Category Archives: Representation

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15 definitions

  1. Male gaze-  encourages the sexual politics of the gaze and suggests a sexualised way of looking that empowers men and objectifies women.
  2. Voyeurism – invasive of people’s private lives.
  3. Patriarchy- a society controlled by men.
  4. Positive and negative stereotypes- encourages a certain attitude on how we see things and how things are accepted on not accepted.
  5. Counter-types- representation that highlights the positive features of a person or group..
  6. Misrepresentation- false or misleading account of the nature of something.
  7. Selective representation- when groups of people/ things are represented/highlighted more then others.
  8. Dominant ideology-  The ideas, attitudes, values, beliefs, and culture of the ruling class in a society.
  9. Constructed reality- the way we present ourselves to other people is shaped partly by our interactions with others, as well as by our life experiences.
  10. Hegemony- leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others.
  11. Audience positioning- the relationships between the audience and the text, how an audience receives, reads and responds to a text.

Identity:

  1. Fluidity of identity- having the ability to change how you see yourself, the world, and your actions.
  2. Constructed identity- the way that we construct our own identities through experiences, emotions, connections, and rejections. They constantly change.
  3. Negotiated identity-
  4. Collective identity- the shared definition of a group that derives from its members’ common interests, experiences, and solidarities.

key terms around representation

  1. Male gaze – the perspective of a notionally typical heterosexual man considered as embodied in the audience or intended audience for films and other visual media, characterized by a tendency to objectify or sexualize women.
  2. Voyeurism –  an interest in observing unsuspecting people while they undress, are naked, or engage in sexual activities.
  3. Patriarchy – a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it.
  4. Positive and negative stereotypes – a positive stereotype refers to a subjectively favourable belief held about a social group. A negative stereotype represent negative expectations about the out-group.
  5. Counter-types –  a positive stereotype and emphasizes the positive features about a person.
  6. Misrepresentation – the action or offence of giving a false or misleading account of the nature of something.
  7. Selective representation – when some groups of people are represented more in government than others. 
  8. Dominant ideology – denotes the attitudes, beliefs, values, and morals shared by the majority of the people in a given society.
  9. Constructed reality – that people shape their experiences through social interaction.
  10. Hegemony – leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others.
  11. Audience positioning – the techniques used by the creator of a text to try to get the audience to understand the ideology of the text.
  12. Fluidity of identity – having the ability to change how you see yourself, the world, and your actions.
  13. Constructed identity – when you have developed a clear and unique view of yourself and your identity.
  14. Negotiated identity – when people reach agreements of “who is who” in their relationships.
  15. Collective identity – the shared sense of belonging to a group.

key terms :)

The male gaze– Is an objectification of women. The ‘gaze’ is looked at as sexualising women and objectifying them and empowering men, not just in video games but in general media platforms. The game makers use women more as a sexual object used for appeal unlike male characters who are built to have a personality, talents and appropriate outfits. Women’s representation in games focuses more on their boobs and butt and outfit than their object which is to win the game.

Voyeurism– The practice of gaining sexual pleasure from watching others when they are naked or engaged in sexual activity.

Patriarchy– system of society or government in which the father or eldest male is head of the family and descent is reckoned through the male line.

Positive and negative stereotypes– When positive stereotypes are expressed or simply believed as true about a group and its members, positive stereotypes can be related to a number negative consequences for targets’ emotional and psychological states, their performance-based behaviours, and others’ judgments of them. When positive stereotypes are expressed or simply believed as true about a group and its members, positive stereotypes can be related to a number negative consequences for targets’ emotional and psychological states, their performance-based behaviours, and others’ judgments of them.

Counter-types– a positive stereotype and emphasizes the positive features about a person. An example of a countertype is that all religious people are kind.

Misrepresentation– A misrepresentation is a false statement of a material fact made by one party which affects the other party’s decision in agreeing to a contract. If the misrepresentation is discovered, the contract can be declared void and, depending on the situation, the adversely impacted party may seek damages.

Selective representation- selective representation is when some groups of people are represented more in government than others. In the extreme case, selective representation can mean that whole groups of people are made ineligible to vote; in the US women could not vote before 1920, for example.

Dominant ideology– The ideas, attitudes, values, beliefs, and culture of the ruling class in a society; usually also the function of these in validating the current issues/ status quo.

Constructed reality– Sociologists generally accept that reality is different for each individual. The term social construction of reality refers to the theory that the way we present ourselves to other people is shaped partly by our interactions with others, as well as by our life experiences.

Hegemony– Sociologists generally accept that reality is different for each individual. The term social construction of reality refers to the theory that the way we present ourselves to other people is shaped partly by our interactions with others, as well as by our life experiences.

Audience positioning– Audience positioning refers to the techniques used by the creator of a text to try to get the audience to understand the ideology of the text.

Fluidity of identity:

Constructed identity

Negotiated identity

Collective identity

Essay Preparation

I have produced an action warfare, assassin video game which represents an over sexualised, stereotypical female game character. This corresponds to Toril Moi’s analysis of the distinction between female, feminine, feminist categories of representation (1987). In my game production there is a clear signification of femininity which can be identified by the way in which she is dressed and her feminine features such as her hair and body shape/curves.

Furthermore, my characters clothing and body aspects relates to the notion of ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ by Laura Mulvey, for instance her exaggerated female features such as her breasts and lower half. This creates the sense that my dominant signifier has been made to be displayed for male desire/attraction and to be gazed at. For example, this corresponds to Laura Mulvey’s words, she is a character “establishing ways of looking and spectacle” (Mulvey, p. 883, 1999).

Additionally, I feel that my product is a negative representation of femininity as women are not a satisfactory object for men to desirable look at, as well I feel that women should not be sexualised and looked at in a way that men feel the need to be dominant and manly for the way women decide to dress. However, if I was to form this product again I would inhabit a range of signifiers that would connote a sexualised plus size woman or an ethnic feature or even an LGBTQ+ appearance to my dominant signifier. I would apply these changes because I feel that a stereotypical sexy women is white, slim, with model like features. This ‘view’ should not be aimed at the ‘perfect’ woman and I feel that plus women should have the same respect and appreciation as those who are more ‘model like’. As such I would be making a positive affect on gamers and players, to realise that realistically women won’t look like over sexualised video game characters and that women should be respected more for their decisions instead of being objectified.

Representation Diversity : Quotes

Quotes:

Levelling up article (games with representation) – “Sony’s most recent masterpiece showcases people from all walks of life in a way that seems natural and refreshing” – (The quote is expressing that big game companies are starting to actively produce games with different racial backgrounds with natural/realistic design.)

“The Call of Duty franchise is one of the most popular in the world, yet it treats Muslims, Arabs, and Middle Easterners as an interchangeable monolith.” – (Meaning that stereotypes still happen in modernised games such as Call of Duty. Specific ethnics are being stereotyped as terrorists or gang members.)

Why diversity matters article (diversity in games) – “PlayStation recently sponsored Pride London, providing a joyous, hugely colourful presence in the parade” – (The quote is about how playstation has started to ‘show’ their support for the diverse of the LGBTQ+ community.)

“The industry traditionally projects an image that is young, white, straight and male, but there is growing understanding” – (This is stating the traditional game design before people wanted change, and wanted an equal part in video games for different ethnics, beliefs and sexuality.)

Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (The male gaze) – “In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female” – (This quote is about the male gaze and how men actively fantasise/look at the female figure.)

“Women displayed as sexual object is the leit-motiff of erotic spectacle: from pin-ups to strip-tease from Ziegfeld to Busby Berkeley, she holds the look, plays to and signifies male desire” – (I think this quote is talking about how women are seen and looked at as if they were objects, just for mens sexual desire, gaze and gain.)

Feminist Frequency Site – “conjunction with other aspects of their design, to make them exude sexuality for the entertainment of the presumed straight male player.” – (This quote is about the way in which video games represent female characters body language in a sexualised manner, to appease the ‘male gaze’.)

“The sexualization of female characters is about designing them, dressing them or framing them in ways that are specifically intended to be sexually appealing to presumed male viewers or players.” – (The quote in the feminist site talks about female game characters wearing lingerie style armour instead of appropriate attire for the game type, and game makers can easily change this but refuse because of the male attraction to the specific game. It’d what draws men in, relating to the ‘male gaze’.)

Essay prep

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.

Essay Prep – Games Cover Evaluation

For my games cover I produced a football game, and my dominant signifying image was quite masculine. This fits with the trend created in Toril Moi’s analysis of the differences between female, feminine and feminist categories of representation, released in 1987. The only difference is that my cover has a particular focus on masculinity. This is shown in the general posture of my character, being bold and confident, along with the sports-related clothing showing professionalism. I also exaggerated muscular features, such as the arms, torso and legs, which may come across provocative to some.

My character reverses the concept and idea of “The Male Gaze” by Laura Mulvey because of the fact that the dominant signifier is not one which would usually be sexualised by the stereotypical straight male video game player. However, you could say that the character is still there to be looked at and objectified, following a quote from the article “Why diversity matters in the modern video games industry” – “If you do not see yourself on Netflix, on Instagram, in games, in forums, where are you?” (The Guardian). This implies that “otherworldly” characters with too good to be true bodies are becoming increasingly relevant as time is progressing and their influence across the world is rapidly increasing as well, particularly because of the rise in use of social media platforms.

This considered, I think that masculinity is more commonly seen as more confrontational, aggressive and violent than femininity so in this regard my product could be considered a reactionary representation of masculinity, fitting in with what most people in society would consider everyday views.

On the other hand, this representation of masculinity may not entirely be one shown in a particularly positive light. I think this because in my opinion, a confrontational, aggressive and provocative mindset is not one that males should aspire to have. Because of this, if I were to recreate this product, I would replace the dominant signifying character of a male with one of a female, with features which do not fit the idea of “The Male Gaze” in that the character would not be sexualised by their design. I would do this by re-sculpting my character, using less revealing clothes, more realistic body features and a more regular posture. I think this would paint femininity in a much more positive light, providing a countertype and challenging everyday beliefs about females.

This ties into the broad argument of whether women’s football is a “true sport” and if it is entertaining to watch as male football. I think that both genders can and should play football as much as each other, but the vast majority of football games available focus on male football, so consequently this idea of a game cover would be radical. By changing my dominant signifying character, I think that a far less negative representation of football as a whole would be presented. This links to a quote from an article being “As a girl growing up playing games I was always like, why do I have to play as a boy?” (The Guardian) in that it would promote equality and provide younger people with more role models to look up to, particularly girls, as more elite female footballers would be recognizable in the game.

Essay prep

I produced an Indiana Jones’s type game and I created a dominant signifying image that was essentially masculine  and stereotypical. Although the antagonist was not really a male character, even though it may appear as male. This corresponds to Toril Moi’s analysis of the distinction between female, feminine, feminist categories of representation (1987). Only in my production there is a clear focus on masculinityThis can be identified in the typical stereotype of adventure games, where the main protagonist(the adventurer) is a man and has two sidekicks(one of which typically a woman).

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 efficient for the story and confrontational, including an antagonist – signifying combat, aggression, conflict etc – and ancient clothing. 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 man and look to create a character that was more radical in representation. Perhaps inhabiting a range of signifiers that would connote a more feminine (ie less masculine) character. I could do this by re-sculpting my character in terms of their physical appearance, their clothing, their posture and even their gender. Changing the protagonists gender to female would make the product radical but a game which has already explored this idea is the ‘Lara Croft’ game franchise, although it may sem like a positive representation initially the game art/cover oversexualises Lara which I think is the wrong approach to creating a radical game. As such, I would be sending out a much more positive message (for me) about masculinity, if I made a radical product, 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)

essay prep

I produced a games box cover inspired by Toy Story and I created a dominant signifying image that was essentially masculine although it was clearly a female character. This corresponds to Toril Moi’s analysis of the distinction between female, feminine, feminist categories of representation (1987). Only in my production there is a clear focus on masculinity, as she is female but appears rather masculine and not feminine. This can be recognised in the attire my character is wearing. She is dressed in army combat clothes that are not tight fitting to her body as it would be reactionary for a female character who is a dominant signifier to be sexualised with exposed breasts and bum which is then revealed by tight fitting clothing.

Furthermore, when creating my character I did make her limbs and frame wider and more muscular rather than the stereotypical slender frame of a female, nonetheless I made sure not to over do the body shape as I didn’t want the focus of my character to be on her body as that takes away from the whole idea of the fact that she is female but is unexpectedly masculine so she is not sexualised. It is a negative that it takes for a female to dress and look masculine for her to not be sexualised. These features go against Laura Mulvey’s work on ‘The Male Gaze’ as my creation of the dominant signifier’s purpose is most certainly not for the male gaze and the sexualisation of the dominant signifier. This contrasts to Laura Mulvey’s

However, I believe that society is becoming

essay prep

I produced a Zombies vs Soldiers game, in which I created a main zombie character who is seen as dominant therefore recognising a masculine representation although the character was not necessarily male. This corresponds to Toril Moi’s analysis of the difference between female, feminine and feminist forms of representation (1987). However in my creation you can recognise masculinity through the defined features on the face and body, which according to my target audience is seen as almost “man-like”.

In addition to this I have created a soldier who is a male; this is very stereotypical because for as long as we know men have been expected to be the ones that serve their country and go off to fight and protect while women are expected to stay home and look after the children. I also included clothing that was war-like and confrontational, this signifies battle, hostility, conflict etc – and a war-like helmet. In some ways this can contrast Laura Mulvey’s notion of the male gaze in that the soldier character is there to be objectified and looked at, in the words of Laura Mulvey he is a character whose “appearance is coded for strong visual impact”. Nevertheless, the male gaze is quite prominent as it associates the sexualisation of the character, which is not the instance for my character.