My_Leisure_Activity_Presentation

My Leisure Activity Presentation : 

My Leisure Activity Presentation Xiaoke Zhou Women Leisure Class Professor Smusz

Part I : 

Part I History and Current Issues for this Activity

Slide 4: 

At a historical perspective, there are two main reasons that led to gaming became predominant for men: majority of the games were designed by males and used by other males. They included something primal and power in bloody-minded, which women usually avoided. the female characters in commercial video games were typically to please men, such as sexual objects; Reference: Mubireek, Khalid. (2003) “Gender Orientated vs.Gender-Neutral Computer Games in Education.” 132, 7-25

In the past… : 

In the past… Women were underrepresented as video game players. They did not play computer games as much as men. Reference: Norris, Kamala. (2004) “Gender Stereotypes, Aggression, and Computer Games: An Online Survey for Women.” CybrePsychology & Behaviors. 7, 6.

Slide 6: 

Now! The gaming industry has recognized that women do play video games; There are more and more female-oriented games developed; However, women still do not play as much as men. In a latest survey that was conducted by Ivory and Wilkerson (2002) shows that 77% of the men played digital games at least once a week, whereas, there were only 46% of the women did so. Reference: Royse, Pam. Lee, Joon. Undrahbuyan, Baasanjav. Hopson, Mark and Consalvo, Mia. “Women and Games: Technologies of the genered itself.” New Media & Society. 9,4.

One of the current issues is… : 

One of the current issues is… Thousands of youth are presented with video games nowadays; The themes and characters of a video game may have bad impacts on them if some violent and sexual contents are included; Therefore, both roles and appearance of a video game must be examined by some certificated organizations; Reference: Miller, Monica and Summers, Alicia.(2007) “Gender Difference in Video Game Characters, Roles, Apprearance, and Attire as Portrayed in Video Game Magazine.” Sex Roles. 57. 733-742.

My theory of women’s increased participation in playing video games are… : 

Video game is just a kind of leisure activity which does not have gender orientation by itself; Few women played video games in the past because majority of the games were made by males and designed for males too. However, with the emergence of female-oriented video games, women have found their type of games in which there are less violent and sexual but more psychological and social; Of courses, it is also because that we are in a time when feminism has been recognized and addressed by the society, which makes a big contribution to the change. My theory of women’s increased participation in playing video games are…

Part II : 

Part II Relationship to Class Materials

Video games fit into male gender traditionally by… : 

Video games fit into male gender traditionally by… Male dominating the gaming industries. They produced the games that mostly met male’s satisfaction either psychologically or physically; Providing an opportunity for male to be more aggressive than what they are in real life without hurting the people around; Portraying women as sexual and violent objects in video games, which made majority of the women to be afraid of playing; Reference: Anderson, Craig and Dill Karen. (2000) “Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behaviors in the Laboratory and in Life.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 78.4..

Reflection on class materials : 

Reflection on class materials Females playing video games is: A practice of feminism: “There are not enough women working in certain roles in the videogame industry…Men write games that men like playing…Where women work in UK games, they tend to be in administration…not in programming.” A reflection of the different psychological factors between two genders: “Boys are thought to be attracted to elements of aggression, violence, competition, fast action…while girls are drawn to SOCIAL aspects of the games such as an understanding of character relationships.” To challenge today’s media: “Males were more likely to be heros and main characters…Felmales were more often supplemental characters, more attractive, sexy and innocent…” Reference: Woudhuysen, James. “Why Don’t Women Play Computer Games.” 2006: Spikle. Web.23, March, 2006 Mubireek, Khalid. (2003) “Gender Orientated vs.Gender-Neutral Computer Games in Education.” 132, 7-25 Miller, Monica and Summers, Alicia.(2007) “Gender Difference in Video Game Characters, Roles, Apprearance, and Attire as Portrayed in Video Game Magazine.” Sex Roles. 57. 733-742.

I did not participated in video games before because… : 

I did not participated in video games before because… I was held back by thinking video games as male-only playing; I was not aggressive enough to be interested in playing competitions in the video games; I did not feel comfortable to know that women were usually portrayed as sexual objects to please men; I do not like to see any violent scenes either being unrealistic or realistic.

Part III : 

Part III Reflection on My Personal Learning

My challenges in this activity are… : 

My challenges in this activity are… I am really scared of seeing violence. When I played the game, I was sensitive about all of the violent scenes, as a result that I had a hard time to enjoy playing the game; Since it is called “Battlefield”, there is a great amount of fast actions which drove me crazy. My heartbeat was kept at a high level when I was playing, which made me feel not comfortable; I had little knowledge of video games, therefore it took me a long time to get used to playing;

The insights are… : 

The insights are… Playing video games is not a male-orientated leisure activity. It belongs to both males and females who want to play them as fun; The male and female games may be different in certain ways based on the cultural and psychological differences between two genders; HOWEVER, the issue of sexism in the productions of video games MUST be recognized and removed by the society, changing both the contents of the games and the portrays in media. Also, the violent factors in video games MUST be limited since it is possible for people to transpose them into real life. Reference: Eastin, Matthew. (2006).“Video Games Violence and the Female Game Player: Self and Opponent Gender Effects on Presence and Aggressive Thoughts.” Human Community Research. 32. 351-372 Yao, Mike, Chad Mahood, and Daniel Linz. "Sexual Priming, Gender Stereotyping, and Likelihood to Sexually Harass: Examining the Cognitive Effects of Playing a Sexually-Explicit Video Game." Sex Roles 62.1/2 (2010): 77-88. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 11 Nov. 2010. Bonanno, Philip, and P. A. M. Kommers. "Gender Differences and Styles in the Use of Digital Games." Educational Psychology 25.1 (2005): 13-41. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 11 Nov. 2010.

: 

I had fun with playing them even though I am still a beginner and have a lot to learn; I see playing video games as a social tool that can help me understand the opposite gender more at some levels; I am a feminist who seeks for equalizations between two genders. And I believe that I can play as good as boys. What is more, I eager to see if there are any change on media regarding to the portrays of females character in video games. I will participate in video games AGAIN

References : 

References Anderson, Craig and Dill Karen. (2000) “Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behaviors in the Laboratory and in Life.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 78.4 Eastin, Matthew. (2006).“Video Games Violence and the Female Game Player: Self and Opponent Gender Effects on Presence and Aggressive Thoughts.” Human Community Research. 32. 351-372 Miller, Monica and Summers, Alicia.(2007) “Gender Difference in Video Game Characters, Roles, Apprearance, and Attire as Portrayed in Video Game Magazine.” Sex Roles. 57. 733-742. Mubireek, Khalid. (2003) “Gender Orientated vs.Gender-Neutral Computer Games in Education.” 132, 7-25. Academic P Norris, Kamala. (2004) “Gender Stereotypes, Aggression, and Computer Games: An Online Survey for Women.” CybrePsychology & Behaviors. 7, 6. Royse, Pam. Lee, Joon. Undrahbuyan, Baasanjav. Hopson, Mark and Consalvo, Mia. “Women and Games: Technologies of the genered itself.” New Media & Society. 9,4. Bonanno, Philip, and P. A. M. Kommers. "Gender Differences and Styles in the Use of Digital Games." Educational Psychology 25.1 (2005): 13-41. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 11 Nov. 2010. Woudhuysen, James. “Why Don’t Women Play Computer Games.” 2006: Spikle. Web.23, March, 2006 Yao, Mike, Chad Mahood, and Daniel Linz. "Sexual Priming, Gender Stereotyping, and Likelihood to Sexually Harass: Examining the Cognitive Effects of Playing a Sexually-Explicit Video Game." Sex Roles 62.1/2 (2010): 77-88. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 11 Nov. 2010.

Watch! I am playing!! : 

Watch! I am playing!!

Slide 19: 

Thank you so much for watching! 