The representation of gender and ethnicity in digital interactive games

Abstract

The actual content of games is an understudied area in social scientific research about digital interactive games (DIGs). This paper aims to contribute to the under- standing of game content, in particular with respect to the portrayal of men, women, and people of different eth- nic origin. Earlier studies by Provenzo [14], Gailey [8], and Dietz [6] concluded that games were dominated by stereotypic male characters with a few stereotypic females in minor roles. Nowadays, quite a few DIGs have women in leading parts. We want to establish if this change resulted in a multiplicity of meaning in the rep- resentation of gender and ethnicity [10]. This paper reports a content analysis about the ways in which gen- der and ethnicity are represented in the game. We con- centrate on the portrayal of the leading character, and supporting role in the introductory film of the DIG. Our sample consists of 12 games that run on ‘Next Generation Consoles’ (PS2, X Box, Game Cube). Among the titles stud- ied are games with a female leading character (for exam- ple, Tomb Raider, Parasite Eve), and with a male leading character (for example, GTA ViceCity, Splinter Cell). Characters in supporting roles are diverse: colored, and non-colored men, as well as colored and non-colored women