Underrepresented Rather than Misrepresented? A Content Analysis of Female Characters' (non)Sexualization in Virtual Reality (VR) Games.

With the increasing popularity and availability of virtual reality (VR) video games, the representation of women within these immersive environments becomes crucial to explore. Although the sexualization of female characters in traditional video games has been widely studied, the sensory-rich nature...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Sex Roles Vol. 90; no. 8; pp. 1111 - 1122
Autores principales: Yao, Shay Xuejing, Lee, Joomi, Reynolds, Reed M.
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Springer Nature Aug2024
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=179233034&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ssf
    uiTerm: 179233034
    longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson)
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        03600025
        SXR
      jtl: Sex Roles
      issn: 03600025
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Aug2024
      vid: 90
      iid: 8
      pid: 237
      pub: Springer Nature
    artinfo:
      ui:
        179233034
        10.1007/s11199-024-01488-9
      ppf: 1111
      ppct: 11
      formats:
        fmt:
          – @attributes:
              type: T
          – @attributes:
              type: P
              size: 904KB
      tig:
        atl: Underrepresented Rather than Misrepresented? A Content Analysis of Female Characters' (non)Sexualization in Virtual Reality (VR) Games.
      aug:
        au:
          Yao, Shay Xuejing
          Lee, Joomi
          Reynolds, Reed M.
        affil:
          https://ror.org/03qt6ba18 Department of Communication, Georgia State University, 30303, Atlanta, GA, USA
          https://ror.org/05jbt9m15 Department of Communication, University of Arkansas, 72701, Fayetteville, AR, USA
          https://ror.org/04ydmy275 Department of Communication, University of Massachusetts Boston, 02125, Boston, MA, USA
      su:
        Virtual reality
        Females
        Sexual objectification
        Gender stereotypes
        Victims
        Violent women
        Video game characters
      sug:
        subj:
          Virtual reality
          Females
          Sexual objectification
          Gender stereotypes
          Victims
          Violent women
          Video game characters
      keyword:
        Content analysis
        Gender
        Sexualization
        Video games
        Content analysis
        Gender
        Sexualization
        Video games
      ab: With the increasing popularity and availability of virtual reality (VR) video games, the representation of women within these immersive environments becomes crucial to explore. Although the sexualization of female characters in traditional video games has been widely studied, the sensory-rich nature of VR may introduce changes in character representations and emergent adverse outcomes. In the present study we content analyzed female characters in popular VR video games to investigate the potential underrepresentation and misrepresentation of female characters. Results demonstrated that male characters were represented four times more frequently than female characters. The underrepresentation of female characters was more severe in competitive VR games than casual VR games, however there was no significant difference in the underrepresentation of women between game genres or ESRB ratings. In addition, female characters were presented in a sexualized manner in 30% of cases. The sexualization of female characters was associated with their portrayal as physically capable, violent, or a victim. We also found that sexualization of female characters did not differ based on the type of game (casual vs. competitive), game genres, or ESRB ratings. We discussed these findings in immersive VR video games in comparison with those in traditional 2-D screen media video games.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: N
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N