WOMEN AS CHARACTERS, PLAYERS AND DEVELOPERS An educational perspective Master Degree Project in Media, Aesthetics and Narration A1E One year Level 60 ECTS Spring term 2020 Emma Arltoft Supervisor: Lissa Holloway-Attaway Examiner: Rebecca Rouse Abstract There is a lack of female representation in video games, and women are often ignored as characters, as players, and as developers. This thesis investigates how the University of Skövde works with gender diversity in the second game project within those categories. A content analysis was carried out, and a total of 102 documents collected from the course site were coded. It was complemented with additional information from instructor interviews and a student survey. It was found that while there is an emotional commitment to diversity from the students as well as the instructors, there is a lack of clear guidelines and resources to create more nuanced portrayals of diversity. There is significant potential for improvements and a need for a continuous effort to follow up on the content produced. Keywords: gender diversity, representation, ambivalent sexism, objectification, stereotypes Table of Contents 1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 2 Background ................................................................................................. 2 Women in video games .......................................................................... 4 2.1.1 Harassment and assumed incompetence ................................................................... 4 2.1.2 Damsels in distress and sexy companions ................................................................. 6 2.1.3 The construction of ‘gamers’ ....................................................................................... 8 Video games and education ................................................................. 10 2.2.1 Swedish games education ........................................................................................ 12 The future of women in video games .................................................... 15 3 Problem ...................................................................................................... 16 Method.................................................................................................. 17 4 Results ....................................................................................................... 21 Education .............................................................................................. 21 Creators ................................................................................................ 23 Characters ............................................................................................ 25 Players .................................................................................................. 29 Student survey ...................................................................................... 30 Interviews ............................................................................................. 42 5 Analysis ..................................................................................................... 45 Content analysis ................................................................................... 45 5.1.1 Education .................................................................................................................. 45 5.1.2 Creators ..................................................................................................................... 47 5.1.3 Characters ................................................................................................................. 48 5.1.4 Players ...................................................................................................................... 51 5.1.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 52 Student survey ...................................................................................... 54 Interviews ............................................................................................. 56 6 Conclusions ............................................................................................... 58 Summary .............................................................................................. 58 Discussion ............................................................................................ 59 Future work ........................................................................................... 61 Bibliography ...................................................................................................... 63 1 Introduction As the video game industry continues to grow, women face hostility through ambivalent sexism, stereotypes, and objectification. Dismissed as incompetent and reduced to stereotypes of damsels in distress and sexy companions, women are frequently marked as ‘others’ and seen as intruders in the video game industry. The hostility towards women and the industry extends to games educations, where women are frequently harassed for teaching about diversity and educational institutions often lack adequate support networks. Women continue to be underrepresented and ignored in gaming spaces, despite there being direct benefits of a diverse team, and with a lack of meaningful representation of women in games it becomes important to educate privileged groups so that the burden of diversity can be shared instead of shouldered by women and marginalised groups. Turning to games educations in Sweden, this thesis examines how the University of Skövde works with gender diversity. This was done through a content analysis of the second game project course, with additional interviews and a student survey to complement and validate the analysis. By looking at the games produced as well as the educational material, themes such as support for marginalised students and discussions about gender diversity in terms of objectification and stereotypes were coded and analysed. The student survey investigated the opinions of the students regarding gender diversity and topics such as support, harassment and commitment. The interviews gathered additional data from the instructors involved with the course and investigated the course as well as the instructors’ and institutions commitment to gender diversity. 1 2 Background Worth over 120 billion dollars (SuperData, 2020), the video game industry is outpacing other forms of entertainment; it has surpassed both the movie industry and the music industry (Mitic, 2019) in terms of revenue. In the US alone, over 164 million adults play video games (Entertainment Software Association, 2019), giving games an increasingly broad cultural reach. While games have historically been considered an activity for young boys, the image of games and ‘gamers’ is shifting and diversifying as it becomes more mainstream. Thus, there is much that the industry as a whole, as well as individual developers, must be aware of to avoid sexist content in the games they produce, as women still face resistance as developers, as characters, and as players. Before we can discuss women in games, we must consider the impact of ambivalent sexism, objectification, and stereotypes. To elaborate on this, let us first define these terms and concepts. Ambivalent sexism was coined by Glick and Fiske (1996), describing two forms of sexism and the relationship between them: hostile sexism and benevolent sexism. Hostile sexism is the form of sexism most are familiar with; the oppression of women through prejudice and hatred. It is a form of sexism that punishes women. On the other hand is benevolent sexism, a seemingly loving form of sexism. Through paternalism, gender differentiation and heterosexuality, benevolent sexism demands a woman must perform conventional gender roles; she is considered purer and more empathetic than men, so it is only natural that she takes care of the children while he deals with issues demanding logic. She is weaker than him, but loved and cherished, and must thus be protected by a father or a husband. And her love is what he needs to be complete, so she should accept him with open arms. Benevolent sexism serves as the carrot for women to do men’s bidding as she will be rewarded with a loving, protective husband while hostile sexism is the stick, punishing women who stray outside the roles benevolent sexism establishes. The aspects that make up benevolent sexism become sinister; she is more emotional, and thus unfit for roles of power. She is weaker, and thus worthless. She is what a man desires, but she can deny him her attention, and thus she is a seductress. Objectification, as defined by Nussbaum (1995), takes on seven different forms: 1. Instrumentality: The objectifier treats the object as a tool of his or her purposes. 2. Denial of autonomy: The objectifier treats the object as lacking in autonomy and self-determination 3. Inertness: The objectifier treats the object as lacking in agency, and perhaps also in activity. 4. Fungibility: The objectifier treats the object as interchangeable (a) with other objects of the same type, and/or (b) with objects of other types. 5. Violability: The objectifier treats the object as lacking in boundary-integrity, as something that it is permissible to break up, smash, break into. 6. Ownership: The objectifier treats the object as something that is owned by another,