Representations and empowerment

Last week’s lectures on gender reminded me of the games of Tekken with my brothers. As a multi-player game, it was one of my only chances to get to really use the PS2 (as it had been bought by them, they always got first priority). One thing that sticks out in my mind was trying to select a character. I wanted to play a girl- and one that I felt had the closest approximation to myself. After taking a brief glance at the five or so girls on offer, I settled on Anna. She was young with a fringe and brown hair, like myself.

Before I could lock in my choice, however, my brother took it upon himself to warn me against it- “Nah, don’t choose Anna. She’s the worst player in the game. Plus she’s a prostitute.”

I’m not entirely sure I really considered the implications of Anna supposedly being a prostitute, but I remember feeling slight indignation that game developers had chosen to make the worst player in the game female. What didn’t occur to me was another troubling inference- that perhaps Anna wasn’t really the worst player in the game. Perhaps she was merely perceived to be so, not taken seriously by virtue of her gender and supposed profession. Either way, the fact that I felt I could no longer identify with her, and because I didn’t want to lose to my brother, I moved on from Anna, choosing Christie instead. After playing Tekken for a while, I actually got pretty good at it and could beat my brothers. Yet after years of the PS2 and Xbox being the boys’ terrain, I can say with certainty that those wins were far more satisfactory when I played as a female character. Beating my brother as a female character felt more like I myself had beaten him, rather than a simulated character. Moreover, it felt like I had won two battles: the fight itself, yet also the perceived gender odds.

For me, this is at least part of the reason why there is the gender divide in gaming culture and why this needs to change. Games are often empowering in the sense that they allow players to explore an ideal self, or achieve things that you might not be able to in “real life”. Empowerment is aided by true sense of embodiment and connection with a character. So why should females be limited in this empowerment by the preponderance of male characters? Why should we feel that if we choose a female character, we’re disadvantaging ourselves? Why should female options of an “ideal self” often inexorably mean being a sex object? The same arguments can be made in regards to race. Empowerment is an important affective dimension of games, yet shallow, stereotypical representations are limiting the industry’s potential for such affect. As Kevin has said, privilege is often blind. Whilst those within the white male circle, who have always had their “ideal selves” catered to, may not personally feel the difference in having racism and sexism addressed, this should not mean that the potential for others should be ignored.