
Video Games have come a long way a before gaining its popularity nowadays. The first video game ever created was in 1940 by Edward Condon who designed a computer allowing a person to play a game called “Nim” (video game history Timeline). As the digitized technology has penetrated every corner of our daily lives in the past three decades, video game, in the meanwhile, progressively gains its up-growth popularity. Today, according to a survey conducted by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) 2015, there are more than 150 million American play video games, more than a half of the American population played video games. 

Playing video games contributes a great deal to an individual’s growth and development, particularly to youth population.  It helps to train one’s logical thinking, teach the ways how to cooperate with others, and inspire one’s ability of imagination, and even creation (Edery &Mollick, 2009).  Furthermore, video games allow children to discover new world and facilitate opportunities of communication and socialization with many children or adults (Kondrat 2015). 

However, not all video games provide positive influences to players, some of them may have potential negative impacts that may steer some immature young players or evil-minded adults who develop malicious perceptions or inappropriate behaviors, including violence, sexuality, and aggression. More specifically, many video games carry stereotypy of gender representations that contain female protagonists often portrayed as a sexualized objects, dependence, and submissiveness; on the other hand, many male protagonists were portrayed as a guy of hyper-masculinity and physical violence (Dill & Thill, 2007). 

A stereotype of gender representation could introduce unhealthy social and behavioral problems to the players, including mis-perception, negative attitudes or inappropriate behavioral intention toward others. Therefore, this research paper intends to review selected scholarly works that studying representative of gender roles in video games, summarize their findings, and highlight issues regarding gender stereotype in the video games. This paper will alarm game designers, producers, educators, and even players, in their entertaining with future video game products, with a serious consideration of impacts of addressed issues in this review.

Stereotype of gender representation exist across most of video games that contain both male and female characters. Male characters are more likely than female characters to be portrayed as aggressive; while female characters are likely than male characters to be portrayed as sexualized (Dill & Thill, 2007). Traditionally, our social norms often emphasize on differences in gender identities. For example, people usually decorate a boy’s room with painted blue-color versus girl’s pink-colored stuff. Further in choosing a toy, girls were offered cuddly teddy bear or a set of plastic cooking ware, while boys, typically get a sword or baseball bat as their birthday’s toy gifts.  When parents assign a child house chores, it is often divided for girls to wash dishes and boys to carry out garbage or help out for yard work (Dietz, 2007).  

This “bipolar” type of vision on gender preference may be geminated from stereotypical view of masculinity for boys and femininity for girls. Unfortunately, this stereotyping gender representation was well-adapted in video games to portray male or female character’s gender identity.  As a matter of fact, due to the common practice of stereotyping gender identities in video gaming,  the video game has been criticized as “the alignment of gaming technology with one gender only” (Carr, 2005). Most of leading roles characterized in digital games is male, young, heterosexual, and white (Nakamura, 2012).  They were often depicted as super-competitive, longing for challenge and risk, initiate or accept physical violence.

While woman in the digital game, besides being frequently portrayed as sexualized image, often depicted as unplayable, supplemental, or helpless and innocent roles (Miller & Summers, 2007---Lotte). It should further be noted that women in the game culture usually suffer “double stereotyping.”  Because traditionally, people always think men are better at playing games while women should engage in more household chore activities (Selwvy, 2007). Therefore, women not only encounter discrimination based on their gender in video game world, but also suffer low pop cultural status of digital gaming (Gyongran, 2008). 

Interestingly, the concern of stereotyping discrimination against woman in video games not only recognized by women themselves, it is also acknowledged by majority of men who were familiar with video games. A survey research was recently conducted through social media via Face Book. Of a total 234 participants, majority of respondents believe that female gender was stereotyped in video games. Specifically, female participants agreed (78%) with the statement of stereotype on the girls and nearly equal percent of male participants (76%) carried the same belief as did female participant regarding to women’s gender stereotype in video games.

Nevertheless, stereotype discrimination on gender identities in video games not only target woman, but also toward men in many cases. A research on sexism in video games conducted in 2012 revealed that even though more women than men experiences taunting or harassment,  many men, about 13.5%  out of 874 survey respondents,  also reported that they had experienced sex-based taunting, harassment, or threats while playing video games (Matthew, 2012).  Noticeably, sexism comments directed against men were different from comments directed against women. For woman, it was about being female.  For men it is about less-masculinity. Some of them were harassed because they choose a female character to play in the game. The one will likely received insults, bullying, or shaming comments from others if he presents himself in video game not “sufficient male” (Mathew, 2012).  Clearly, stereotype of gender identities discriminating individuals were not only directed toward women but also certainly toward many male players. 

 Many research reviewed that gender stereotypes do exist in many video games and they can be severely detrimental towards the psyche of a growing male or female. Specifically, portrayals of male and female in video games influence young man or woman unhealthy practice. For example, a young man may seek hyper-masculinity body image by engaging compulsive weight lift and illegal steroid uses to stimulate  muscle mass growth (Smolak & Stein 2006—Dill). On the other hand, an ideal feminine beauty exaggerated by the media reflected in video game is called curvaceously thin that suggest a girl’s ideal body image as abnormal small size of waist and hips and relatively large bust. This curvaceously thin image encourages many young girls to engage in unhealthy diet practice such as purging disorder. 

More serious consequence of poor stereotypical portrayals of gender identity promote sexist bias aggregation toward women and men.  A recent report from media revealed that there is a rise of cyber crimes in online gaming world, some hackers rewrite codes to some games and simulate sexual assault as “virtual rape” to against both men and women (CityNews, 2017). Two research conducted by Burt (1980) and Bell at al (1992) indicated that gender role stereotyping was significantly associated with callousness toward rape.  

Mass media’s potential influence toward youth development has been well-studied (Bessenoff, 2006; Morrison, 2004; Calvert, 2001)For example, women in the media report who were exposed to “ideal image” (very skinny) increased levels of body dissatisfaction, negative mood and depression, and lower levels of self-esteem as compared to those who were not exposed these ideal images (Bassenoff, 2006). Equally, media has potential to influence males as well. Morrison et al (2004) indicated that men who view ideal image of actor or model (very muscular) are more likely to try gain weight and use steroids.

As video game is emerging into one of large genres of mass media-70% of American youth own at least one game console in their home (Roberts at el, 1999—Miller), it has potential to be great influential than any other forms of media because of its engaging, interactive, and repetitive nature (Ameircal Psyologicall Association, 2006—Miller).  In particular, some video games, containing its virtual reality quality likely compounds  these effects. For example,  The Guy Game has an actual video clip showing a topless women, while the Playboy Mansion allows players to undress the women characters (Millers 2007).  It not too hard to image how a young man who repeatedly play such games don’t recall and imitate this experience in his or her real life. 

As the today’s enormous trend shifting our values and beliefs toward more a diversity and multicultural society,  regardless  it is due to traditional view, historical practice,  conservative social norms, or economic profit associated decision that generated stereotypical bias against gender identities in gaming culture,  such discriminated ideology is unacceptable and intolerance. Just as other mass media has potential influence many American men and women, video game, as the fastest growing media in the United States is creating tremendous impacts to many American young men’s and women’s developments, in their values, attitudes, perceptions,  and behaviors. It is crucial moment now for game designers, producers, educators, psychologists, and other gaming industry professionals to come together to look at this serious issues to stop  such immoral practice in video gaming playing  and re-direct video gaming world to foster a kind of cultural environment that encourage  support, socialization, communication, challenge, problem-solving, enrichment, care, love, joy, and even happiness. As Kafai e al, the authors of the book of Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat,  stated “In today’s game-packed digital landscape, there is an even greater need for games that offer motivating, challenging, enriching contexts for play to a more diversity population of players.”

 