Study: Video Games 'Unhealthy' for Girls

S A N   F R A N C I S C O, Dec. 14, 2000 -- Almost half of the

top-selling U.S. console video games contain “unhealthy”

messages for girls, including unrealistic body images,

provocative sexuality and violent behavior, according to a

study released on Tuesday.

“It’s not a pretty picture of women. It’s a very distortedpicture,” said Lois Salisbury, president of Children Now, anOakland, Calif-based child advocacy organization whichcommissioned the study.

“Children in America are consuming an hour-and-a-half per day,on average, of online activity or video games. That’s a steadydiet, and it’s an increasing proportion of their media diet,”Salisbury said.

The Children Now study surveyed the top 10 selling gamesfor each of three popular console systems — Sony Corp.’sPlayStation, Sega Corp. Dreamcast and Nintendo Co. Ltd’sNintendo 64.

Fifty-four percent of the games surveyed contained femalelead characters while 92 percent had male lead characters.

Those games which do feature female characters tend todisplay women in an exaggerated and stereotypical manner, with38 percent displaying significant body exposure, includingcleavage, thighs and midriffs.

“In addition, 38 percent of female game characters had large breasts and 46 percent had unusually small waists,” thegroup said in a news release announcing its findings.

Altogether, 54 percent of the female characters weredepicted as fighting or being violent, while many alsoexhibited stereotypical female behavior and characteristics.

“The unhealthy messages that both girls and boys absorbfrom these new media impact the way they think girls aresupposed to look and act,” Salisbury said.

Male Characters Don’t Giggle

“For example, in certain games the females emitted ahigh-pitched giggle or sigh in reaction to different actions bythe player,” the study said. “Their male counterparts, incontrast, had no such response to the same actions.”

Industry analysts say roughly one-third of video gameconsole users in the United States are female.

While the Children Now study said the games’ negativefemale imagery delivers the wrong message about female behaviorto both boys and girls, Salisbury said the study was moreconcerned about the girls since they are apt to identify withthe female characters.

“There is an interactivity, there is an absorption, and thechildren who are playing are actually assuming differentcharacters. ... That does a lot for identity formation,”Salisbury said.

Children Now said that some popular games showed positiveimages of women, citing “Mia Hamm Soccer” from South PeakInteractive and “You Can Be A Woman Engineer” from Cascade PassInc. as two examples.

“This analysis is the beginning of putting out somefundamental information for parents and for the industry itselfto reflect upon on images and messages that children aregetting about what it means to be female,” Salisbury said.

“Since most parents aren’t playing these games, it is veryeasy for them to unwittingly sleepwalk through all of theimages they contain.”