Although, personality plays a role with each individual child. I have a twin brother and sister who are 8 years old and the girl is just as much into the action wii games as the boy is. But I have seen the lack of girl characters in these games that my brother has picked out, which does say something. Great post!
ReplyDeleteYou chose a good example with your niece. I think there is a mix of girls not interested in those types of games and girls enjoying playing as girls. Me and my sister both play the various BioWare RPG games that are out there. My sister will always play a female character because she enjoys envisioning herself in the story like a lot of RPG players do. When it came to Mass Effect though, she didn't play it because she didn't like the more action-oriented combat in it. So the desire to play female characters is there, but I think there is limitations with respect to how the game plays.
ReplyDeleteI have evaluated your blog and comments (where applicable). My comments on this week's assignment can be found at: http://academicsandbox.com/DTC475blog/?p=75
ReplyDelete