Rhizome Experiment, Fall 2015

Race and Gender in Video Games

Video games are becoming more and more realistic in order to be the closest alternative to real life. As simulations like Second Life allow more opportunities to create a unique character, people have to make the decision to whether create an avatar that more like them, or more willing to be accepted in society. In the real, it is obvious to notice stereotypes about race and gender. There are some qualities in the real world that would seem to be more attractive, in the sense that those would help bring more attention. For example, the characters that speak English are at an advantage to those who speak a foreign language, and so some users would try to form the character’s persona around this perspective. As English is known as an international language, one can find someone who speaks English in a foreign nation. In the virtual, the same occurs, in that if one avatar speaks a foreign language, people will tend to find someone who speaks English. Despite the virtual is meant to be a separate entity from the real, many of the preferences flow into the simulated world.

Not only preferences, but stereotypes are also an important aspect of the virtual. According to a study by MSU, “In mass media, compared to female characters, male characters appear more frequently, talk significantly more, and engage in noted behaviors more” (MSU). Women are also portrayed as subordinate and submissive, sometimes even implied in just a sexual manner. There is only a small percentage of video games that have a female as a lead character, and this stems off from gender stereotypes that are set in the real. Along with these gender roles, ideas of white supremacy also arise, in which avatars would be more inclined to approach a character with a Caucasian skin tone. It is seen that sometimes even more exotic-looking avatars are preferred over colored avatars because of the accompanying real life tendencies. Boellstorff says that some users “judged each other based on appearance” (Boellstorff 130). Video games also seems to reinforce the harmful stereotype that black people are more violent, as missions involve black characters who are the ones committing the act. The same also goes on in the real, as people judge based on the outward appearance because there is a social ideology that it communicates about who one really is. People more than ever express themselves through clothing, jewelry, and personal effects to display who they are. Despite the simulated social space is completely different from that of the real, it is still not the utopic environment as many envision it to be. 

https://www.msu.edu/~pengwei/Mou%20Peng.pdf

Boellstorff, Tom. "Chapters 2, 4-6." Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2008. N. pag. Print

 

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