One extremely important thing that has been made apparent to me within this past week is that the differences between all of us is something that should be highlighted instead of looked down upon.  In the class activity where we looked through our personal gaming history for any trends in our past, I noticed that there weren’t many games that I have played where there was a character that represented myself.  I guess in the past it never really occurred to me that I was never truly represented in a character.  Sure, there were games in which female characters were present, but in many of them they were this socially idolized version of what a female should be.  Their attire was always way too revealing, and their bodies were always way too exaggerated in specific areas.  Even with those examples of female characters sprinkled throughout my gaming career, there were still very few games in which I was even given the option to play as a female or even have a game where there was a female protagonist.  Nowadays there is a bit more representation of females, along with the option to choose between a male and female character.  But I have noticed that it took a long time for this small addition to games to even be made, and it seems like such a trivial option to have.  I also see how underrepresented things like race, culture, sexuality, disabilities, class, religion, and many other things are within the gaming community.

This makes me think of the “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference” article by Audre Lorde because she talks about how difference is not being viewed as a positive thing, but instead it is something people fear.  Within the article she states, “We have all been programmed to respond to the human differences between us with fear and loathing and to handle that difference in one of three ways: ignore it, and if that is not possible, copy it if we think it is dominant, or destroy it if we think it is subordinate” (Lorde, 115).  The mindset of fearing and loathing difference is the very reason for the underrepresentation of the majority of the world’s population.  Since society doesn’t like things that are different then that gears game developers to just create characters that have been successful and the same for generations.  It is even more disappointing that when people do speak up about these issues and do strive for accurate representations in the gaming industry, then they are seen as heretics who want to ruin the gaming experience for everyone.  The way society views difference just motivates the big brand gaming companies to keep making the same kinds of games with the same limited character representation because that is what people like.  I feel that in order to truly start making a difference within the gaming industry, we have to push and spread this idea that the difference between us is what makes the world an interesting place and it is what makes the world unique.  Risks need to be taken to show the world that difference is exciting and good and that we are all worth being represented in our favorite games.

Works Cited

“Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference.” Sister Outsider Essays and Speeches, by Audre Lorde, Ten Speed Press, 2016, pp. 114–123.