ABSTRACT

Archetypes like the nurturing figure, the femme fatale, and the damsel in distress each highlight different traditional social narratives of women's oppression by positioning the woman as solely a caregiver, a sexual object, or a helpless creature in need of protecting and saving. The lack of mothers in videogames does not mean that the 'woman as caregiver' trope is uncommon; supportive and nurturing women still occur frequently in games despite not being literal 'mothers'. The trope of 'woman as caregiver' relegates female characters to background and supporting roles and, in turn, encourages women who play games to restrict themselves to stereotypical 'caregiving' duties-healing, buffing, and otherwise providing for their male counterparts. When women are presented to men as trophies, the woman is typically portrayed as either a sexual object or a powerless damsel. Women are placed in a secondary role and are depicted as requiring the protection of a (typically male) companion.