Call of Duty, a game played by over 175 million people, is deceiving us all. The stereotypes that are portrayed in this video game have been around for a long time, and this game contributes to the problem similar to songs, advertisements, movies, and so much more. Call of Duty is portraying a false image of women, and men though common stereotypes. They have failed to add women characters for years, they portray men as they must be good looking and strong, and include extremely limited options for female players.
When Call of Duty was first released in 2003, there was absolutely no women characters involved, and till a year ago there still wasn’t any. In 2015, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, they included their first female character option. This doesn’t make much sense considering the fact that the ban on women being excluded from the military was officially lifted in 2013, and women have played a role in the army up until then anyway. Considering the fact that there was two Call of Duty's produced from the time the ban was lifted till the first female character was introduced, it just seems like they didn’t see women as being a key role in the military. This isn’t even mentioning the fact of all the female players that were forced to chose a male character for so long. This plays into the stereotype that women don’t play video games when in fact 48% of women, when asked, said that they have or do play video games. All this considered Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 features their first ever female character, and while this is a great improvement, they have failed to correct many of the parts in the transcript, and no matter what gender your character is, there is many times where you will be referred to as a he. This being said, there wasn’t much attention or effort put towards the female character, which is only hurting the game further.
Ever since the first version of Call of Duty came out, they have depicted men that have huge muscles, tattoos, and good looking in general to be in war. This just simply isn’t true, and isn’t even possible. Not every man can have the same body type and the extreme muscles that the male characters have in the game. Also they only just came out with the first African American character in Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, which is even worse considering the fact that they have played a part in our military since the arrival of black slaves, during the times of colonization. This isn’t even mentioning the number of African American that have played the game since the very beginning and the growing number over the years.
Overall, Call of Duty, throughout the years has been feeding into these American stereotypes. Whether it’s about women in the war, the way males and females appear, or just who is playing the game itself, the game has not been accurate, but is slowly improving over time, and hopefully will take a big step forward with their next release.
Fascinating take on the matter. I find that your direct approach to the subject carries with it your obvious conviction very well.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this post and i actually agree with your argument because it is a common stereotype that women don't play games and often in year the game only included women as consultants
ReplyDeleteI agree with the need to recognize women for their part in history. Since the Revolutionary War,women have played crucial parts in our military efforts and conflict. However, I must bring up the point that the call of duty franchise has made very little effort to represent actual military experiences. The game shows men in the military as thoughtless brutes who charge in to battle with little to no tactics or forethought. In real life, the men and women serving our country take pride in outsmarting opposition with genius tactics and extremely thorough plans for operations. While women are not being represented for their role in the military in these games, the roles of men are also not represented with any accuracy.
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ReplyDeleteI like this post. I agree that women are not portrayed accurately in military games like Call of Duty. Women do play a huge part in the U.S. military and people whose view on the military that is based on this game or similar games, are getting a narrow picture.
ReplyDeleteI like this post. I agree that women are not portrayed accurately in military games like Call of Duty. Women do play a huge part in the U.S. military and people whose view on the military that is based on this game or similar games, are getting a narrow picture.
ReplyDeleteI feel as if the video games relate to the modern U.S. Military as well. Between the video games and what a ¨True American Warrior" is portrayed as now a days, I agree with your statement fully. Nice take on the topic and great analysis.
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