Title: How The Representation of Female Characters in Gaming Has Changed Throughout Time

Paragraph 1: Introduction
• This essay will be examining how the representation of female characters in gaming
have changed throughout time, specifically referring to the work of Allison Bechdel
and her test; The Bechdel Test. Other sources include Cariota’s article Is Female
Representation in Video Games Finally Changing? Summers and Millers’ article From
damsels in distress to sexy superheroes, Meadows and her article All Female
Characters Need to Look Cute and Webber’s review on Uncharted: The Lost Legacy –
Who Needs Nathan Drake. Using the sources listed and other influences this essay
will demonstrate how female character design has adapted to suit its modern
audience.

Paragraph 2:
• “The Bechdel Test is when a feminist piece of media must 1) have at least two
women in it, who 2) talk to each other, about 3) something other than a man”
(Jusino, 2015) This quote will be used to introduce the Bechdel Test, then will link it
to gaming through this quote: “All these relationships between women, I thought,
rapidly recalling the splendid gallery of fictitious women, are too simple.” And that
those relationships are generally “in their relation to men.” (Jusino, 2015) State how
the Bechdel Test links to character design, and their relation to male audience.

Paragraph 3:
• How female characters started to appear through the character of Lara Croft: “With
her “polygonal breasts” and breathy voice, it was hard for some critics to see her as
representing more than a digitized sexual fantasy.” (Romano, 2018) Include
illustration of the first character design for Lara Croft, then link it to quote. “Thus,
video games cannot survive by solely targeting the male audience.”, this quote will
help to prove how she was initially designed for male audiences. Link back to
Bechdel Test, and how it fails

Paragraph 4:
• Expanding on the previous point, “Lara Croft, famed video game icon, fights her way
through jungles and ruins — all while sporting skimpy clothes or a bikini” (Strum,
2016) Go on to talk about how she became renown for her design. “When Lara Croft
debuted in 1996, times were different, especially the ways in which women were
seen. The rebooted game had to represent women in a more modern way.” (Cariota,
2017) Illustration of Croft in clothing, comparing to women’s fashion in the 1990s.
“There were also complaints about the character’s unnaturally large breasts. Those
reportedly began as a joke shared in the office of her creators, but they were
supported since the gaming audience for the Lara Croft series was predominantly
male” (Harveston, 2017), use this to back up that she was designed for male
audiences, and present an inaccurate representation of women.

Paragraph 5:
• Begin to state how there are more girl gamers now; “This finding comes from the
yearly ESA report, and has fluctuated between 38% and 48% in the past decade—
 currently estimated at 41% in the 2016 report.”(Yee, 2017), this quote gives statistics
on the percentage of girl gamers compared to male, will use this to state how more
modern games are started to provide characters for female audiences too. “As
Nadine and Chloe take over the franchise, the Lost Legacy offers up all the thrills,
spills and puzzles we’ve come to expect and is better for passing the Bechdel test”
(Webber, 2017) Briefly introduce the game Uncharted: A Lost Legacy, and explain
how the game follows two female protagonists. Go on about their design, clothing,
body shape and hair.

Paragraph 6:
• How they are now also being designed for female as well as male audiences; “The
popularity of computer gaming led to debates of whether games producers should
attempt to produce games with a recognisably ‘feminine’ theme in order to
encourage female gaming” (Bryce, Rutter, 2002) state how this has been applied to
more modern female protagonist’s games including; Uncharted, Overwatch, Tomb
Raider. “These games each have characters who are role models for real women,
because they are strong, independent, intelligent, wilful and compassionate.”
(Cariota, 2017) Back up with illustration Uncharted’s Chloe Frazer or Nadine’s
character. “Add to this that when you see most of the women featured in these
games, you’ll notice one thing: nearly all of them are the standard definition of
“attractive”. Button noses, slim yet slightly muscled physiques, tight fitted clothes,
white, and so forth.” (Meadows, 2018), This quote will help to prove how they are
still also designed for male audience so must have some element of ‘sexy’ to them.

Paragraph 7:
• Link now back to the most modern design of Lara Croft, and how she is more
relatable to more modern audiences, clothing etc. “From fembot to feminist, her
many paradoxes reflect our cultural ambivalence about what makes “strong”
women” (Romano, 2018) This quote will be used to show how she is more confident
and independent as a character now. “Most people have heard of Tomb Raider’s
Lara Croft but may not be caught up on her evolution from “sex symbol to
icon”(Cariota, 2017) States how she has become an icon when it comes to female
protagonists in gaming and she has influenced other games including Uncharted etc.

Paragraph 8: Conclusion
• Conclude saying how initially female characters were designed purely for the male
audience through the example of initial Lara Croft. Then how the influence of more
girl gamers has lead to a more realistic/ accurate representation of female
characters, “So why are we putting in the effort to make women in games not look
like the women that play them?”, this quote will summarise how the design of
modern characters allow their audience (female) to relate to them.