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Video Game Characters and the Socialization of Gender Roles: Young People’s
Perceptions Mirror Sexist Media Depictions

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DOI: 10.1007/s11199-007-9278-1

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Sex Roles (2007) 57:851–864
DOI 10.1007/s11199-007-9278-1

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Video Game Characters and the Socialization of Gender

Roles: Young People’s Perceptions Mirror Sexist Media
Depictions
Karen E. Dill & Kathryn P. Thill

Published online: 17 October 2007

# Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2007

Abstract Video game characters are icons in youth popular possible with each passing year, so research must keep pace
culture, but research on their role in gender socialization is with these technological advancements.
rare. A content analysis of images of video game characters In the early years, gender representations in video games
from top-selling American gaming magazines showed male were limited to graphically unsophisticated characters such
characters (83%) are more likely than female characters as Ms. Pac-Man, the hungry yellow orb whose only
(62%) to be portrayed as aggressive. Female characters are indication of gender was her pixilated hair bow. Ms.
more likely than male characters to be portrayed as Pac-Man was a variation of the original Pac-Man game
sexualized (60% versus 1%), scantily clad (39% versus (which accounts for her gender-confused moniker) and was
8%) and as showing a mix of sex and aggression (39 versus designed to attract female players to what was already a
1%). A survey of teens confirmed that stereotypes of male male-dominated market (Ms. Pac-Man 2007). From the
characters as aggressive and female characters as sexually beginning, females were underrepresented in video games.
objectified physical specimens are held even by non- Even computerized voices in early video games were almost
gamers. Studies are discussed in terms of the role media exclusively male (Braun and Giroux 1989). When female
plays in socializing sexism. characters were present, they were likely to be damsels in
distress (Dietz 1998), such as Princess Toadstool in the
Keywords Video game . Stereotype . Sex roles . Violence . Mario Brothers games. By the mid to late 1990s, video
Magazine . Content analysis games had morphed into a persistent, and in terms of gender
stereotypes, blatant element in youth popular culture. Tomb
Raider’s Lara Croft, now an icon among female game
Introduction characters, arrived on the scene to spark debate about the
merits and demerits of a butt-kicking, buxom video game
Both the content of video games and the role of video games star who was at once agent and object (Mikula 2003).
in popular culture have changed profoundly since the first
games appeared on the market in the 1970s. In this paper, we
investigate sexist portrayals of video game characters and Current Popularity of Gaming and Gaming Magazines
young people’s schemas about male and female characters.
Video game content is linked to advancements in technology, How popular is gaming and who plays video games?
with more compelling and lifelike portrayals becoming Currently, gaming is the top online activity of kids
[Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) 2004]. Price
Waterhouse Coopers reports that 63% of Americans 6 years
Karen E. Dill and Kathryn P. Thill (formerly Kathryn L. Phillips),
School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Lenoir-Rhyne College. and older play video games and that video games will be
the fastest growing entertainment segment in the next
K. E. Dill (*) : K. P. Thill
5 years, with global video game spending reaching $55.6
Lenoir-Rhyne College,
P.O. Box 7335, Hickory, NC 28603, USA billion in 2008 (Game Informer 2005). Most kids (84.2%)
e-mail: dillk@lrc.edu aged 6 to 11 played a video game in the last month (89.3%
852 Sex Roles (2007) 57:851–864

of males, 78.8% of females) and 20.3% of these kids play a stereotyping. For example, Scharrer (2004) defines hyper-
video game everyday (MPA 2004). Among children, 11- to masculinity as the exaggeration of “macho” characteristics,
14-year-old boys play the most video games (Roberts and specifically hardened sexual attitudes toward romantic
Foehr 2004). This fact is germane to the current investiga- partners, a desire for action and danger, and the acceptance
tion since this group is in the process of developing ideas of physical violence as a part of male nature. In contrast,
about gender roles and relationships. hyper-femininity is the amplification of female stereotypes,
Video games and game characters are a common element with an emphasis on dependence, submissiveness, and
in youth popular culture. Heavy and regular users of video sexuality as the basis of a woman’s value (Scharrer 2004).
games are also known as gamers or gaming enthusiasts. There Scharrer (2005) exposed 93 male college students (average
is a gaming subculture that extends beyond the games age 20) to a variety of television content, including The
themselves. Gaming enthusiasts, for example, participate in Sopranos—a violent, hypermasculine television show.
online gaming blogs, gaming web sites and gaming confer- Viewing The Sopranos increased young men’s acceptance
ences. Many of them also subscribe to video game magazines. of hypermasculine beliefs, namely that violence is both
Among young men, gaming is a common past time, a thrilling and manly, relative to those who viewed shows
common topic of conversation (Lewin 2006), and has been without a hypermasculine theme. This research fits in the
associated with poorer academic performance (Anderson and larger theoretical context of the research documenting a
Dill 2000; Lewin 2006). Banking on the popularity of video clear link between media violence exposure and aggression
games among young men, the US Army spends $4 million (e.g., Anderson et al. 2003; Anderson and Bushman 2001;
each year to market and upgrade their video game America’s Anderson and Dill 2000).
Army, which they use successfully as a recruiting tool (Lugo
2006). And because gaming is so popular, even non-gamers Appearance Ideals
gain knowledge of video games and gaming culture from
their peers and from the media. In an investigation that adds Research suggests that exposure to physical appearance
new data to the literature, we document knowledge about ideals in the media are connected with poor body image
gender and video game characters in a sample of teenaged (Dohnt & Tiggemann 2006; Tiggemann and McGill 2004)
non-gamers. and self-destructive behaviors such as pathogenic dieting
How popular are video game magazines? According to practices (Thomsen et al. 2002). Media also exert a strong
recent data, three of the top ten best-selling teen interest influence on male body image, as stereotypes of hyper-
magazines are video game magazines (MPA 2004). These masculinity are connected with the drive for muscularity,
three (Electronic Gaming Monthly, Game Informer, and motivating boys and young men to engage in unhealthy
GamePro), along with three others, are analyzed in the practices such as compulsive weight training and illegal
current investigation. Marketers target teens aggressively steroid use (Smolak and Stein 2006).
because they have significant discretionary income (spending Recently, Harrison (2003) demonstrated that the modern
an estimated $190 billion in 2006, according to market- media ideal for feminine beauty is what she calls “curva-
researchworld.net), are a growing demographic, influence ceously thin.” For example, the ideal bust–waist–hip propor-
household spending, and are heavy media users (Bartholow tion of 36–24–36 would correspond to women’s clothing
et al. 2003; MPA 2004). Video games and magazines are on sizes 10–2–4, which translates to an abnormally small waist
the top ten lists of items teens buy with their own money and hips, but a medium-sized (and therefore relatively large)
(MPA 2004). Eight out of ten teens read magazines, and bust. Using a sample of 231 male and female college students
teens report trusting magazine advertising more than (average age 20), Harrison (2003) found that exposure to
advertising in other media (MPA 2004). Furthermore, they curvaceously thin images of females predicted the personal
report giving magazines their full attention when they read, acceptance of this figure as an ideal by both men and women.
rather than multitasking (MPA 2004). Video game maga- Furthermore, greater exposure to the curvaceously thin ideal
zines are a popular medium and provide a unique forum for predicted approval of women’s use of cosmetic surgery by
analyzing character depictions. both men and women.
Research has also shown that exposure to media images
of ideal beauty causes college men to find average-looking
Research on Gender and the Media “real” women less attractive (Kenrick and Gutierres 1980).
Gutierres et al. (1999) studied the effects of exposure to
Hyper-Masculinity and Hyper-Femininity physically attractive and to dominant individuals on the
self-evaluations of 190 college students (91 females and 99
Past research on gender portrayals in the media reveals both males). For women, exposure to media images of highly
the existence and the negative consequences of gender physically attractive females caused them to downgrade
Sex Roles (2007) 57:851–864 853

their own desirability as a mate. However, interestingly, for There has been little research on gender portrayals of
men, it was not exposure to physically attractive males, but video game characters, especially male characters. Dietz
to dominant males that damaged their view of their own (1998) analyzed both violence and the portrayal of female
desirability as a mate. These findings suggest that failure to characters in the top selling console video games. She
live up to the specific media stereotypes for one’s sex is a found that 79% of the games were aggressive and that
blow to a person’s sense of social desirability. about one fifth depicted violence towards women. Al-
though most games did not include female characters at all,
Male–Female Relationships and Interactions over one quarter of games depicted women as sex objects.
Other common roles for female characters were damsels in
Media research has identified a variety of negative effects distress, visions of beauty and obstacles.
of media on heterosexual relationships and other male– Dill et al. (2005) analyzed violence, sex, race and age in
female interactions. For example, frequent TV viewers the top-selling PC games. They found that most games
show dysfunctional beliefs about relationships and greater (60%) were aggressive and that women were underrepre-
acceptance of sexual harassment (Ward 2002). Likewise, sented in video games (about 20% of characters were
those who hold more stereotypical attitudes about gender female). Male characters were never portrayed as highly
have been shown to have sex earlier and to be less effective sexualized, but female characters were. Only ten percent of
with their contraceptive use (Brown et al. 2006; Carpenter main characters were female.
1998; Ward 2002). Similarly, exposure to a highly sexual Beasley and Collins-Standley (2002) analyzed Nintendo
media diet increases the risk of early sexual activity (Brown and PlayStation games for gender role portrayals, focusing
et al. 2006). on revealing clothing. Female characters were much more
Males exposed to advertisements featuring women likely to be scantily clad. Furthermore, females were
portrayed as sex objects subsequently show greater rape- frequently portrayed as large breasted and as sex objects.
supportive attitudes (Lanis and Covell 1995). (Dill 2007, These authors also found females to be underrepresented.
manuscript in preparation) found a positive correlation Signorielli and Bacue (1999) identify recognition and
between violent video game playing and endorsement of respect as key aspects of appropriate media depictions of
rape myths, including the myths that women secretly want women. Recognition is frequent, representative appearance
to be raped and that sometimes women “deserve” to be and respect is appearance in varied, not just stereotypical,
raped. Furthermore, those who played more violent video roles. By those definitions, depictions of women in video
games also endorsed more traditional views of sex roles, games meet neither standard.
such as the idea that men are more capable as leaders and Very little published research exists that analyzes the
professionals, while women deserve less freedom than men content of video game magazines in general or gender
and are subservient to men (Dill 2007, manuscript in representations in specific. Scharrer (2004) conducted a
preparation). quantitative content analysis of images and text in the
advertisements of three top-selling video game magazines.
Gender in Video Games Rating all characters and text in all the video game
advertisements in these magazines, she found that males
The National Institute on Media and the Family (Walsh outnumbered females by over three to one. Most of the ads
et al. 2002) characterized recent video games as glorifying (about 55%) contained violence. Males were depicted as
violence towards and objectification of women and as more muscular than females and females were depicted as
perpetuating a crass view of sexuality. In the Grand Theft more attractive and as sexier than males. Consistent with
Auto (GTA) series, which has repeatedly broken video hypermasculine male ideals, advertising text sometimes
game sales records, women are typically depicted as depicted danger as thrilling and violence as manly.
prostitutes and men as violent thugs. A male character can
have sex with a prostitute, then kill her and take his money
back. One female character in GTA: Vice City is a porn star Theoretical Basis for the Current Investigations
named Candy Sux. Female prostitutes, when hit by a male
character, are programmed to respond, “I like it rough.” Among game enthusiasts, it is commonly argued that
Real women have been paid to appear as “booth babes”— negative gender stereotypes in the media do not matter
provocatively dressed, attractive women representing game because they are just harmless entertainment. Brenick et al.
characters who pose for pictures with male video game (2007) exposed 41 male and 46 female college students to
conferences attendees (E3 Censorship 2006). Clearly, the gender stereotypes and to violence in video games. These
world of gender in video games is evolving and research authors found that high frequency players, especially males,
must keep pace with this evolution. were more likely to condone negative stereotypes in video
854 Sex Roles (2007) 57:851–864

games such as sexually exploited females and violent but also as weak and submissive. In the domain of
males. Furthermore, Brenick and colleagues found that heterosexual relations, this means women are the objects
their subjects, in general, believed exposure to negative of men’s desire and exist to satisfy men’s needs as opposed
gender stereotypes does not cause changes in attitudes or to being sexual agents with their own desires. Media
behaviors. Given that youth, especially males and gamers, stereotypes perpetuate inequality by telling sexist stories
do not understand that negative media content can have about gender and power and about the relationship between
negative effects, then it follows that they do not understand men and women. Glick and colleagues (Glick et al. 2004)
why such content has detrimental effects. Some key media studied attitudes towards men in sixteen nations and found
theories, discussed below, explain why negative gender that where the “bad but bold” stereotype of men was most
stereotypes in the media are harmful. Taken together, these pronounced, there was also evidence of greater gender
theories explain both how and what we learn from the stories inequality (e.g., women had lower purchasing power, less
popular video game characters tell about gender. Gender prestigious occupations, and lower literacy rates). Similarly,
portrayals of video game characters reinforce a sexist, Agars (2004) found that gender stereotypes in the work-
patriarchal view that men are aggressive and powerful and place hinder women’s professional advancement.
that women are not healthy, whole persons, but sex objects, Connell’s (1987) work on hegemonic masculinity and
eye candy and generally second-class citizens. emphasized femininity is a sociological approach that
dovetails with the social psychological approach of AST.
Key Media Theories According to Connell’s theory, which we refer to as
Hegemonic Masculinity Theory (HMT), masculinity and
Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory (e.g., Gerbner 1999) explains femininity are always constructed in relation to each other,
how exposure to mass media creates a worldview more rather than independently. Socially prescribed masculinity
consistent with media’s distortion of reality than with is an understood ideal, and though not attainable for many,
reality itself. According to Gerbner, media messages serve includes power, aggressiveness, material success, and
three psychological functions: “...to reveal how things heterosexual conquest. Emphasized femininity is only
work, to describe what things are, and to tell us what to construed in relation to this hegemonic masculinity; women
do about them” (Gerbner 1999, p. 9). Bandura’s Social exist for men’s sexual titillation and ego stroking, to mother
Cognitive Theory of mass communication (Bandura 2001) children, and generally to serve men. Under HMT, sexist
stresses the processing of symbols in making sense of one’s images in the media exist, not to reflect day-to-day reality,
social environment. For example, children learn about but as a necessary force that sustains the socially held ideals
issues such as aggression and gender identity through of masculinity, femininity, and, most importantly, of the
exposure to media figures that model these concepts dominance (e.g., in business, government, and bed) of men
(Bandura and Bussey 2004). Both the Cultivation Theory over women. Of particular interest to the current investiga-
and the Social Cognitive Theory of mass communication, tion, HMT specifies that media images of masculinity and
therefore, articulate how unreal symbols in the media femininity are, by definition, stylized, over-simplified and
contribute to users’ schemas (e.g., about gender roles and impoverished because their purpose is not to reflect reality,
relationships) and that these schemas then influence but to perpetuate myth. But those myths construct the social
people’s real life behaviors, thoughts and feelings. realities that real people believe in and act on.

Theories About Sexism Video Game Magazine Images as Iconic Representations

of Gender
Ambivalent Sexism Theory (AST; Glick and Fiske 1996,
1999; Glick et al. 2004) begins with the premise that There are a number of reasons it is important to study visual
inherent in our social structure is a power hierarchy where representations of gender in popular culture. Photographer
men are dominant and women submissive. Members of Eddie Adams wrote the following describing the power of
society simultaneously hold benevolent and hostile attitudes his Pulitzer Prize winning photo Murder of a Vietcong by
toward both sexes, which “...include three content domains- Saigon Police Chief: “Still photographs are the most
paternalism (power differences), gender differentiation powerful weapon[s] in the world. People believe them,
(roles and stereotypes), and heterosexual relations” (Glick but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They
et al. 2004, p. 715). Benevolent attitudes toward men are only half-truths” (Adams 2001, p. 1). Adams’ observa-
include the stereotypes that men are instrumental, respect- tion speaks to the power of the visual image to excite the
able, and powerful, while hostile attitudes include the imagination and to symbolize and distill concepts for the
beliefs that men are arrogant, unscrupulous, and aggressive. viewer. In one optical gulp, a picture tells a compelling
In contrast, women are stereotyped as warm and likeable, story.
Sex Roles (2007) 57:851–864 855

Because of the power of the still image to represent and among youth. Therefore, in Study 2, we asked teenagers to
perpetuate a sexist cultural mythology, which in turn describe typical male and female video game characters,
supports real gender inequality, we analyzed still images predicting that their descriptions would reflect the existence
of video game characters in the current investigation. Visual of sexist portrayals of gender in video games and game
stimuli are important to study because they are more easily magazines and thus would closely match the results of our
encoded and retrieved from memory than are verbal content analysis (Study 1). Using a written questionnaire,
materials (Cowan 2002). Also, visual images are iconic we gave teens open-ended questions asking them to describe
and thus more powerful than text in both creating and their schemas of the typical male and the typical female
evoking gender stereotypes (Crawford and Unger 2004). video game character. We predicted their schemas for gender
representations in video game characters would mirror the
Overview of the Two Investigations magazine representations reported in Study 1. Specifically,
we predicted their schemas for male video game characters
The two investigations reported here represent a novel would focus on aggression and not sexualization or physical
analysis of both the way gender is portrayed through video attractiveness. In contrast, we predicted their schemas for
game characters and the understanding among a youth sample female video game characters would include a focus on
of these gendered media messages. Study 1 is a visual content physical attractiveness and sexual objectification.
analysis of gender-stereotypic portrayals of video game The current investigation is one of the only known
characters in the top-selling video game magazines. We investigations of imagery in video game magazines. It is
investigate whether and how often male and female video unique in its examination of all magazine imagery, as past
game characters are portrayed in a sexist manner. Specifi- research has focused on only the game advertisements. Also, it
cally, we predicted that female video game characters would is unique in examining only the most visually salient images—
be depicted as sexualized and scantily clad more often than those most likely to capture the reader’s attention. This paper
male characters. We also predicted that male characters also extends the past literature on violence and stereotyping in
would be depicted as aggressive more often than female video games by identifying specific portrayals that are of
characters. We measured the occurrence of a specific theoretical interest. For example, without making additional
masculine and a specific feminine sex role stereotype (hyper- predictions for gender differences, we measured a variety of
masculinity for males, and Dietz’s (1998) “vision of beauty” types of aggressive portrayals, including glamorized portrayals
stereotype for females), predicting that the presence of the of violence (e.g., images we term as showcasing characters
gender-specific sex role stereotype would be more prevalent who are “posing with weapons”). We extend Dietz’s (1998)
for female than for male characters. Finally, we did a unique work by studying current portrayals of women as “visions of
analysis of an important combination of characterizations. beauty,” Harrison’s (2003) “curvaceously thin” female media
Specifically, we measured the degree to which male and ideal, and Scharrer’s (2004, 2005) concept of the hypermas-
female characters were depicted as both sexual and aggres- culine male.
sive. We predicted female characters would be more likely to
be depicted as sexual and aggressive. The logic behind this
prediction is that if, as past research shows, female video Study 1
game characters are far more likely to be depicted as sexual,
then it follows that they would also be more likely to be Method
depicted with the mix of sexuality and other characteristics.
Sexuality is particularly likely to be mixed with aggression in Magazine Selection
character portrayals given the prevalence of violence in
popular video games (e.g., Dill et al. 2005). This mix of The video game magazines analyzed here were those
sexuality and violence in female character depictions is ranked by Amazon.com as their six top sellers. The
important to investigate given the link in past research between magazines were the current (on sale in January 2006)
sexualized violence in the media and violence against women issues of the following magazines, in order of Amazon.com
(e.g., Dill 2007, manuscript in preparation; Donnerstein and sales from high to low: Electronic Gaming Monthly, PC
Berkowitz 1981; Vega and Malamuth 2007). Gamer, Game Informer, The Official Xbox Magazine,
If video game characters are portrayed in gender- Computer Gaming World and GamePro. Pilot tests revealed
stereotypic ways, are game enthusiasts the only ones who that six magazines would supply an adequate number of
have knowledge of these portrayals and thus the only ones images for rating, while also representing magazines that
affected by them? We believed that, on the contrary, there is have relatively high circulations. These magazines repre-
general knowledge of the existence of sexist representations sent a variety of video game platforms that appeal to a more
of masculinity and femininity in video game characters diverse audience than those studied by past research.
856 Sex Roles (2007) 57:851–864

We investigated marketing and demographic statistics for similar to those used in the current investigation. Raters
all six magazines. Our sources for these investigations discussed these practice ratings with each other and with
included published marketing statistics for each of the six the first author until they showed evidence of properly
magazines (Computer Gaming World 2005; Electronic applying the coding scheme for all variables. Progress was
Gaming Monthly 2005; Game Informer 2005; GamePro also checked part way through the coding process, as
2005; Official Xbox 2005; PC Gamer 2005). These statistics suggested by Cowan (2002). Specifically, the coding
were corroborated by data from independent resources scheme was re-taught by the first author, and the two raters
including the Magazine Publishers Association (MPA privately discussed discrepancies and then independently
2007) and MediaMark (Business Wire 2005). assessed their judgments about their ratings of the discrep-
GamePro (3 million) and Game Informer (2 million) ant items. They did not resolve discrepancies, but simply
reported the highest monthly readerships, which compare in reconsidered their own ratings in light of the coding scheme
popularity to well known male-oriented magazines like refresher session. Cowan (2002) reports that this practice of
Maxim (2.5 million) and Rolling Stone (1.3 million; Game re-evaluating ratings criteria is of particular value when
Informer 2005). Business Wire (2006) reported that coding large amounts of violent and sexual material
GamePro’s circulation has risen to nearly 3.5 million because, as with viewers, coders suffer from desensitization
readers. Future US, the company that publishes the Official effects.
Xbox Magazine and PC Gamer, advertises that its mag-
azines “reach a young, active, affluent audience” (PC Ratings Criteria
Gamer 2005, p. 5). For our magazines, the average
subscriber is young (mean age 26), and the great majority The complete coding scheme for Study 1 is reproduced in
of subscribers are male (93%). Average annual household the Appendix. The first author gave copies of this coding
income for subscribers was over $66,000. The average scheme to the two coders as part of their training.
subscriber plays video games about 16.5 h per week.
GamePro had the lowest median subscriber age at 18 years. Sexualized and stereotypical sex role portrayals Females
Interestingly, 93% of their readers report playing M-rated were categorized as sexualized/curvaceously thin if the
games, though 48% of them are underage. image portrayed was consistent with Harrison’s (2003)
curvaceously thin appearance ideal (e.g., large breasts and
Image Selection small waist) and if the figure’s sexuality was stressed such
as by showing cleavage, wearing provocative dress, or
To ensure that each image analyzed was large and clear displaying provocative poses, postures or facial expres-
enough to rate, and was also likely to get attention from sions. For example, a female character from Grand Theft
readers who skimmed the magazine, the following criteria Auto: San Andreas licks her lips in a sexualized manner,
were used to select magazine images: One male and one while bending over, revealing tan lines and a tattoo under
female image (where present) were selected per page for her bikini top. Similarly, an advertisement for GamePro
rating. Each image had to be at least two inches across in magazine shows a bikini-clad, curvaceously thin female on
any direction. Images chosen were those considered the her knees leaning backwards provocatively. The caption
main male and the main female image on the page. Main reads, “GamePro has what you want.” [Interested readers
images were usually the largest image on a given page. can see this image in the February 2006, issue of GamePro
However, if the largest image was obscured, shaded or on page 73.] Because sexualization and the ideal body type
otherwise visually de-emphasized (i.e., showing the back of are, in practice, represented together, we coded instances of
a character’s head), the next largest image that met the sexualized/curvaceously thin female characters as a unitary
criteria was chosen for rating. Not every page contained a construct. Males were simply rated as sexualized because
character to be rated. Images to be rated were identified by the curvaceously thin ideal does not apply to men. We also
a female experimenter (not a rater) who also categorized the rated both male and female characters as scantily clad,
images as video game characters or non-characters and as meaning showing skin. We note that a sexualized character
part of an advertisement or a magazine article. The bulk of may wear tight clothing that covers most of the body and
the images (87%) depicted video game characters, whether therefore would not be rated as scantily clad.
in articles or in advertisements for video games. Males were coded as hypermasculine if they had
distorted male characteristics such as exaggerated arm and
Training of Raters chest muscles, extremely masculine facial features (e.g.,
chiseled features, stubble) and facial expressions of power
One male and one female rater, both undergraduate and dominance. Females were rated on the degree to which
psychology majors, practiced on images from magazines they were depicted as a vision of beauty, a common
Sex Roles (2007) 57:851–864 857

stereotypical portrayal of female video game characters Aggression The broad variable of aggression showed that
described by Dietz (1998). 82.6% of male characters and 62.2% of females were
depicted as aggressive. A low percentage of characters were
Aggression, power and dominance Images were identified rated as depicting realistic war scenes (4.1% of males and
as containing aggression using the classic social psycholog- 0% of females); however the fighting category was more
ical definition of behavior intended to harm another living common, with 33.2% of males and 16.2% of females rated
being. Examples of aggression included weapon use and as depicting non-military combat. In terms of glamorized
attacking postures with hostile facial expressions. Aggres- portrayals of aggression, 31.6% of male and 30.6% of female
sion, by definition, includes power and dominance. When characters were rated as posing with a weapon. Characters
cues in the image permitted, aggressive pictures were also were often (41.9% of males and 35.6% of females) depicted
coded as war scenes (demonstrably military engagement) wearing armor. Although we hypothesized that male
and fighting scenes (non-military combat such as running characters would be portrayed as aggressive more often than
with a sword). We also coded the presence of any type of female characters (see chi-square analysis, reported below),
armor (including metal, leather and chain mail). Finally, the we did not have a priori gender difference predictions for the
last aggressive category was posing with weapons, which specific aggressive characterizations (military, fighting, ar-
were scenes showing a character holding a weapon in what mor and glamorized violence).
appeared to be a staged scene designed to glamorize or
glorify aggression. These weapon-posing shots did not Stereotypical sex role portrayals Stereotypical images were
include scenes in which characters were using the weapon. common, with 33.1% of male characters rated as hyper-
masculine and 62.6% of females considered visions of
Agreement between raters The two raters coded a total of beauty.
479 images (360 male images, 119 female images) of video
game characters. Percent agreement is a commonly used Chi-square tests To test for gender differences in character
inter-rater reliability statistic that has the advantage of being portrayals, we conducted chi-square tests for frequency data
easily understood by a variety of audiences (Bell 2002; that is cross-classified according to two categorical variables.
Cowan 2002). Therefore, percent agreement between the Using the frequencies and sample sizes for male and female
two coders was calculated for each rating. characters, we determined whether the frequencies differed by
For the female images, percent agreement ranged from sex for each of the following characterizations: aggressive,
87.4 to 100% for the aggression ratings, from 99.1 to sexualized, scantily clad, sex role stereotype (hypermasculine
100% for the sexualized ratings, and from 96.4 to 100% for males versus vision of beauty for females) and, finally, the
for the stereotypical portrayals. For the male images, combination of sexualized and aggressive. Sample size was
percent agreement ranged from 96.4 to 99.7% for the 360 for males and 119 for females for all chi-square tests. As
aggression ratings, from 87.9 to 98.4% for the sexualized predicted, males were more likely to be portrayed as
ratings, and from 98.4 to 100% for the stereotypical aggressive than females (χ2 =4.14, df=1, p<.05). Also as
portrayals ratings. predicted, females were more likely than males to be
portrayed as sexualized (χ2 =224.61, df=1, p<.0001) and
as scantily clad (χ2 =73.21, df=1, p<.0001). Furthermore,
Results as hypothesized, the combined characterization of aggres-
sion with sexual objectification was significantly more
Major Findings likely for female video game characters than for male
video game characters (χ2 = 313.81, df = 1, p < .0001).
Major findings are summarized in Table 1. Percentages Finally, for the sex role stereotype variable (hypermascu-
reported below are the average (mean) ratings of the two line males versus female visions of beauty), females were
raters. Using our main character analysis, as described significantly more likely, as hypothesized, to be stereotyped
above, the ratio of male (360) to female (119) video game than males (χ2 =36.95, df=1, p<.0001).
characters was about 3 to 1.
Additional analyses We conducted additional analyses to
Sexualized portrayals For the category of sexualized/ see how different characterizations combined and over-
curvaceously thin female, 59.9% of the female characters lapped. We analyzed the degree to which the three
conformed to this classification, while less than 1% (.8%) stereotypical portrayals of women (as sexualized, scantily
of male characters were rated as being sexualized figures. clad, and visions of beauty) overlapped. Results (rounded)
Similarly, the scantily clad rating accounted for 38.7% of indicated that 18.9% of female characters showed no
female characters, and only 8.1% of males. stereotypical characterization, 27.5% showed one stereo-
858 Sex Roles (2007) 57:851–864

Table 1 Main results of video game magazine content analysis (Study 1).

Frequencies

Characterization Male (%) Female (%) Chi-square Significance

Aggressive 82.6 62.2 4.14b .05

Sexualized .8 59.9 224.61b .0001
Scantily clad 8.1 38.7 73.21b .0001
Sex role stereotypea 33.1 62.6 36.95b .0001
Sexualized and aggressive .8 39.2 313.81b .0001
Portrayal of agrressionc
Military 4.1 0
Fighting 33.2 16.2
Glamorized violence (posing with weapon) 31.6 30.6
Wearing armor 41.9 35.6
Overlapping portrayals
Female characters
Stereotypical portrayals (sexualized, scantily clad, and vision of beauty)
None 18.9
One 27.5
Two 27
All three 26.6
Male characters
Hypermasculine and aggressive
Neither portrayal 16.9
One or the other 50.6
Both portrayals 32.5
a
Sex role stereotype refers here to the vision of beauty stereotype for the female characters and to the hypermasculine stereotype for the male
characters.
b
Chi-square test significant in the direction predicted.
c
No a priori predictions for differences in aggressive portrayals.

typical characterization, 27% showed two stereotypical 31.3% gamers/computer nerds. Of these, 37.5% were still
characterizations, and 26.6% of female characters showed rated as stereotypical/vision of beauty, and 12.5% were
all three stereotypical characterizations. The relationship rated as sexualized. An example of this representation is an
between the sexualized females and aggressive females was attractive woman playing video games with a man.
also investigated, showing that 17.1% of female characters
were neither sexualized nor aggressive, 43.7% were either
one or the other, and 39.2% were rated as both sexualized Discussion
and aggressive. Similarly, the relationship between aggres-
sion and hyper-masculinity for male characters was We found that women are underrepresented in video game
analyzed, showing that 16.9% of males were neither magazine articles and advertisements, with about one
hypermasculine nor aggressive, 50.6% were rated as one quarter of the main images of video game characters in
or the other, and 32.5% were rated as both hypermasculine these magazines being female. Consistent with past content
and aggressive. analyses of video games that found most popular games to
be aggressive (Dietz 1998; Dill et al. 2005), we found that
Images of non-video game characters A total of 61 images the great majority of video game characters (77%) in game
depicted people other than video game characters. Of the magazines are aggressive.
male non-video game characters, 54.7% were rated as video Men were overwhelmingly (82.6%) portrayed as aggres-
gamers/computer nerds. For example, Bill Gates was sive, and about a third were portrayed as hypermasculine,
depicted a number of times, as were other computer experts while almost none were sexualized and relatively few
and people playing video games. Only 3.8% of non-video scantily clad. Less than 17% were neither hypermasculine
game characters were considered stereotypical/hypermas- nor aggressive. Aggressive video game characters rarely
culine. The female non-video game characters contained took part in military combat, but regularly were shown
Sex Roles (2007) 57:851–864 859

fighting with weapons. It was common for male characters Study 2

to be shown simply posing with weapons. A typical image
of this type features a muscular male with a hostile facial Method
expression posing with a gun in what is essentially an
aggressive glamour shot. The message portrayed is that Participants
violence is cool and macho. This type of scene glorifies
aggression, twisting weapons into what amounts to impres- Participants were 49 freshmen (20 males, 29 females) from a
sive accessories. According to the National Television private, liberal arts college in the Southeast. Median and
Violence Study (NTVS 1998), glamorizing violence serves modal age was 18, with ages ranging between 17 and 19 years.
to make it more attractive and therefore more likely. All traditional freshmen are required to take a 1-h freshman
Our analysis shows strongly and repeatedly that both seminar class, and professors of the three classes tested
male and female video game characters are portrayed in allowed class time for this project. Students participated
stereotypical ways. For female video game characters, the voluntarily. Classes were chosen on the stipulation that the
norm is for characters to be depicted as sex objects who class topic could not be related to gender and that the class
wear skimpy clothing, conform to an idealized body type, time was one that fit the schedules of the students who
and are visions of beauty. Of the three major stereotypical collected the data.
portrayals of women studied here (sexualized, scantily clad,
and vision of beauty), over 80% of female video game Survey
characters were depicted in at least one of these ways, and
over a quarter were depicted with all three stereotypes. Participants indicated how many hours per week they play
Another common theme for female characters is the video games by circling a number on a continuum. The
combination of sex and violence, also known as eroticized choices ranged from 0 h to “16+” h per week. We were
aggression (39.2%), which is potentially quite damaging to interested in our sample’s exposure to video game magazines.
real women. About 83% of female video game characters We thought it possible that many of them had never looked at
were either sexualized or aggressive, or both. a video game magazine. Therefore, we asked them to respond
In sum, extreme stereotyping is typical when it either “yes” or “no” to the question, “Have you ever looked at
comes to the portrayal of male and female video game a video game magazine?” We did not ask them if they had
characters in video game magazines. Consider one ever read a video game magazine because video game
advertisement we found in both Game Informer (January magazines are image laden and it is possible to peruse these
2006 issue, pages 6–7) and the Official Xbox Magazine magazines without reading them. The two main questions of
(January 2006 issue, pages 4–5). The advertisement is for interest were open-ended items asking them to describe a
Condemned: Criminal Origins, a game in which a male typical male video game character and a typical female video
FBI agent chases serial killers. In the advertisement, a game character. The specific wording was as follows:
female mannequin sits at a table wearing a black negligee, “Describe what the typical male video game character looks
her face and arms blown off, perhaps by assault or gunfire. like (race, build, clothing, etc.) and acts like (behavior,
On the opposite page, bloodstained Polaroid photos personality traits, etc.).” The same question was asked again,
feature men holding weapons and a murdered woman replacing the word female for the word male.
lying on the floor wearing revealing clothing. A shadowy
figure stands over the dead woman with a cell phone Procedure
engaged to picture-taking mode. The cover art on the
game box for Condemned shows a woman’s face, her In each class, two male research assistants distributed
mouth bound by chains. This powerful image of the consent forms and explained the survey. They asked
silenced woman, a theme in advertising, is a device used students not to talk to each other while completing the
to show females as degraded, dominated and weak survey and monitored the class to make sure students’
(Kilbourne and Jhally 2000). According to Kilbourne, responses were completed independently. Participants took
such negative images of women create a cultural climate approximately 15 min to complete the surveys, after which
where women are less than human, which supports time they were thanked for their participation and given a
violence towards women (Kilbourne and Jhally 2000). debriefing statement.
Our analysis in Study 1 revealed how video game
characters are portrayed to video game enthusiasts. We Results and Discussion
were interested in whether these portrayals were consistent
with the general understanding young people have about Participants reported playing video games an average of
video game characters. This was the subject of Study 2. 1.8 h per week. Eighteen (10 males, 18 females) of 49 or
860 Sex Roles (2007) 57:851–864

about 37% reported having looked at video game magazines, Helpless, victim, subservient, polite, pretty and bitchy
whereas 31 (10 males, 21 females) of 49 or about 63% were mentioned for females but not males. Warrior,
reported never having looked at a video game magazine. superhero, rage, asshole, and cool were mentioned for
For the character description questions, all responses males but not females. Where race was mentioned, White
were listed. Two male coders read all the comments and was the most common characterization.
determined which comments were synonyms. For example, Young people’s perceptions of video game characters
several participants described male video game characters were quite similar to the portrayals found in our content
as aggressive, and different wordings were used (violent, analysis. Namely, the top characterizations of males were
deadly); however, all these wordings were judged to fall related to power, aggression and a cocky attitude, and the
under the category aggressive. The first author read the lists top characterizations of females were sexual and attractive-
to verify that the synonyms were classified correctly. Next, ness-oriented, though aggression was a top element for
the researchers counted how many times each characteriza- females as well. Participants’ characterizations were rather
tion was used for male and female characters separately. explicit, especially concerning female characters. Terms
Table 2 summarizes the most common characterizations by like hooker and slut were commonly reported. Interestingly,
sex, in rank order, and lists the number of times (frequency) Harrison’s (2003) curvaceously thin appearance ideal was
each type of comment was reported. Male video game found, with skinny/thin and curvaceous figure/big boobs
characters were described as powerful (strong, muscular), both among the top five most common characterizations.
aggressive, having a hostile attitude (mean, cocky, belliger- The characterization of males, as in our content analysis,
ent), athletic, and as thugs. Female characters were described was fairly unidimensional, focusing on power and aggres-
as being provocatively dressed, thin but with a curvaceous sion, while the characterization of females included more
figure (“big boobs”), sexual (hooker, slutty, easy) and ideas, namely about sexuality, appearance, and aggression
aggressive. The single most often stated characteristic for (though this was characterized as bitchy rather than strong
males was muscular. The single most often stated character- and was contradicted by ratings of weakness/subservience).
istic for females was big boobs. Other examples are listed in In conclusion, even youth without a high current
Table 2. personal exposure to video games agree about what the

Table 2 Characterizations of
typical male and female video Characterization Examples Rank Frequency
game characters (Study 2).
Male characters
Powerful Muscular 1 35
Strong
Built
Aggressive Violent 2 21
Deadly
Hostile attitude Mean 3 18
Cocky/arrogant
Belligerent
Athletic Athletic 4 8
Sports
Thug Gangster 5 5
Other examples: warrior, gladiator, brave soldier, superhero, fierce, six pack, rage, evil, asshole, acts like
they own everything, cool, plays sports, handsome, pimpish, armed with dangerous life-ending weapons
Female characters
Provocative dress Skimpy clothes 1 18
Naked
Tight clothes
Curvaceous Figure Big boobs 2 15
Voluptuous
Thin Skinny 3 13
Sexual Slutty 4 11
Sexy
Hooker
Aggressive Violent 5 7
Other examples: pretty, good looking, likes to kill, needs to be saved, scared, polite, Xena, does things like a
man
Sex Roles (2007) 57:851–864 861

typical video game character is like. In other words, video Importance of a Broad, Interdisciplinary Theoretical
game characters and their common, stereotypical portrayals Approach
of gender are part of general popular culture for youth and
thus are important to understand. Past research links exposure to appearance ideals in the
media with a host of negative outcomes relevant to self-
concept (i.e., anxiety about one’s appearance, attitudes
favoring a variety of appearance-enhancing strategies,
General Discussion decrements in self-esteem). Past studies also link exposure
to media violence to increases in aggressive thoughts,
Though older generations are not attuned to video game behaviors, and feelings (see Anderson et al. 2003 for a
culture, video game characters are icons in youth popular review). Furthermore, exposure to gender stereotypes in the
culture. Character images tell blatantly sexist stories about media is related to negative outcomes such as acceptance of
gender, and research is just beginning to reveal and analyze violence as manly (Scharrer 2005) and acceptance of rape-
those stories. The vision of masculinity video game supportive attitudes (Dill 2007, manuscript in preparation;
characters project is that men should be powerful, domi- Lanis and Covell 1995).
nant, and aggressive. The story video game characters tell When seen as individual effects, these issues are problem-
about femininity is that women should be extreme physical atic, but we also place them in the context of a broader
specimens, visions of beauty, objects of men’s heterosexual theoretical understanding. When viewed within the frame-
fantasies, and less important than men. An emerging trend, work of AST and THM, the way masculinity and femininity
though, is that these sexy, curvaceously thin beauties are appear in the media also support a sexist social hierarchy.
also now typically violent. This is particularly troubling, given that video game
Since video games are popular with youth and since portrayals are targeted to a youthful audience who are
the popularity of video games is growing, it is important actively developing social schemas, especially regarding
to understand them as an agent of socialization. People get gender.
information about video games and video game characters One way this research extends the current literature is in
from sources other than the games themselves. Video the depth, breadth and integrative nature of its theoretical
game magazines, television shows, video game commer- foundations. The interdisciplinary approach (including
cials, movies, and Internet video game sites are other psychology, sociology and communication) proposed here
sources for information about video games. As Martin and goes beyond approaches limited to specific learning
Ruble (2004, p. 67) note: “From a vast array of gendered mechanisms to an integrative psychological, social and
cues in their social worlds, children quickly form an cultural understanding of media and gender. We believe
impressive constellation of gendered cognitions” including people understand media images of gender and power in
gendered self-conceptions and gender stereotypes. Study 2 this broader social context; therefore, analysis at this level
showed that you do not have to be a video game player to is most appropriate.
be aware of gender messages present in video games. Video
game characters are an agent of gender socialization in Changing Representation of Female Characters
youth popular culture, even for those who are not avid as Aggressive
gamers. Similar themes about gender emerged in Study 1
and Study 2. Taken together, these studies showed that While earlier studies (e.g., Deitz 1998) did not find female
women are both portrayed and perceived as sex objects characters represented as aggressive, the present investiga-
who embody an idealized image of beauty. Males, by tion found the majority (62.2%) of female characters
contrast, are neither portrayed nor perceived as sex objects, presented as aggressive. Many of these images of aggressive
but rather, almost exclusively, as powerful aggressors. female video game characters glamorize and sexualize
While one might think aggressive role models uniformly aggression. In recent years, more female video game
empower men, research shows they do not. For example, protagonists have emerged, and some have speculated that
the more aggressive a male is, the poorer his intellectual this indicates new power and liberation in the image of the
functioning (Huesmann et al. 1987). Furthermore, lower female video game character. We, however, agree with
social and intellectual functioning hinder advancement in Provenzo’s analysis (Huntemann 2000) that aggressive
the workplace and cause strain (Hyde 2007). Even still, female figures that are also objectified, sexualized and
both our studies showed that male video game characters trivialized (as we found in the current analysis) are not true
are given greater respect (Signorielli and Bacue 1999) than figures of liberation. The ubiquity of aggressive females, and
female characters in a way consistent with the theories of especially of sexualized aggressive females in video games,
sexism discussed here. is an important development. Traditional theories relating to
862 Sex Roles (2007) 57:851–864

the role of gender in society stress the importance of male aggressive images of both male and female video game
aggression and dominance, juxtaposed with female submis- characters were strictly aggressive glamour shots. When
sion. Researchers should continue to investigate media one considers that 77% of all the characters were
depictions of female aggression and its effects. represented as aggressive, this represents a pervasive
element in video game magazines.
Strengths, Limitations, and Future Directions We only studied the visual images of male and female
video game characters throughout the magazines. We
A limitation of this research is that it does not test for believed this to be a meaningful approach since video
effects of stereotyping and aggression in video games. It game magazines are image laden. Because images are
does, however, suggest the importance of measuring gender attention grabbing, readers leafing through the magazine
in future effects studies. Past studies have conclusively are likely to give primary focus to the images more than the
shown that violent content increases aggressive behavior, text. Future research should also analyze the text of the
thoughts, and feelings in children and late adolescents. The magazine articles themselves. One potential focus for this
same socialization and learning processes that underlie analysis would be describing the pro-gaming stance, which
these general violent content effects likely also produce we predict would be consistent with the findings of Brenick
similar effects of sexualized content on a host of sex-role and colleagues (2007) that gamers do not believe stereo-
beliefs, interpersonal behaviors, and self-image outcome typing of video game characters and violence in video
variables. Future research could improve our understanding games has negative effects. This disconnect between what
of such effects by using designs that allow for a more fine- experts and enthusiasts believe about media effects should
grained analysis of portrayals of gender and violence. be studied more in general if we are truly to do science in
Future research could also combine gender analyses with the public interest.
other relevant factors like race and social class as well as
variables such as character respectability and criminality.
So, in addition to identifying a smoking gun, it is also Acknowledgments This research was supported by a research
important to ask who is holding the gun on whom and in collaboration grant from Lenoir-Rhyne College. Great thanks to
what context. Dorothy Singer and Melanie Killen for comments on a previous
Study 1 is the first to analyze the images depicted in version of this article. Thanks also to Craig Anderson and Melinda
Burgess for helpful comments on a version just prior to publication.
video game magazine articles and advertisements with We acknowledge the support of the Lenoir-Rhyne College scholarship
respect to gender and power. Therefore, we extend the group (Beth Wright, Paulina Ruf, Bill Richter, Lisa Harris, Kathy
small literature in this general area, especially the important Ivey, Gail Summer). Finally, thank you to our research assistants,
work of Scharrer (2004) whose research analyzed advertise- Brian Brown and Michael Collins.
ments in video game magazines. Scharrer (2004) rated
characters on the degree to which they possessed dimen-
sions such as muscularity and sexiness and hypothesized Appendix
that there would be differences between male and female
characters on these dimensions. Our analysis differs in a Operational definitions of terms for magazine content
number of ways. In general, we designed our ratings analysis
schemes to uncover broad characterizations of theoretical
importance. For example, we specifically coded females for Aggression—behavior intended to harm another living
the “curvaceously thin” depiction. This analysis was being
consistent with Study 2 findings that female characters are Ex. pictures of aggression may contain weapons,
depicted both as thin and as buxom, thus underlining the injuries/blood, attacking postures and facial expressions
appropriateness of the specific stereotypes we coded for. showing intent to harm, cues in the situation (ex.
We also rated males as hypermasculine based on a number explosions)
of dimensions in addition to muscularity. War—real, military, historical (ex. fatigues, tanks)
While Scharrer (2004) counted the number of weapons Fighting—any other combat; must show movement/
present in each advertisement, we coded the specific ways action such as firing weapon, running with sword
weapons were presented (e.g., using weapons in military Posing with weapon: picture of person holding weapon
engagement). Another important characterization we coded (ex. gun, knife, sword, ammunition belt. Not using weapon.
was instances where weapon use was glamorized, which we Armor—mail, metal armor, leather armor, shields
referred to as images featuring characters “posing with Sexualized (women)—showing skin, particularly cleav-
weapons.” Glamorizing and rewarding violence encourages age, midriff and legs; large breasts, extreme proportions,
violence (NTVS 1998). We found that about 30% of provocative poses, postures or facial expressions
Sex Roles (2007) 57:851–864 863

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