Some experts say women who work in the sex industry are already at an elevated risk for being harmed by clients, and that Grand Theft Auto isn’t helping that statistic go down. If this is true, Grand Theft Auto could be one of the many things perpetuating violence against females. There is speculation that when individuals see so much violence against women within the game, they won’t feel as shocked by it in real life. Studies have suggested these things are true, which is particularly worrisome considering the people who play Grand Theft Auto most often are young males. However, people are understandably worried that such exposure to severe violence against women in extremely realistic video games normalizes it and even causes people to become less empathetic. Some analysts even say Grand Theft Auto has drastically changed the video game industry. There are currently 11 standalone titles and four expansion packs, which have collectively sold hundreds of millions of copies.
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Players are also urged to make a male protagonist grope a female stripper repeatedly before a bouncer discovers his tactics.ĭespite these eyebrow-raising activities, the Grand Theft Auto series is perpetually popular. In one version of the game, the goal is to kill as many women as possible.
She now wears a tank top and pants and firmly represents the role of a strong heroine.įollowing Tomb Raider was Grand Theft Auto, an immensely popular series that began in 1997. The game glamorises stealing cars and has been shunned by some gamers for the way it glorifies sexual harassment and the murder of female characters, catering to cisgender males while alienating minority groups. Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, image sourceĪ few years after her introduction, the Lara Croft character got a makeover that remains today. Those reportedly began as a joke shared in the office of her creators, but they were supported since the gaming audience for the Lara Croft series was predominantly male. There were also complaints about the character’s unnaturally large breasts.
However, Croft was depicted in tight pants and midriff-baring tops, and people asserted that this meant the focus was not on her strength, but on her sexuality. The introduction of Lara Croft in the 90s presented what is now considered to be one of the first strong female characters not just in video games, but in media in general. In Mario and The Legend of Zelda respectively, Princess Peach and Princess Zelda appear as damsels in distress – and, in many cases, the objective of the game is to rescue them from peril. Samus Aran, a heroine in the 1986 Metroid game, is considered the first playable female character, rather than a woman who merely appeared in the background. Sometimes these female characters were barely distinguishable from male characters except for one minor characteristic, such as long eyelashes.
History indicates that women began appearing in video games around the mid-80s. Many critics have assertively spoken out about how strong female video game characters are rare, with the characters that do appear are often being presented as “prizes.”īut has female representation in video games gotten better as time has passed, or worse? The video game industry is booming, but it repeatedly comes under scrutiny for what appears to be the persistent sexualisation of female characters.
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