Napoleon vs Marie-Antoinette: Gender Stereotypes in Video Games Consumption and Their Reproduction in Game Narratives

Guergana Guintcheva, Hager Jemel-Fornetty, Laura Lacombe

Guergana Guintcheva Professor of Marketing, EDHEC Business School, Lille
Hager Jemel-Fornetty Professor of Management and Director Chair of Diversity & Inclusion, EDHEC Business School, Lille
Laura Lacombe Research assistant, Chair of Diversity and Inclusion, EDHEC Business School, Lille

ABSTRACT
This article proposes a qualitative and quantitative exploration of gender stereotypes portrayed in game narratives in Role Playing Games (RPG) and their perception by gamers. The results show that game narratives reproduce and legitimate the gender stereotypes from the dominant culture by (1) using prevalent numerical and speech presence of male characters in game narratives, by (2) assigning them wider and competent professions (vs gender stereotypical ones for female characters), and by (3) choosing history-based plots as a justification of portrayal of gender stereotypes. As a result, female players tend to (4) accept the gender-biased representation as legitimate, (5) adapt their expectations with respect to female playable character, and by (6) passive inertia tend to embody male playable character even when the choice is offered.

KEYWORDS
Sex roles; Gender; Narratives; Video Games; Art; Web Scraping