“For a time, some of the only places where Black characters could be found was in sports games, such as PUNCH OUT!!, released in 1987″
“stereotypes were not limited to African Americans; Latinx characters have often been portrayed as gangbangers and drug dealers”
“The industry traditionally projects an image that is young, white, straight and male”
“games are his home. “games let me explore sexuality and gender at times when I’ve questioned both” “
I produced a rainforest running game and I created a dominant signifying image that was feminine. Lara Croft was the inspiration for the character created. The feminine domain o my character can be shown in her appearance, but not in her posture or animation due to me not producing that yet. Her minimal clothing on the upper part of her body can suggest that she is a female character additionally. I believe that this choice of clothing is not arguable against, however it could be seen as an appealing choice of clothing based on the fact her torso, arms and collarbone area are on show. I designed her with a strong build to represent her adventurousness and defiance of weakness, as for someone to go on a mission as dangerous as this, you must have attainment of fitness skill.
Laura Mulvey argues women in cinema are designed to be objectified and looked at, however my design of my character is not designed under this intent. The choice of combat trousers relating to ‘ a male soldier’ over shorts defy the idea of a sexualising character. I think the idea of using a female character in my game, a person of whom has to complete minacious obstacles represents a strong idea of the female persona. Traditionally a male is seen to be the only one who could go on the missions in order to retrieve whatever the reward will be, whether that’s the riches or the ‘damsel in distress’. Instead the woman is retrieving the treasure for her village, with no mention of the male input.
I produced a ghost busters’ game. I used both ganders within my games cover. I used the male character as the ghost because men are considered to be mysterious due to not sharing emotions and details about themselves. The female character is used as the buster. I used a female character to go against those ideas of society that females cannot do what males do. I also decided to cover up the female to not sexualise her which corresponds to Laura Mulvey’s idea that women in video games are usually sexualised.
I used a female character as my dominant signifier of busters of the ghosts. I decided to do this because if women are presented to be lower than men I wanted to put a woman above a man in status to prove that in video games its not just men who can play the fighter character roles with male players but female characters can which helps show that female players can also do the same.
After doing wider research I came across some facts which show how the female characters in games are presented less.
“playable female characters were found to appear less frequently than male characters”
“The sexualization of women involves the use of female bodies in a way that renders them the object of a sexual gaze or perception by others; their bodies are objectified and they are reduced to that of a sex object”
These quotes can be found on Wikipedia.
Social media forms have learnt to accept these conventional ideas as its how it has been for years and video game companies refuse to change their dominant signifier from a male to a female. That’s why I made the decision to change the main character to become a female in order to change people’s opinions and views on women in video games.
My video game is countertype; radical as it goes against what has been done before and what works in the video game community. It shows positivity towards women without presenting negativity to men due to the fact that we cannot just flip gender roles as that will be deemed as unfair and its not what people such as Jean Kilbourne works towards and works for. Jean works for equality not the flip of gender roles.
I was told my games cover had a good representation of gender roles and that I’ve created the perfect split between genders to keep it fair and just.
If I were to completely alter my representation id use the female as the ghost and the male as the buster and give back the male role of being the strong hero trying to save the town. Id also oversexualise the female character and bring back all the same representations of characters we already have no matter how unfair and unjust they are.
I produced a racing car game and I created a dominant signifier image that all genders would be intrigued to play. In my games cover there is a connotation within the image to explain how there are varies of car games and alongside with a story line. This might target the audience more as people enjoy taking part in the story rather than just playing the game as it wont be as interesting. The only production there is a clear focus on my female character and the racing cars. This can be identified in the posture that I created for my main character, it is a slumped, which when I tested it on my target audience they recognised as “a typical female character!”.
Further to this I have exaggerated the feminine attributes of my character with thin arms, legs and torso. I also included clothing that was simple but intriguing and comfortable. In some ways this inverts Laura Mulvey’s notion of the male gaze in that my main character is there to be objectified and looked at, in the words of Laura Mulvey she is a character “establishing ways of looking and spectacle” (Mulvey, p. 883, 1999). However, the notion of the male gaze is quite distinct as it relates to the sexualisation of the dominant signifier, which is not the case for my character as I am trying to keep the game clean.
Nevertheless, I believe that it is generally accepted in society that females should be seen as less violent and aggressive rather than males. This is because there have been many games that males tend to save the mistresses in distress, however i also believe that females can be portrayed as how they want to be as they all have different personality’s. Therefore my games cover is a radical image for my main character and my dominant signifier is the car as it stands out to everyone who will play the game as you can simply tell what sort of game it is.
I think this is a positive image as I think that it influences females that they can do whatever they enjoy and shouldn’t be ashamed of something they are not capable of doing. This is also seen as saying males are better drivers than females. My games cover represents to all genders as i think society has a wide range of ideology, however I disagree to agree that, ‘yes’, there are more things that males are better at doing but that doesn’t mean that females weak and always in distress. I avoided the stereotypical of representation so that my image would stay radical rather than reactionary. The reason for creating a female character is because I want to target my audience to all genders without having to sexualise my character.
I produced a horror survival game that includes both male and female characters however the dominant signifier indicates that the game is primarily masculine, this links to Jean Kilburn’s theory of men also being objectified as well as women however when men are objectified is it in a more masculine and strong manner. This is shown by the fact that the main character is muscular and strong without needing help from others to complete his goals.
Further to this I have exaggerated the muscular attributes of my character with muscular arms, legs and torso. I also included clothing that was war-like and confrontational, signifying combat, aggression, conflict etc. In some ways this inverts Laura Mulvey’s notion of the male gaze in that my main character is there to be objectified and looked at, in the words of Laura Mulvey he is a character “establishing ways of looking and spectacle”. However, the notion of the male gaze is quite distinct as it relates to the sexualisation of the dominant signifier, which is not the case for my character.
Nevertheless, I believe that it is generally accepted in society that masculinity is seen as much more aggressive, confrontational and violent than femininity. So in this sense my product is a reactionary representation of masculinity.
However, I don’t think this is a positive representation of masculinity, I personally believe that an over-aggressive representation of masculinity is not healthy for males to aspire to. As such, if I was to create this product again, I would avoid a stereotypical representation of an over-muscular, over-physical character and create a character that is more radical in the way they are represented and portrayed. Perhaps using a range of signifiers that would indicate a more feminine character could make the character less masculine. I could do this by adjusting my characters physical appearance, this could include their clothing and their posture. As such, I would be sending out a much more positive message about masculinity, this would also provide an image that men can aspire to without presenting impossible standards.
I produced a games cover about the new FIFA, called FIFA 22, it is based around zombies, military and masks with the dominant signifier being the zombie wearing all of these things on him. That was masculine through me picking two male characters, although it you could say it doesn’t identify with any gender as its a zombie. This relates to the analysis of the distinction between female, feminine, feminist categories of representation by Tori Moi (1987). The main focus of my production (games cover) was masculinity. This can be identified by the fact that they are standing with their shoulders out and broad to create the sense that they are the Alpha males. The target audience will recognize it as “a typical male pose”.
Further to this I have exaggerated the muscular attributes of my character with expanded arms, legs and torso. I also included clothing that was war-like and confrontational, including a large weapon – signifying combat, aggression, conflict etc – and a war-like helmet. In some ways this inverts Laura Mulvey’s notion of the male gaze in that my main character is there to be objectified and looked at, in the words of Laura Mulvey he is a character “establishing ways of looking and spectacle” (Mulvey, p. 883, 1999). However, the notion of the male gaze is quite distinct as it relates to the sexualisation of the dominant signifier, which is not the case for my character.
Nevertheless, I believe that it is generally accepted in society that masculinity is seen as much more aggressive, confrontational and violent than femininity. So in this sense my product is a reactionary representation of masculinity.
However, I don’t think this is a positive representation of masculinity as I personally believe that an over-aggressive (toxic) masculinity is not healthy for males to aspire to. As such, if I was to create this product again, I would avoid the stereotypical representation of an over-muscular, over-physical zombie and look to create a character that was more radical in representation. Perhaps inhabiting a range of signifiers that would connote a more feminine (i.e. less masculine) character. I could do this by re-sculpting my character in terms of their physical appearance, their clothing and their posture. As such, I would be sending out a much more positive message (for me) about masculinity, ‘maleness’ one that used a positive countertype to present a radical and challenging representation which could help gamers to adopt a new ways of thinking about gender representation, with more positive role models for young people to aspire to. As Keith Stuart notes ‘the power of video games [is] a reflective, empowering and emotional influence on the lives of players’. (Why diversity matters in the modern video games industry, Guardian, 18 July 2017)
| Sign | Stands in for something else |
| Code | Symbolic tools used to create meaning |
| Convention | Accepted ways of using media |
| Dominant signifier | The main representative |
| Anchorage | Words with an image to provide context |
| Signifier | Stands in for something else |
| Signified | Idea being evoked by signifier |
| Icon | A sign that looks like its object |
| Index | A sign that has a link to its object |
| Symbol | A sign that has a more random link to its object Roland Barthes: |
| Signification | Structural levels of signification, meaning or representation |
| Denotation | The most basic or literal meaning of a sign |
| Connotation | The secondary, cultural meanings of signs or signifying signs signs that are used as signifiers for a secondary meaning |
| Myth | The most obvious level of signification, but distorts meaning by validating arbitrary cultural assumptions in a way similar to the denotative sign |
| Ideology | codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power |
| Radical | Something that challenges dominant ideas |
| Reactionary | Something that confirms dominant ideas |
I produced a Car Racing game and I created a dominant signifying image that would appeal more to the male audience. This is because a majority of people who would play my game would be male. This corresponds to Toril Moi’s analysis of the distinction between female, feminine, feminist categories of representation.
Further to this I have exaggerated the muscular attributes of my character with expanded arms, legs and torso. I also included clothing that would be seen as manly and reactionary, including a leather jacket, plain white shirt, casual trousers and some casual sunglasses. In some ways this inverts Laura Mulvey’s notion of the male gaze in that my main character is there to be objectified and looked at, in the words of Laura Mulvey he is a character “establishing ways of looking and spectacle”. However, the notion of the male gaze is quite distinct as it relates to the sexualisation of the dominant signifier, which is not what I have done with my character.
Nevertheless, I believe that it is generally accepted in society that masculinity is seen as much more aggressive, confrontational and violent than femininity. So in this sense my product is a reactionary representation of masculinity.
I believe that this is a positive representation of masculinity as that an over-aggressive masculinity is not healthy for males to aspire to. As such, if I was to create this product again, I would avoid the stereotypical representation of an over-muscular, over-physical zombie and look to create a character that was more radical in representation. Perhaps inhabiting a range of signifiers that would connote a more feminine character. I could do this by re-sculpting my character in terms of their physical appearance and their clothing. As such, I would be sending out a much more positive message to the audience about masculinity, one that used a positive countertype to present a radical and challenging representation which could help gamers to adopt a new ways of thinking about gender representation, with more positive role models for young people to aspire to.
I produced a Jungle quest game called Lana Laxima and I created a dominant signifying image that was essentially feminine although it didn’t fit the reactionary female games cover. This is because the woman in my games cover is fully clothed and not sexualised by wearing tight, revealing clothing. This corresponds to Toril Moi’s analysis of the distinction between female, feminine, feminist categories of representation (1987). In my production there is a clear focus on femininity.
Further to this I have exaggerated the female attributes of my character with large lips, a small nose and a tiny waist. I also included clothing that was army/jungle-like an, including camouflage trousers which have connotations to combat and the army. My character opposes the ideas of the male gaze as the notion of the male gaze is quite distinct, it relates to the sexualisation of the dominant signifier, which is not the case for my character.
Nevertheless, I believe that it is generally accepted in society that femininity is seen as am much more week, feeble and sexualised gender than masculinity. So in this sense my product is a radical representation of femininity.
Personally, I think that this is a positive representation of femininity as lana Laxima breaks all the stereotypes of females being week and sexualised. however in my game the main protagonist is a strong female woman who fights off the bad people, and is presented in non-sexual clothing. If I were to create this product again I would introduce more characters of all races, and sizes and look to create something that was more reactionary to the gamers. To draw in the attention of male users I would put some of the female characters in small, revealing clothes and some of them i would make more modest. I would also do the same with the male characters in the game, and have a range of body types from muscly to skinny to connect with all audience types. As such, i would be sending out a more positive message about race, gender, and body types to connect with the gamers and help them think about gender representation, with more positive role models for young people to aspire to. As Keith Stuart notes ‘the power of video games [is] a reflective, empowering and emotional influence on the lives of players’. (Why diversity matters in the modern video games industry, Guardian, 18 July 2017)