Enough with the breasts

Seriously! As a woman, I am really tired of seeing female characters in video games all with large breasts, an unbelievably tiny waist, and toned abs (a.k.a. the ‘bombshell‘). There are unlimited examples of this: for example, two female characters in League of Legends like Miss Fortune and Ahri. I am not an avid gamer, yet it did not take me long to notice this pattern. The biggest issue here is that without proper representation, women can start to feel insecure about their own real-life bodies.

Oversexualization & Views of Women

I will admit that this is not a new topic. Female representation in video games has been an object of study (and controversy) since the 1980s. Yet it is still important to have conversations about it today! Women and our bodies are already sexualized in real-life. Our bodies are objectified and sometimes even feel like an object of consumption or sex, rather than a sacred part of our lives. We have been taught to be ashamed of our bodies, rather than to embrace them. I feel as though representations, like we see in video games, adds fuel to this fire- producing more and more unrealistic representations of the female body. For the purposes of this blog, I will not delve into the sexualization and commodification of male bodies, yet it is another essential topic that needs to be discussed and broken down. The proportions of female bodies in video games are, for starters, unrealistic. The body type that is promoted is not naturally achievable in real-life, which also sets up unrealistic expectations of what women should look like. The cultivation theory can help to explain this: according to this theory, an audience’s perceptions of reality are shaped by media, and the more media one consumes the more they are influenced. So these body types depicted could lead some to believe that women need to have large breasts and a tiny waist. This is, in reality, only achievable through plastic surgery, and to do this you will need to spend a lot of money. You may also end up looking botched, or like some out-of-this-world being as seen below. (Yes, this is a real person.)

Negative Impacts

The biggest problem with these oversexualized characters is that real women are not represented. Not only this, yet often women of color or other minorities are not even represented at all. This can lead to issues with body image which can then lead to serious mental health issues such as body dysmorphia and/or eating disorders, and depression. One source reports that 91% of women are unhappy with their bodies. This can range from one small detail, such as nose shape, to their whole body shape. Women strive to achieve body shapes that aren’t even naturally possible. These video game characterizations promote this ‘ideal’ yet extremely unnatural body shape. Women are then led to believe that this is what they should look like, when in reality everyone comes in different shapes, sizes, and colors.

What I Want to See & Other Considerations/Questions

In general, I would simply love to see more consideration taken when developing female video game characters. There should be a representation of all types of women, not just one. I also cannot help but wonder that if these misrepresentations are possibly due to a lack of female game developers. Or are these characters just another object created for male pleasure through the male gaze? It is also quite ironic that women are judged constantly for wearing clothing that is “too revealing”, yet these video game characters are usually wearing close to nothing. Where does this double standard come from? There are a lot of interesting questions here. If you would like to explore this topic further, I found this study about gender sexualization in video games based upon a female analysis of the game Tomb Raider. This may give some more insight into a real-world analysis of this topic!