page_title: Gender representation in video games
section_title: Forms
hierarchical_section_title: Gender representation in video games / Portrayal of women / Sexualization / Forms
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Giorgia cosplay interpreta la combattente Mai Shiranui del videogioco Fatal Fury SpecialEnglish: Giorgia cosplay as Mai Shiranui from the video game Fatal Fury Special
context_page_description: The portrayal of men and women in video games, as in other media, is a subject of research in gender studies and is discussed in the context of sexism in video gaming.
  Although women make up about half of video game players, they are significantly underrepresented as characters in mainstream games, despite the prominence of iconic heroines such as Samus Aran or Lara Croft. The portrayal of women in games often reflects traditional gender roles, sexual objectification, or stereotypes such as that of the "damsel in distress". Male characters are often stereotypically depicted as big and muscular, and LGBT characters have been slow to appear in video games as a result of the heteronormativity of the medium. Women have a major role of being cast as supporting characters because of gamer preferences and sales.
  Research indicates that how genders are portrayed in games can influence players' perception of gender roles, and that young girls prefer to play a character of their own gender much more than boys do. On average, female-led games sell fewer copies than male-led ones, but also have lower marketing budgets.
context_section_description: Many early female video game characters (such as Ms. Pac-Man) are identical to an existing male character, except for a visual marker of their femininity, such as pink bows, lipstick and long eyelashes.
  Female video game characters have been criticized as having a tendency to be subjects of the "male gaze". A print ad for the fighting game Soulcalibur V received some controversy for simply being a close up of female character Ivy Valentine's breasts with a tagline. In two sequels of fighting games Soulcalibur and Tekken that take place several years after the original issue, recurring male characters were all aged but all female characters were kept the same age or were replaced by their daughters. Many games, particularly fighting games, also feature pronounced "breast physics", which make the breasts of female characters bounce or jiggle in a sometimes exaggerated manner.
  A recurrent representation of women in fantasy settings, originating in the 1960s, is the female warrior dressed in scanty armor. They feature armor designs which have been described by such terms as "chainmail bikinis", largely consisting of small decorative plaques that reveal large portions of the body to the weather and expose vital organs, making them ineffective as protection. The prevalence of this portrayal is presented as an instance of the common sexualization of women in the geek culture including video games, comic and movies. In reaction to this, the art blog "Women Fighters in Reasonable Armor" compiles depictions of women fighters wearing "realistic" armor.
caption: A fan dressed as Mai Shiranui, a popular fighting game character who pioneered breast physics
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