Using A Sexy Video Game Avatar Makes Women Objectify Themselves

Using A Sexy Video Game Avatar Makes Women Objectify Themselves

When we don a virtual reality avatar, our real-life behavior can change, too. Like, for example, when people embody a tall avatar, they have a tendency to act more confidently. It's called the Proteus Effect. And according to a study from Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab, it's the reason overly sexualized portrayals of women in video games are terrible. According to this research, women who embody sexualized avatars are more likely to objectify themselves, and more likely to say that rape is the victim's fault. (Always worth noting: It's not.)

How the researchers explain the phenomenon:
Possibly, the sexualized self might have triggered a form of self-defense; that is, participants might have attributed blame to rape victims because they did not want to imagine themselves in a similar situation. Lonsway and Fitzgerald (1994) argued that women might perpetuate rape myths to justify why victims were raped and thus 'reaffirm an individual’s false sense of security that they are somehow immune to rape.' Another possibility is that seeing the suggestively dressed self might have triggered memories of being told by a parent or authority figure that dressing in such a manner was 'asking for it,' resulting in a sense of blame.

OK, I'm going to say that as a gamer myself, this reeks of bovine excrement. No video game theme and no video game character ever has, or ever will, alter my beliefs on the spot like this study supposedly shows. I am not that pliable as a human being. I'm also smart enough to fully understand & damn well know that a video game is a created environment for entertainment, not reality, and not an accurate reflection of reality. I know that there are people who get sucked into those game worlds and become obsessive and/or try to have life mirror that world, but I'm looking at this from the general player standpoint, not that extreme far-end of the spectrum.

All I've got to say about it is if a scantily clad character is going to make you more accepting to some heinous act, you aren't that smart to begin with. It's not a game's fault if you aren't as solid in your ethics as you'd have others believe, or if you have questionable ethics to begin with (or none at all) This strikes me as one of the most blatant upholdings of side-stepping personal responsibility I've ever seen. You are responsible for what you think, no one else. Don't blame the other guy/girl because you don't want to admit you suck as a person.

Nice Avatar.

I can see how the study might make a person objectify themselves more, through comparing themselves to an in-game character, but agree that women aren't more likely to allow themselves to be raped because they play video games with scantily clad women.

reply to post by Nyiah


Read the book readyplayerone.com... It's Great!! The main dude falls for this girl (her avatar) and more!! Loved that book!!

reply to post by Nyiah


I agree with you opinion on this matter. Using an avatar is like wearing clothes, true there are some that adopt a certain persona to go with it, but most people just wear because they serve a functional purpose or because they enjoy it. At the end of the day, people usually take those clothes off , same goes for avatars.

The more shocking of the information here is the prospect of female gamers They are like unicorns.

reply to post by Nyiah

If anything it helps you be a better gamer.

reply to post by usertwelve


Haha exactly what i was thinking.

reply to post by Nyiah


I'm not a 'gamer', but just speaking generally: I've never noticed it changing the attitude of the person using the 'sexy' avatar, but it can definitely change the behavior of those who interact with that person. They may not even realize it.

On sites such as this one for example, people often tend to be nicer to someone using an attractive female avatar.

I don't play much online poker, but I have in the past. I actually tried a little experiment that I found quite amusing. It's not gonna work every time, but it did make a difference. It was much easier to pull off a big bluff when using an attractive female avatar.(and even more so if it's like a petite blonde)





ETA: By the way, I'm a guy. It was kinda creepy(but funny), when other guys would start flirting with me, just because I was using a female avatar.

reply to post by Nyiah


Right....

I'm sure all those bathroom selfie shots aren't helping either.

BrokenCircles
reply to post by Nyiah

 

I'm not a 'gamer', but just speaking generally: I've never noticed it changing the attitude of the person using the 'sexy' avatar, but it can definitely change the behavior of those who interact with that person. They may not even realize it.

On sites such as this one for example, people often tend to be nicer to someone using an attractive female avatar.

I don't play much online poker, but I have in the past. I actually tried a little experiment that I found quite amusing. It's not gonna work every time, but it did make a difference. It was much easier to pull off a big bluff when using an attractive female avatar.(and even more so if it's like a petite blonde)

So true!! LOL!! But, I realized it! If you can...read that book, "Ready Player One", that poor guy fell head over heels for this female avatar that was playing the game against him (one of many opponents to win a billion bucks) ..

Is "objectify" really a word? If a woman says a man looks good, is he then "objectified." The whole idea is around simply to vilify men. It is well known that men are attracted by sight and women are attracted by situation. A man is sexually attracted to a woman because of how she LOOKS, not what books she has read. And it is perfectly natural and appropriate. Women who look "good," i.e.: are sexually attractive, are more likely to be able to have and nurture healthy children. Men who are big, powerful, aggressive, and macho are more likely to be able to protect a woman and her family from the Bad Guys(tm) elsewhere. That is also perfectly natural.

But in our mixed up culture men are said to be bad if they dare to think a woman is sexy and good looking. She is therefore "objectified." No, we men do not like you because you read good books. And we can't help it just because we can urinate standing up and you have to sit down. Telling us to sit down is not going to make the world equal for you.

So get over it. It's not going to happen. Men are never going to become cuddly little care bears to make women like them, mostly because women will chose the aggressive macho guy anyway. In other words, it doesn't pay, and nobody can help it if you're ugly or scrawny. Those are bets made with DNA, so if you are ugly, that's who you'll wind up with.

reply to post by BrokenCircles


I think we sporadically forget that the avatars aren't real, and since we're hardwired to respond to humans, and especially attractive ones, in social environments, it's like forgetting that you're online & going about the interaction like you would in person. I've seen people do it, too. I'm not bothered often in games, it's usually in PvE queues where I do the most chatting (coordinating strategies & placements, idle chatter in lulls, etc) For context, I play Star Trek Online, and it's a myriad of avatars and interactions all around. I think it mostly depends on the ages on the players, too. Older folks don't tend to be too bothersome or chatty in-game, but the younger ones, teens and twenty-somethings, sometimes approach attractive players in public areas. Most often, it's a simple "Buzz Off" in the zone chat that gets them laughed out of the instance. So yeah, I don't discount that attractive avs get attention. If it were a real life grouping, I doubt it would go much differently with the attractive people.

And I concur, it's like clothes to me, but my 4 Trek avs are all clothed as best possible (full uniforms, with the acception of my Orion, who gets tattered pants & a tattered top---she's an opportunist raider, hard life) When I log out of the game, that's like taking those "clothes" off, for the most part. They're not necessarily me or extensions of me in-game, but since I did create them with my tastes in mind, they have elements of me in how they're dressed.

And to the PP who said we're like unicorns. You'd be surprised, man. If the boobs are huge, it's typically a guy gamer. If a girl wants to not be noticed, she's usually one of the male avatars

reply to post by schuyler

Women who look "good," i.e.: are sexually attractive, are more likely to be able to have and nurture healthy children.

HA! Really? healthy nurtured children come from women men deem physically attractive bull pocky! The best looking to men would be prostitutes more times than not.

Yes well the woman do seem to chose to do whatever stupid pitiful thing it takes to make a guy think she is "beautiful"! From stupid high heel shoes to ridiculous fake eyelashes and a ton of crap.

Two words.

LARA CROFT.

How can that be objectifying. She kicks arse!!

reply to post by Char-Lee


I would that is conformist to what "society" I.e. the media says is attractive, as opposed to what men consider to be sexually attractive in women. However men are not immune to the glossies either.

But still after a certain age, all that doesn't matter, and a woman with curve and confidence is far more attractive than some size 0 twig with a bad attitude and a entitlement complex.

Give me a real woman any day.

As far as games go. note they are all Amazonian, and not at all like the mags depict attractiveness to be

Can i just say you have a very sexy avatar OP......

also what about men, why is it when men chose a "sexy avatar" no one says anything but when a woman does it they are "objectifying themselves".

Why can they not just create a avatar why does it have to turn into sexual objectivity.

Its just a game

enjoy it (if thats your thing otherwise dont play the dam things)

Avatars are designed to project an image, of ourselves, that we want people to see. The avatar sends a message to anyone who's coming across our activity. The sexy female avatars that women use most definitely objectify women. The avatar is basically saying "this is how you should see me."

It's why you don't see too many Bea Arthur or Rebel Wilson avatars.


The key is for the viewer to not make assumptions about a member simply because their avatar is a hot cartoon.

OtherSideOfTheCoin

also what about men, why is it when men chose a "sexy avatar" no one says anything but when a woman does it they are "objectifying themselves".

Because men don't use scantily clad studs as their avatar, unless they are the scantily clad hot guy in their avatar.

It's why I went for the shot of the clown in mine. I want everyone to see me as a fool, thus I use an image of a fool.

reply to post by Crakeur


Good point! I'm a flying dog!! lol!!

While not a gamer (or unicorn) myself, I do agree that donning an avatar with a strong personna of any kind says something about the individual behind it. Why, just look at my ATS avatar. It says something, doesn't it? Doesn't it? DOESN'T IT!!??

reply to post by Crakeur


I would agree with this. The avatar is the mid-haven of the electronic world. This is the same is the mask most people wear in their every day lives.

This is not necessarily a bad thing though. If we consider that the avatar is an image of choice, rather than the mask of conformity of the real world. then by selecting an avatar that is "sexy" that person is revealing something of their inner person. Not necessarily that they long to look like that. For instance I do not go around dressed like an 19th century man about town, but it does say something of the person I feel I am inside.

Therefore if we see a person with a strikingly attractive avatar, a superficial outlook perhaps comes from the mind of the viewer rather than the viewee.