There is a gender bias in the video game industry. Many games are clearly marketed for males, and some for females. This does create a separation between male oriented games, which are the more “hardcore” games usually, and female oriented ones, which tend to be more casual and less competitive.
The effect of this is a separation of male and female gamers. The appearance of few female gamers causes many male gamers to feel isolated from females. The lack of overall recognition and acceptance of female gamers causes them to feel isolated from everyone.
What can be done about this? It is easy to point fingers at the game companies, but is that fair. After all, they are doing what works, what has caused ever-increasing sales. It would help if they would start making changes and see if that causes drops in sales. But ultimately it is up to individuals making the choice of which games they wish to purchase. Perhaps as more females become part of the gaming culture game developers will see the benefit of creating games purposely geared towards both sexes.
The gaming industry is certainly not the only industry with gender bias issues. However, society is making advances in certain areas. I believe gender biases will continue to diminish, but it will be a long process. I do also believe that games with female sex symbols will always have a market though, just not as dominant of one in the future.
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