WEBVTT 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 “Amazing.” “My god, look at that.” 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 “Good night nurse!” 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 “Ooh! That’s definitely stimulating my economy.” 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In the late 90s, developer Rare wanted to replicate 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the success of their landmark 1997 shooter GoldenEye, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but didn’t want to make another James Bond game. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Instead, they began work on a science fiction spy thriller 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 called Perfect Dark. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 For the game’s star, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 they wanted to create a striking new type of special agent 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 who wouldn’t just live in James Bond’s shadow, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so they drew inspiration from figures 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 ranging from Joan of Arc to The X-Files’ Dana Scully. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Her name was Joanna Dark. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 A few years earlier, Eidos Interactive’s Lara Croft 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 had rapidly become one of the most famous 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and recognizable game characters of all time, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so it was reasonable to think that an action game 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with a female protagonist could be a smash hit. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Alas, Joanna Dark never reached quite the levels 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of fame occupied by Lara Croft, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but Perfect Dark was still a big success. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Let’s take a look at a commercial for the game: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "Welcome to 2023. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Big businesses now merge with alien nations. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 An ancient war is being fought under the sea. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The president is about to be cloned 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And it’s your job to try and save the world. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So you’ve got an important decision to make: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 What are you going to wear to work? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 From the team you brought you GoldenEye for N64, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 meet special agent Joanna Dark in Perfect Dark, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 where you’ll find out that the only person man enough 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to handle a job like this 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is a woman.” 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Can you imagine an ad exactly like this, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 only with Marcus Fenix or Master Chief, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 getting out of bed naked, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 taking a sexy slow-motion shower, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 putting on his sexy underwear, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the narrator saying 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that he has an important decision to make: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 what is he going to wear to work? NOTE Paragraph 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "Welcome to 2016. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There’s a war out there...somewhere. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 You’re not sure where, exactly. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Anyway, the important thing is, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you’re Special Agent Jake Grimshadow. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It’s your job to save the world. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The only question is: What are you going to wear? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 …. WAIT... WHAT?? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 A commercial like that would never happen, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 nor should it. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But Joanna is treated differently 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 than her male counterparts. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Even though Perfect Dark is a first-person shooter 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and, as a result, you rarely see her in the game itself, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 by focusing on her getting dressed, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 this ad encouraged players to think of Joanna’s appeal 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 as being rooted in her sexual desirability 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 rather than her skill as a special agent. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 A character’s clothing is one of the first things we notice. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It’s an important part of our first impression 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of who that character is, and as such, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it’s a way for designers 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to immediately communicate to players 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 what is most important and noteworthy about them. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Female heroes in video games might be special agents 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 or soldiers or treasure hunters by trade. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 They often find themselves in dangerous, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 physically demanding situations, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 fighting off bad guys and saving the world. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 They are typically performing activities that call for 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 practical or protective clothing. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But when we look at the types of outfits 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that female characters are made to wear, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we can see that they are often 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 both sexualized and completely absurd. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Ivy from the Soulcalibur games is a bold warrior 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 who finds herself in battles 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 where sharp, deadly weapons are being used 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and protective armor would be a must, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but the clothing she wears--or lack thereof- 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 -is not exactly intended to keep her safe. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Cammy from the Street Fighter series 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is a British special forces operative 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 whose thong leotard does a better job 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of calling attention to her butt 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 than of offering any kind of protection. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Jessica Sherawat from Resident Evil: Revelations 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is a member of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and regularly faces deadly infected mutants in combat, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but her outfits appear to be designed for... 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 yeah, I don’t even know. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And this is just a small fraction of the vast number 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of female characters who are forced into 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 impractical and objectifying clothing while in dangerous situations. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 “You’ll learn respect!” 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 “You’re a fool to come back here.” 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 “All right, let’s begin! 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 “And instead of donning a shirt plate, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you dash into battle, shirt open, navel and… 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 whatnot exposed!” 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Because clothing can shape our first impressions of a character 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and has a tremendous influence 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 on our sense of who they are 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 every time they are on screen, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 sexualized outfits can contribute to what’s called 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the hyper-sexualization of female characters.