Grimes
Sara Grimes
Masters student
Simon Fraser University
(Work completed at the University of Ottawa)
sgrimes@angelfire.com
"YOU SHOOT LIKE A GIRL!"
THE FEMALE PROTAGONIST IN ACTION-ADVENTURE VIDEO GAMES
Abstract
This paper was inspired by the increasing popularity of female video game protagonists such as Lara Croft (Tombraider) and Samus Aran (Metroid Prim) despite the majority of girls' and women's continued hesitance to participate in digital gaming activities. The pilot study seeks to examine how the imagery and narrative structure of popular, contemporary video games construct a paradigm of the ideal female heroine. This is accomplished through a qualitative content analysis of various visual (adherence to beauty ideals, camera angles, etc.) and narrative (actions, gender roles, character interactions, etc.) features found within three best-selling action-adventure video games released in 2002. The literature review includes an overview of recent studies relating to girls' involvement with video games, the portrayal of women in video games and other popular media, as well as feminist and other relevant film theories (including Mulvey's theories of the male gaze, Althusser's concept of interpellation and Doane's theories on gendered spectatorial relationships).
Key findings include the recurring presence of a paradoxical interplay between beauty ideals (aesthetic) and characterization (narrative), wherein the female protagonist must reconcile traditional ideals about beauty and body type with the decidedly untraditional gender roles and actions she engages in. The findings also reveal a possible correlation between visual/physical appearance and the presence of gender stereotypes within the narrative. The more sexualized the character is visually (i.e., physical appearance), the more her character adheres to and is submitted to stereotypical notions about gender roles and ideals. Results also indicate that future research on the topic should include the examination of male protagonists, to determine if problematic gender portrayals extend to both sexes, as well as direct audience research to identify how these representations impact upon the ideal subject position and audience interpretation and identification with gendered protagonist (avatar) characters.
Biography
Sara Grimes will be commencing graduate studies (MA degree) in the Communications department at Simon Fraser University (Canada) in September (2003), pursuing research on children and youth media habits and usages. She recently completed her Honours B.A. in Communications at the University of Ottawa, where she first submitted this paper as an honours thesis. She also studied at the Haagse Hogeschool (HEBO) in Den Haag (The Netherlands) for one year as part of the International Exchange Program, taking part in the Europe Calling project. While at the University of Ottawa, Ms. Grimes was a research assistant for Dr. Leslie Regan Shade on a SSHRC-funded research project examining children, youth and media in the domestic environment (which included online and computer gaming, as well as console video games). She will be speaking on a panel to discuss preliminary findings of this project at the Canadian Communication Association conference on June 1, 2003. Her article "All About the Blog" was published in the March issue of Computers and Society magazine.
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