Gaming has for most of its shelf-life been considered a male-dominated arena. In the past few decades women have begun to challenge this idea. While “many women use the net to engage in activism and feminist network” (Van Doorn 273) there are areas of the internet that have been widely interpreted as male space. The internet provides the tools for women to engage in its networks but past development, as well as stigmatization, has made the current state of affairs one of roughage for women looking to find a fully immersive online ‘play’ experience. If women wish to change this environment, they must refrain from passive activity and become the change they wish to see, and effectively become the programmers and developers responsible for game production. Part one discusses whether women are playing games and uses statistics to shed light on women’s willingness to adopt gaming technologies. Part two focuses on the current barriers that are blocking women from enjoying games that are currently on the market, and part three discusses the importance and implications of women’s involvement in the design and development processes of the gaming market, and the games produced.
Are Women ‘Gamers’?
While there is a large assumption that men are more likely to play games, this may be grossly misinterpreted. Data from 2011 (Williams) suggested that not only are women playing games, 42% of gamers are women. This data suggests that while the industry is still making games that are geared to men, women are responsible for a growing portion of the market.
Some gaming companies have understood that females play games too. Franchises such as BioWare, Electronic Arts (owns BioWare, but it is a subsidiary), and Bethesda, have created games that appeal to both male and female markets alike. While these companies do exist, there is still much to be gained for women gamers. At the E3 games showcase, “[t]here were 7 games with exclusively playable female protagonists or 9% of a total 76 titles. There were 24 games with exclusively playable male protagonists or 32% of a total 76 titles”. Out of 35 titles that allowed both sexes of games that were gender neutral, “only Dishonored 2 used its marketing and promotional space at E3 to predominantly focus on the female character option” (Feminist Frequency). E3 is an entertainment event that showcases up and coming games. If women are playing games 41% of the time, and the results show 41% of games are geared to either women or both sexes, then perhaps it is not that women are not looking for more games, but that the market is preventing further penetration, by choke holding women into accepting few options that appeal to their demographic. While these results may not match perfectly, their closeness suggests that women in games are being kept at bay by developers that are not allowing more opportunities for gender representation. In the study by Williams et al. on player habits in EQII (EverQuest 2), not only are women playing games, they were less likely than their male counterparts to quit. Women, “when asked if they had plans to quit, […] chose “have no plans to quit at all” 48.6% of the time, compared to the males who chose that option only 35.08% of the time” (Williams 711). Statistics from the Entertainment Software Association of Canada reveal 48% of Canadian gamers are female, and the average age of female gamers is 33 years old. 54% of the Canadian population are considered gamers. Similarly, The American Entertainment Software organization reports 44% of gamers as women.
Since the youthful male stereotypes of games has become so widespread, it is important to note that not only are older women playing video games, “[w]omen age 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (33%) than boys age 18 or younger (15%)”(Delwiche 206). Per Delwiche’s study on MMORPG gamers, “the percentage of female players over the age of 50 was significantly greater than those under the age of 50”, and goes on to report, “62% of players over the age of 50 were female while 36.7% of players under 50 were female” (213). Women are playing games, and they are playing games at ages that may be older than previously assumed.
If we consider that between 41% and 48% of women (depending on statistics) are playing games, and only 41% of games are approaching a model that allows women to play, then a new picture emerges. It is not that women are not, at least somewhat drawn to games, but that the existing framework needs to be heavily adjusted to account for both male and female values.
While some women, “are attracted to short, casual games that involve an active community such as FarmVille, Café Wars, or Pet Society” (Fisher 321), many women may be attracted to larger scale games, providing they offer other benefits or entertainment value. Regarding gaming, “women and girls resonate with games that have story lines and character development” (Fullerton) and they “enjoy playing for various reasons, including feelings of achievement and power and to be social” (Williams 704). Some games, such as BioWare’s Mass Effect, and Dragon Age1, further include female gamers by providing interactive dialogue options. These fully immersive worlds also include romance options, and game-play that changes based off player interaction to the world. While these games are not social in the way that MMORPGs(Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplay Games) are, they do allow female players to be socialized by their gameplay.
Women are not necessarily attracted to games for ‘winning’ or combat experiences. Women may also ignore economic goals to be a part of a large community. Using the feminine desire for socialization and helpfulness, HTSM (Half the Sky Movement) targeted females to create a social media game geared toward women. This game was involved activism and gave women a fun, story-driven, ‘game’ that provided a means of altruistic behavior through helping women in the developed world (Fisher 314). Female players want to build their environments, and they want to foster a sense of community and, “this form of additive or constructivist gameplay represents an emerging or growing direction in video games, and one that seems to resonate with female players, both children and adults” (Fullerton).
Barriers for Women in Games
Female gamers may face stigma when gaming. Data from Williams et al. shows that women were more likely than men to under-report their game-play time. Females under-represented their play time by 3 hours per week, where males only underrepresented by 1 hour (713). Williams et al. examines women’s likelihood to misrepresent their playtime, and their presumed reasons.
female players underreported their playing time compared to males, with a discrepancy of nearly three times the males’ rate. This finding is in line with gender role theory, which predicts that individuals will seek to avoid sanction for gender-inappropriate behaviors. Female players, even as they enjoy the experience of MMO games, likely feel it is not an appropriate activity, due either to the generally masculine culture associated with digital games, or because such play takes time away from household activities, for which women are still expected to contribute the greater share. Yet women are playing games for longer time periods than men, even if they are not expressing that fact. Perhaps when women play such games in greater numbers, or when their interests are acknowledged and validated in contemporary culture, such activities will lose their masculine association and such greater underreporting among women will diminish (Williams et al. 720)
Since women are more likely to under-represent their game time, it is reasonable to assert that these women may have experienced a negative stigma in regard to gaming, and its usefulness. Perhaps it is hard for women to feel valued, and see the value in something, that they have been merely participating in, and not actively engaged as designers and developers. Youthful men have celebrated video games since the 1980s, but women are only recently being told that they can be part of the club too. When women are included in the club, they are still playing by the rules and framework that has been set up by development teams.
While some games that cater to female values may exist, they are “couched in derogatory or dismissive terms: The Sims (Maxis 2000-2017) is ‘not really a game’; casual games are not counted as ‘real games by many in the industry” (Fullerton). The Sims is a game in which digital persons, and families can be created, stylized and moved into neighborhoods that can also be customized. The users control furnishings, yards, and relationships. This game is very domestic, and “was both radical and baffling to some for its preoccupation with the mundane, domestic life of ordinary characters. It in a sense inverted the classic game formula, stepping away from the action of the battlefield or the adventures of the fantastical” (Fullerton). If games that are oriented around females are ridiculed, then women may believe that the gaming community is not a place where their needs can be met.
An example of games that are actively ignoring women is Grand Theft Auto. Three characters have been made available to play the main story – each of them is male. While one is African-American, there is little for women in this game. The women are represented as: the foolish daughter, the angry/aggressive wife, and, almost laughably, hookers. Further insult to injury is shown by online-play allowing females, proving the developers could have easily implemented a playable female, and still allowed two thirds of the characters to be male.
Even in games that focus on a female protagonist, such as Tomb Raider, there are mostly often hyper-sexualized characters that are off-putting to women instead of engaging them. Women may want to play games, but they do not necessarily have the same objectives as men. While some may, it should be emphasized that men have been, for the most part, the developers of games and computer software. Anthropologist Bonnie A. Nardi refers to the masculine nature and environment of MMORPGs, particularly World of Warcraft, as “The Boys’ Treehouse”. While women may be invited in from time to time, the general landscape of these environments remains masculine. In some games these elements are in the physical landscape – sceneries that are dark and gloomy, rough terrain, and areas that are for tactical use, instead of immersive environments (Fullerton). However, in other games, the limitations may be otherwise. World of Warcraft uses soft feminine tones, bright colors, and has an environment that allows hunter-gathering, and traditionally female ‘professions’, along-side traditionally male (Nardi 168). Characters do not differentiate between these gender-based activities in game. This does not mean that World of Warcraft is an essentially female environment. Battle grounds, dungeons, and other “combat” plays are some of the ways in which World of Warcraft caters to its male market, but it is behavior that provides the greatest barrier for woman players.
Behavior that is not acceptable in other occupations is not only accepted, but also rampant in the World of Warcraft community. Nardi recalls her experience and notes, “[m]ale players casually mentioned things like blow jobs and buttsex. They spoke of raping, or being raped, by mobs or players in battlegrounds and arenas” (Nardi 153). Importantly, MMORPGs provide a landscape in which women – due to game mechanics, may be most likely to enjoy. A lack of widespread MMORPG adoption may be attributed to male-dominated culture in video games (Fullerton). Nardi believes that many women do not feel disadvantaged by this talk, but speaks of further abuse toward women that were not allowed to speak in voice chats, lest they distract the male players (260).
Bearing in mind that role-playing MMOGs have many appealing factors for women, one has to wonder why they are not more popular with female players? In spite of their inclusiveness, there are other implicit and explicit demarcations that bar women from the playground, and can sometimes take the form of blatant player discrimination. Avatar representation is one: women often grudgingly accept the representations they are offered. Another is mechanics, which disproportionately reward combat activities; another may be the linear achievement model of success. There may also be social factors involved. Players in female avatars (whether male or female) frequently report sexual harassment (Fullerton)
Since women players are often the minority, they are forced to adhere to whatever rules that the male authorities – whether game masters, or in-game faction or ‘guild’ leaders, have imposed. Female players are always free to go elsewhere but female-friendly gaming environments are rare, and thus, alternative options may not exist. Women in games may feel as though they are not welcome in the community, or may simply give up on the game altogether based on their own experiences. Since games are based on joy, without this factor, many women may feel it is not worth the trouble. Furthermore, if women are more likely to play a game that involves socialization, if this aspect is poor or unsatisfactory, it is likely the woman will get less out of a game, even if it provides many other meaningful interactions.
Gaming avatars and customization are more than just ‘added bonuses’ in regard to women gamers. In a 2012 study of virtual environments studied how male gamers and women non-gamers reacted to virtual avatars, and the virtual environment. Great differences emerged between the two groups. While “men gamers all felt that their identities were being projected into the virtual space, even when their avatars did not resemble their ‘real life’ selves,” the “women gamers tied avatar appearance with physical appearance”. Furthermore, “[w]omen navigated through the environment as they would the ‘real world’ simply walking and looking around” (deNoyelles 25). While men are perfectly happy with fanatical characters, women tie games with their emotions, and rely on experiences that are at least somewhat realistic, or at the very-least, believable. Women look toward games that allow an exploration of self, whether through story or socialization. An important aspect of self and identity, is how one looks. While male characters may dismiss extras such as clothing as ‘vanity items’ with negative connotations, these items are what allow female characters to see a sense of worth and self-expression within the otherwise limited walls of cyberspace. Women do not look to games for limitations, but for free and open worlds in which they can actively engage. A character that has been stock-arranged, especially “fine-tuned” to the ideals of men, or other persons, will not allow a woman to feel as though she is experiencing the game as a cyber-version of herself, or even a fantastical caricature.
Women do not want to be seen as hyper sexualized, or as characters that are merely going through the same ropes that a male counter-part would, too. While these games have their place, it is important that games with a wider attention to choice become available to consumers. Women must not be placed in environments that are merely cardboard stock, and prefer to engage in and change the game worlds that they occupy. It is no surprise that women, preferring immersive games, are more likely to play games with open-worlds, or a large variety of choices and customization.
For women to be represented in the industry, it cannot be a basis of forcing market games to adhere to a concept that is assumed to be liked by women, such was the case with Lara Croft’s female-centric role on Tomb Raider, an action-thriller typical of current male-dominated markets. Lara, and her “combat lingerie” (Fullerton), managed to fall flat on women audiences, and remains a bestseller in male circles – further expressing that men do not mind playing other character types than their selves, but women do.
Once apparent how women identify with their game selves, an understanding emerges. For women to become immersed in games, the greatest barrier is whether they feel physically represented in the game. While modifications can be beneficial for women players that are seeking community based solutions for their problems, these communities are most developed with gaming companies that are already promoting these values. The top 6 games for mods on the “Nexus Mods” community2 are all owned by Bethesda, and several are variations of the same game series. While modifications may help allow women become educated about coding and the inner-workings of games, there is a more systematic problem in the mix. The developers are not thinking of women’s values on an industrial level.
Women Coders, The Future of Development
Women have shown a dedication to the games that they have chosen to become a part of. While the games may not be traditionally geared toward women in some elements, such as customization, many women may supplement this by using game modifications, often called ‘mods’ by the gaming community. When we consider women’s desire to modify games to their needs, or seek out large communities for socialization, it is no surprise that much of this research has been conducted on MMORPGs or other computer-based games. Console games do not allow user modifications, and those that do, are only recently being adopted by market, and even then, are subject to limitations3. Computer gamers do not face these same obstacles. Gaming communities, such as “Nexus Mods” have popped up to allow for the fostering of user-created content, and some games, such as The Sims, owned by Electronic Arts, promote their own communities for custom content, and allow the game to seamlessly run with new creations. Interestingly, Bethesda, which owns both Skyrim and Fallout 4, as well as Electronic arts, foster both modding communities – and, create games that have fewer limitations to women. Not only do these gamers allow women to play as a woman, they also feature several elements that have been attributed to feminine behaviors.
Brandon Robbins, in his article “They’re Gamers, Not ‘Girl Gamers’” believes the problem could be solved, “[i]f more women were game designers, developers, testers, and critics”. Academics have agreed that to combat I-Methodology, women must be allowed to play in, and formidably change, “The Boys’ Treehouse” (Nordi). Assumptions on the marketplace for games seem widespread and “gaming publications and developers target a young and male audience, and stereotypical assumptions about the gaming habits of older adults are widespread” (Delwiche 205). While the gaming industry continues to make decisions based on skewed representation, there are very real implications on women in gaming. Sometimes these implications can only be understood once they have been challenged, and a counter-environment has been fostered.
Robbins asserts, “Gaming programs should be for all ages and all genders as much as possible. Related programs, such as coding camps, should also be gender neutral”. If women are not creating games, then games are going to be geared toward the demographic that suits the developer. This phenomenon is not unique to games, but common in computer development. This behavior is known as I-Methodology, which happens, “in the development of internet applications, in which designers and developers (mostly men) adopt their own preferences and capacities as the standard for creating new technological applications” (Van Doorn 273). Thus, the men that are designing games are designing worlds in which they would like to inhabit – regardless of a female market that may, and does, exist.
From 2003 until 2006, the Rapunsel Project (Real-time Applied Programming for Underrepresented Students’ Early Literacy) aimed to combat this problem. With a deep understanding of women’s motivations for changing games, the Rapunsel project, “rather than using programming to create entire games, players are expected to learn new skills through a combination of interactive lessons and modding or creating new within-game actions and content” (Hayes 315).
The Rapunsel project is particularly important because it understands that women are more likely to develop games if it is in a social or beneficial context. Women want to help create for communities, and derive pleasure from expanding worlds. Instead of creating a game for mere consumption, women are more likely to engage in projects that have an ever-growing and expansive nature. This is shown through the likelihood of women to play games such as The Sims, or Sim City. While this program is no longer in use, it is important to note that for the women and students involved, “playing Rapunsel increased female students’ sense of self efficacy” (316). Virtual environments are unlikely to hinder women, such as the findings of research that studied male or gamer advantages in a virtual classroom. This research concludes, “gender and previous software experience do not significantly disadvantage learners from experiencing the full benefit of a virtual classroom” (Warden 216). If women are not particularly disadvantaged by technology, there is little reason why women should not be actively encouraged to take up the pursuit. While women are not necessarily challenged, or disadvantaged by virtual worlds, to receive full value from gaming, women must be continuously encouraged to become proactive in their gaming communities. This is important whether socially through community modifications, or at the developer level.
Conclusion
Further research on women in video games should focus on the impact women have on the gaming industry when they engage in development activities. This is particularly important in games such as FPS (first person shooters) and Sports. These games, predominantly male, may be made gender-neutral, or at least, gender-unbiased, if women are part of the development teams.
Stigma regarding women gamers should be watched carefully. While women are much more likely to engage in professional endeavors, it should be analyzed as to whether women are actively denouncing ‘entertainment’ sources to maintain a ‘tough edge’ over markets, instead of merely adopting to men’s vision of fun.
Currently, women have been lagging in accordance to their male counterparts in the adoption of gaming technologies on the internet. The games that fill the existing marketplace are less likely to target female players, and those that do may be heavily geared to male-based communities that have been fostered for the decades that have decided the digital revolution. Programmers, predominantly male, have designed games that focus on the male needs, and have not been quick to adapt to a marketplace that leaves room for all genders, ages, and demographics that wish to play to be suitably fit by gaming communities.
References
Delwiche, Aaron A, and Jennifer J. Henderson. “The Players They Are A-Changin’: the Rise of Older Mmo Gamers.” Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. 57.2 (2013): 205-223. Print.
deNoyelles, Aimee, and Seo K. Kyeong-Ju. “Inspiring Equal Contribution and Opportunity in a 3d Multi-User Virtual Environment: Bringing Together Men Gamers and Women Non-Gamers in Second Life®.” Computers & Education. 58.1 (2012): 21-29. Print.
Fullerton, et al.”A Game of One’s Own: Towards a New Gendered Poetics of Digital Space.” Fibreculture Journal. (2008). Print.
Hayes, E.D, and I.A Games. “Making Computer Games and Design Thinking: a Review of Current Software and Strategies.” Games and Culture. 3 (2008): 309-332. Print.
Nardi, Bonnie A. My Life As a Night Elf Priest: An Anthropological Account of World of Warcraft. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2010. Internet resource
Robbins, M. Brandon. “They’re Gamers, Not “girl Gamers”.” Library Journal. 139.13 (2014). Print.
van Doorn, Niels, Liesbet van Zoonen. “Theorizing gender and the internet” Past, present and future”. The Routledge Handbook of Politics. 2010. Print. 261-274.
Warden, Clyde A, James O. Stanworth, and Chi-Cheng Chang. “Leveling Up: Are Non-Gamers and Women Disadvantaged in a Virtual World Classroom?” Computers in Human Behavior. 65.4 (2016): 210-219.
Williams, Dmitri, Mia Consalvo, Scott Caplan, and Nick Yee. “Looking for Gender: Gender Roles and Behaviors Among Online Gamers.” Journal of Communication. 59.4 (2009): 700-725. Print.
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1 BioWare’s games appeal to minorities by providing deeply engaged gameplay that has options for women, men, and LGBTQ groups. http://www.pcgamer.com/why-biowares-games-inspire-a-unique-kind-of-fandom/
2 http://www.nexusmods.com/
3 October 2016: “Sony has indeed allowed the use of Skyrim and Fallout 4 mods but there are some limits. Bethesda did qualify the mod support announcement. It seems Sony will only allow mods created by the game developer’s Creation Kit. Mods created outside using “external assets” are prohibited” (http://www.itechpost.com/articles/36969/20161006/skyrim-fallout-ps4-mods-okay-%E2%80%93-sony-conditions.htm)