Tropes vs. Women in Video Games explores women as sexual playthings, violence victims

Tropes vs. Women in Video Games has returned with a new entry in the video series, dubbed "Women as Background Decoration: Part 2," that further explores how non-playable women are used in games.

Part 2 carries a content warning for graphic violence against women. It features games such as Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, BioShock, Dragon Age: Origins and The Darkness 2While the previous video explored sexual objectification, Part 2 is an examination of how sexualized female bodies can occupy "a dual role as both sexual playthings and the perpetual victims of male violence."

Creator Anita Sarkeesian defines the Women as Background Decoration trope as "largely insignificant non-playable female characters whose sexuality or victimhood is exploited as a way to infuse edgy, gritty or racy flavoring into game worlds. These sexually objectified female bodies are designed to function as environmental texture while titillating presumed straight male players." You can watch the video above, or view the full transcript on Feminist Frequency's website.

Tropes vs. Women in Video Games examines the appearance and role of women in games; it was funded via Kickstarter in 2012. Since its inception, Sarkeesian has released videos examining topics such as the damsel in distress trope and female versions of established male characters.

Sarkeesian was honored for her work on the series at GDC 2014 with the Ambassador Award.

More from Polygon

Looking cool while dying in Hyper Light Drifter

  • Dyeing Shaq's Hair in Tomodachi Survivor

  • Anamanaguchi's mysterious game

  • Monster Factory: WWE 2K16

  • Here's Forced Showdown

Latest Discussions

X
Log In Sign Up
If you currently have a username with "@" in it, please email support@voxmedia.com.
forgot?
forgot?
Log In Sign Up

Forgot password?

We'll email you a reset link.
If you signed up using a 3rd party account like Facebook or Twitter, please login with it instead.

Forgot username?

We'll email it to you.
If you signed up using a 3rd party account like Facebook or Twitter, please login with it instead.

Forgot password?

If you signed up using a 3rd party account like Facebook or Twitter, please login with it instead.
Try another email?

Forgot username?

If you signed up using a 3rd party account like Facebook or Twitter, please login with it instead.
Try another email?

Almost done,

By becoming a registered user, you are also agreeing to our Terms and confirming that you have read our Privacy Policy.

Authenticating

Great!

Choose an available username to complete sign up.
In order to provide our users with a better overall experience, we ask for more information from Facebook when using it to login so that we can learn more about our audience and provide you with the best possible experience. We do not store specific user data and the sharing of it is not required to login with Facebook.