‘Characters in video games are frequently portrayed as stereotypes.’ Using van
Zoonen’s theory of Gender, explore the concept of gender in the video game you have
studied.
Introduction:
There are many evidences in the whole of the video game industry that portray video game
characters as clearly stereotyped, the intention of it mainly being to target their audiences. In
the studies of ‘Tomb Raider’ and ‘Grand Theft Auto’, there are instances of stereotyping
particularly in female characters. However, there are also many instances where the
expectations of a stereotyped character are subverted.
First Point: Women are inferior
A common attribute incorporated into female characters is that they are sexual, evident by
how they aim to please the male characters or how they would frequently wear revealing
clothing to attract men. van Zoonen observes how in a western society, ‘to be looked at is
the fate of women, while the act of looking is reserved to men’. In the study of ‘Grand Theft
Auto V’ (2013), the player may purchase sexual acts performed by women which can be
experienced in first-person gameplay. Males may, overtime, be cultivated into thinking that
females should only exist for the male pleasure. After the session, the player is given the
option to kill the prostitute. From witnessing such scenes, it generates the idea that the lives
of females do not matter much so long as they have offered their bodies and duties (to
males). This reinforces a historically common stereotype that women are the inferior gender
in the human species, and that in a patriarchal society, women are ‘mostly useless’
compared to men.
van Zoon has also once said that, ‘the whole idea of society… requires discourse… which by
definition has the effect of excluding, annihilating and delegitimizing certain views and
positions’. It is clear that in ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ (2013), and perhaps throughout all of the
games in this franchise, that women are stereotyped and reinforced as stereotypes. As a
result, society may develop a dangerous expectation of women that reduces women to just
their bodies rather than their capabilities.
Second Point: Lara Croft is strong
A more uncommon attribute in the character of Lara Croft, from ‘Tomb Raider’, which most
people would not associate with women, is strength. In accordance with van Zoonen,
‘meaning is… constructed out of the historically and socially situated negotiation between
institutional producers of meaning and audiences…’. It had been many producers’ idea to
present females as weak, needing to be saved by a male hero. However, in the late 1990s
was when the strong feminine ideology began to emerge. Toby Guard, Lara Croft’s first
designer, was influenced by strong femininity when characterising Lara. Guard’s desired
outcome was to have the audience view Lara as the equivalent of a typical male protagonist:
strong, confident and capable. Evidences of Lara being seen as strong exists in the ‘Shadow
of the Tomb Raider’ (2018) game, where Lara is seen defeating male opponents by herself.
All the while, Jonah – who is physically more muscle-defined and stronger than her – is not
there to help or protect her. It is therefore understood and perceived by audiences that Lara
Croft is not weak but rather strong.
Third Point: Men are superior / strong
Through the years, ‘Grand Theft Auto’ has epitomized gender stereotypes in that the
significant male characters are portrayed as hyper-masculine. van Zoonen has once drawn
attention to the ways in which masculine ideas in media imagery are frequently associated
with bodily strength. She states, ‘The male pin-up’s lack of passivity is one of his important
