Our group chose to focus on video games.
When looking at this video game character, you would typically think that this character is male. He's holding a huge gun, and has huge shoulders. Wrong, this character is actually a female. When playing the game Metroid, many people believed that the main character Samus was a male, but later on was revealed as a kick but female. The unveiling of this very powerful woman character blew people's minds, typically women video game characters are dressed very skimpy, with oversized breasts and their midriff showing. Samus in Metroid goes against the typical female video game character. Of course after the conclusion that Samus was female, more erotic and sexual pictures of her began to show up.
Does society determine how these video game characters become sexualized?
Why did they choose to display Samus in this spandex suit, sexual way, instead of her full armored attire?
When women are portrayed sexually in video games, it turns the focus of the game on how sexy the character is, and not the overall goal of the game and why you are playing it. Metroid is rated T for teen, which means children as young as thirteen can view this over sexualized character. Obviously this Samus character is a fantasy woman character, because not all typical women look like this. It is a perfect example of how sex sells in society, and how people can portray women as over sexualized beings.
The typical female in society handles family issues and focuses on others in her life.
The Sims, a game that allows players to control people's lives, is similar to a female role.
According to ESRB, The Sim 3 is rated for T (Teen). The point of this game is to handle characters' life from when they were born to when they are old. You can dress them as you like, find a beautiful date and get a divorce. It allows you to see other characters interacting with yours, and the relationship come out of that. Also, each character has its own personality, so on and so forth. There're many things player can do in The Sim.
However, the game just permits you to choose either male or female, which eventually will marry the opposite gender. Characters can be dressed femininely, manly, but it's gender can be known by a click. The Sim points that gender is binary no matter how a character could behave. Although a man can cry after being denied by his wife, he is still recognizable as a male. In the ad, always man proposes a woman, girls speak with high pitch, boys speak with lower voice. Also, there is "goodness" bar (or something like that) which determines your character morality. Unfaithful, polygamy, money purpose relationship will lower the "goodness" bar. At home, coupled, body-only, sex, is the only command allowed. Apparently, The Sim has only so called good sexual behavior following the charmed circle of Rubin. For those who have played, how else does this game reinforce the gender binary normal sexual behavior?
What are the life steps that everyone in this world has to take? I think it starts from a baby, then you grow up become a teenager and when you are done with your studies, you will start working in order to earn money to support your life. Isn't it true?
I would like to focus on the time when you start looking for a job in order to earn money. I think this situation could be related to a game which is very famous amongst us called the 'Farmville'. In this game, you have to choose an avatar and its gender, either male or female, and the gender is changeable. However, no matter what gender you choose, your main goal is to earn money from your farming. The money that you earned will be needed for buying stuffs such as, houses, cars, and so on. So I think the role is the same as in our real life. Either you are a woman or a man, if you do not work, you will not have money and thus you cannot buy stuffs that you wish to have. In addition, the game requires you to have good strategies to make and earn money quickly and safely. Same as in your life, strategies are very important in order to have a good future plan in life. We also need to be consistent in doing our job so that we could achieve our main goal.
The main character in minecraft is male. In this game, you are alone in a world with no tools with which to survive. At night, monsters come out and try to attack you. I find it significant that there is no option to have a female playable character; you must play as a male, regardless of your gender. It is implying that men are the only ones who can survive in the wilderness; given absolutely nothing, women would not be able to craft the necessary defenses against zombies, skeletons, and spiders. It portrays the typical gender roles of men being masculine and women being feminine and delicate. This game, with the physical labor that the character must go through, as well as the trials he must face, reinforces masculinity. What would t=having an option of playable characters in Minecraft say about gender norms and society?
All four of these show some aspect of the gender binary. Sims and Farmville clearly indicate gender. Minecraft shows stereotypical male strength, while Metriod shows the ideal female body. Even the style of game play (in relation to the targeted audience) displays a gender binary: Minecraft and Metriod, which target males, involve fighting for survival; Sims and Farmville are slower paced games about day to day life. The ideas of sex and desire presented in Sims display "normalcy" in relationships. Video games are played by many people: the presence of sex and the gender binary in these games reinforces societal roles for male and female gamers.
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