Now, an Oakland, Calif-based child advocacy organization which commissioned the study. Nintendo Co. Ltd's Nintendo 64. Fifty-four percent of the games surveyed contained female lead characters while 92 percent had male lead characters. Those games which do feature female characters tend to display women in an exaggerated and stereotypical manner, with 38 percent displaying significant body exposure, including cleavage, thighs and midriffs. Their male counterparts, in contrast, had no such response to the same actions.
Industry analysts say roughly one-third of video game console users in the United States are female.
While the Children Now study said the games' negative female imagery delivers the wrong message about female behavior to both boys and girls, Salisbury said the study was more concerned about the girls since they are apt to identify with the female characters. Since most parents aren't playing these games, it is very easy for them to unwittingly sleepwalk through all of the images they contain. Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.