Sexism

What is the Issue?

Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on sex, which can appear in many forms. In games, it can include the way characters are portrayed and also the way people are treated in the community based on their sex. However, though many consider gaming a male activity, women now represent nearly half of the gamers worldwide. 

• 48% of gamers in the U.S. are female

• 53% of Brazilian gamers are female, with 56.7% of mobile players female

• 38% of gamers in Asia overall are female

The message is clear: Gaming is not a gender-specific activity. However, despite the numbers and the huge market potential of the female demographic, research indicates that games are often perceived as sexist and geared primarily toward men, with 89.55% of primary characters in games designed as male. In some instances, communities can be downright hostile toward women.

Consequences in the Gaming Industry

• Assassin's Creed faced heavy criticism when one of the developers said there were no female characters because they were "too much extra work to animate." It went viral on Twitter with the hashtag #ineeddiversegames and prompted a gamer to create an organization for more diversity in games.

• The online harassment campaign known as #Gamergate targeted women in the gaming community, which included threats of rape and death and led to a U.S. FBI investigation. Because of this legacy, games are under much more scrutiny in the U.S. when they are perceived as unfriendly toward women.

• In 2010, EA launched its "Sin to Win" marketing campaign, wherein people could win "dinner and a sinful night with two hot girls" among other prizes. The strong negative response and condemnation led to the company issuing a lengthy apology and quickly ending the contest.

How Can This Appear in Our Games?

• Content that assumes that the player is male. Examples:

  • Straight female NPCs having crushes on the player

  • The player being depicted as having a crush on or getting into a relationship with straight female NPCs

  • Masculine language ("macho," "dude," "you're the man!")

• Over-sexualization of female bodies. Examples:

  • A loading screen depicting a blurred image of a naked woman showering

  • Extremely revealing skins or outfits

  • An ad depicting a female unzipping her clothing for the camera

  • Female NPCs depicted as always being available for sex or romance

• A major imbalance between male and female characters that is not plot-relevant

• Ads that express surprise at women being good at games or of women being jealous of their boyfriends cheating on them with female NPCs

• Storylines with female characters consistently placed in secondary roles as tools or obstacles for male characters to overcome

• Emphasizing traditionally "girly" things when marketing games for women

• Generalizations about men or women. Never complete the sentence "Women always..." or "Men always..." in ad content.