I produced a star wars action game and I created a dominant signifying image that was essentially a sexualised female. This corresponds to Toril Moi’s analysis of the distinction between female, feminine, feminist categories of representation (1987). This can be identified in the size of her breasts and butt, which I made purposely to translate the normality of objectifying women, and that over exaggerated features are used heavily across this male dominated industry.
In addition, I also included clothing that was war-like but inappropriate for the situation she will be put in, in the game and which also highlighted her waist and breasts. This relates 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 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 femininity.
However, I don’t think this is a positive representation of femininity at all, as I personally believe that an over-aggressive (toxic) femininity is not healthy for women to aspire to. As such, if I was to create this product again, I would avoid the stereotypical representation of her breasts and bottom. And look to create a character that was more radical in representation. I did want to represent what this media form does to women in relation to sexualising them, but next time want to show a real gender equal representation. Perhaps inhabiting a range of signifiers that would connote a more masculine (ie less stereotypical female body) 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 femininity, 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)