Between Art, History and Men: The Representation of Women in The Game Industry

Abstract

This paper is aimed at showing and analyzing how historical, illustrious women have been portrayed in history-themed video games. The methodology followed has been documentary and hermeneutic, supported by a literature review to provide and compare information on the topic covered. The industry under study has a great number of video games based on history. Among others, we can find one of the most important series not only in its genre, but also in its field: Assassin’s Creed. This video game series has even been used as an educational resource in the classroom. Nonetheless, although video games feature historical events, it would be appropriate to analyze to what extent they remain accurate when it comes to including female characters, such as “The Night Witches”, or, on the contrary, whether the female gender still remains invisible or even sexualized. The introduction of women in these video games is often accompanied by criticism, especially if they are not sexualized. Furthermore, among the various educational uses these products have been given, the educational potential of gender equality has not been considered.