Are Video Games Sexist? American Enterprise Institute Tackles The Controversial Question [Video]

For the longest time, video games have always had this stigma when it comes to gender. For over three decades, right when video games were first introduced back in the 80s (for some the 70s), video games have always been associated with the male gender. The Inquisitr however reported that the majority of gamers presently are female. However, the question is: are video games are still rife with sexism?

Now, that question will be answered as the American Enterprise Institute examines the question and provides an answer that may or may not agree with you, but it might make you think.

The video was uploaded on the official YouTube page of American Enterprise Institute on September 16, 2014. It has over 350,000 views with more than 27,000 likes. The 1,155 dislikes may be gender-privileged boys, but that is only an assumption. Also, as of the publication of this article, this video is in the 100 Most Popular Videos of Youtube list.

Anyways, to start, the description provided by the video’s details makes for a good intro for what to expect in this video as it reads the following.

“Are video games rife with sexism? And have you heard that most video gamers are now adult women—not teenage boys in the basement? A new study says so. Feminist tech writers have seized on the study as proof that the video industry has fallen behind the times: too many games, they say, perpetuate a culture of sexism and misogyny.”

The question is tackled by the Factual Feminist, Christina Hoff Sommers, and you’d be surprised that she is actually taking a rational stance on why video games are what they are. She first credits that despite most gamers being female, the majority of hardcore gamers — the ones who play over 20 hours a week — are primarily male. Ergo, when it comes to games that require time, they do have strong male heroes and scantily clad women and damsels in distress because it appeals to males.

That alone is considered respectable to many and maybe that is why so many people like her video. For some people, feminism of the past compared to feminism of today differ.

What do you think about Christina Hoff Sommers’ analysis if video games are sexist? Please let us know in the comments below.

[Image via Youtube Video Screenshot]