Recently, a major company went on record stating they were no longer going to feature female leads in their video games because they believe there is a correlation between poor sales and women protagonists. The company claimed it’s not a question of gender bias or inequality, just the bottom-line. According to the company, games are getting more and more expensive to produce, and if there is an element that could put a dent in profit margins, it’s only natural to remove it.

This statement is just the latest thread in an ongoing issue regarding sexism in gaming, a problem that is not isolated to the medium. The Bechdel test, named after 80’s cartoonist Alison Bechdel, paints a pretty clear picture of the industry trends regarding males and females. In order to pass the Bechdel Test, a television program or movie must be able to answer “yes” to the following three questions:

1. Are there two or more women in the film that have names?
2. Do they talk to each other?
3. Do they talk to each other about something other than a man?

While there are numerous instances where a Bechdel test would directly violate the thematic structure or historic fidelity of a program (Saving Private Ryan, for example), the sheer number of productions that fail this test is startling, and gaming is heading down the same road.

So both game developers and Hollywood execs have convinced themselves that a feminine influence in their products hinders the bottom line, but the more I try to analyze the problem, the more I am left wondering if the whole thing is a “chicken or the egg” conundrum. Is sexism a problem because we as consumers fail to buy into anything feminine-related, or do game developers cater to the male crowd because of preconceived notions of our bigotry? Continue reading “Sexism in gaming”