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In 1985, cartoonist Alison Bechdel drew a comic to convey an interesting little metric to help her determine whether or not a particular movie is worth seeing. In, The Rule, two women are walking past a theater when one turns to the other and asks if she'd like to see a film. The second women responds saying that she will, but only if the movie satisfies three conditions: (1) There has to be at least two women in it who (2) talk to each other about (3) something besides a man. Of course, none of the films qualify, so the two continue along their way.

I think it surprises no one to say that twenty five years later, Bechdel's standard is still as relevant today as it was when it was originally written. What's more, as NPR reported in a piece on diversity in television, unfortunately (if unsurprisingly), the problems regarding the portrayal of women in today's movies is just as pervasive on the small screen.

With this in mind, I began to ask myself where exactly video games fit into this paradigm, but the more I thought about it, the more I didn't like the answer. Frankly, if we were to assume that movies and television reflect modern societies views regarding the role of women, then let's face it, by comparison, video games are stuck in the middle ages.

I could use this platform to go off on a tirade about the negative ramifications that the abhorrent, sexist portrayals of women in video games perpetuate  -- and I'd be right to do so -- but that isn't exactly the point that I want to make with this article; other people could do that far more effectively than myself. Instead, I wish to illustrate how this sad industry standard is actually hurting the growth potential of the games industry itself. That the argument I'll be making should by proxy serve to eradicate negative gender stereotypes just makes it all the more imperative! 

The games industry faces a hurdle that the film and television industry jumped long ago: perceptions of legitimacy. In addition to being accepted as sensible pass-times for people of all ages, movies and TV are also cemented in the culture as legitimate, creative outlets for artists. Conversely, public perception views video games as little more than toys; something that's okay for your 12-18 year old boy, but that's all. The implications are clear: so long as this misconception persists, the industry is doomed to creative paucity. It's really as simple as that.

In order for the video game industry to grow into exciting and as yet unknown directions, the focus has to be on cultivating creative minds -- that is, those creative minds that aren't already sold with the idea of a video game as a legitimately creative medium. And the first step towards achieving this end is changing how a full half of the world's population is portrayed.  A dramatic shift from the caricatured manner in which it currently portrays women isn't just the right thing to do from a cultural standpoint, it's the financially smart thing to do. Look at it this way, in spite of the stigma it carries, the video game industry already rivals the film industry in terms of revenue, imagine the potential growth the industry faces when it's not just "gamers" looking forward to the next big blockbuster, but Grandma and Grandpa as well.

So to fix this little problem, I've decided to take a page from Bechdel's book and come up with a set of guidelines that game developers should follow if they want what's best for themselves and the industry. It goes something like this: developers must make games that (1) include a normal proportioned woman who (2) is not relegated to the role of love interest or support and (3) does not draw attention to these facts.

Let's break it down, shall we?

Step one deals with the most glaringly obvious sin of which the industry is guilty, and I think, if pressed, any gamer could immediately come up with at least ten offenders. Because of this ridiculous tendency to hyper-sexualize women, the games industry oftentimes seems more akin to the porn industry than it does to the film and TV industries. As such, it shouldn't be surprising then when the image of a big breasted, scantily clad, badass is the stereotype that people think of when asked about how they see women in games today. Now, as I said, it's not necessary to expound on the idea about how the negative and unrealistic images of women reinforce the notion that women are merely objects. I think everyone can agree on that. What should be stated though is that so long as this ridiculous image remains synonymous with women in gaming, the industry can never hope to attract a wider, female included audience away from the SFW, low key, relatively neutral titles like Tetris, and Bejeweled, and towards the next big gaming narrative -- a shift that must be achieved if games are ever going to be taken seriously.

Now before the gamers among you cry foul and claim that not all women fall into this sexist and exaggerated stereotype, I would remind you that one, this doesn't matter. What matters is what the public perceives, and what they see and what gamers see are often at odds. And two, it's simply not enough that female characters be just normally proportioned in order to be given equal and fair treatment. Which leads into the next caveat...

The second step in my modified 'Bechdel Rule' states that games must develop roles for women that extends beyond merely love interest. Even in games that I truly love, the women are all too often merely a counter point to the male hero. Just like when applying Bechdel's test against movies reveals how difficult it is to find a film where the female roles aren't limited to talking about men, so too do I struggle to find a game where the woman is not either one, simply support and/or love interest for the main, male protagonist, or two, if in the case where a female is in the lead role, is not in some way involved with a man. How can the industry convince female, casual gamers and non-gamers to play if the women in the games are relegated to such minor and often clichéd roles?

The final rule states that this (elusive) game, should exist without drawing attention to these facts and herein is the trick. Developing a progressive game that fulfills these two requirements intrinsically makes it immediately more accessible to female gamers (and by proxy, opens the door to potential female developers and creators). But asking publishers to avoid advertising it as such is a difficult thing to ask indeed. After all, conventional wisdom would suggest that if a developer creates a game that is meant to at least partially cater to potential female gamers, the publisher should get the word out and allow these potential customers to know that a game is available precisely for them. However! -- giving into this temptation takes away from the merits of the product itself by establishing it as simply a gimmick or a trial balloon, thus a product that will inevitably disappoint.

This may seem an impossible task but it isn't without precedent. Back in 2007, Valve released the first-person puzzle platformer, Portal. The game stars only two characters, you, a taciturn female test subject, pitted against the malevolent super computer, GLaDOS (sure it's a computer, but its programmed as female so I'm counting it). I would be willing to bet that ninety-nine out of one hundred game developers, had they created Portal, would have opted to make the protagonist male. There really is no reason to choose one over the other, either sex would work, but that Valve choose to have the 'hero' be female (and a rather plain looking one at that) and that they did so without advertising themselves as 'progressive', is a testament to their company as a whole. This is exactly the kind of thinking that is only positive for the industry. A game, lauded as one of the best of '07, stars a normal proportioned, intelligent woman, and doesn't brag about itself. It just presents itself for what it is -- a very good game.

Now as 'Bechdel's Rule' revealed, television and film are in no way guiltless when it comes to reinforcing negative gender roles, and I in no way mean to imply that their model is something to which the video game industry should aspire. Indeed there is much that could be said about how those industries could improve with regards to equality. But if appealing to the many publishers' collective conscious' about the subtle and pernicious negatives that they continue to reinforce through gaming is insufficient at changing this negative trend, then I will instead appeal to their wallets. To illustrate my point, let's bring in a third media industry -- one that Bechdel knows well: Comics.

Comic books, though a massive and successful field, still remains on the cuff of the mainstream. Despite the fact that they've been around for nearly one hundred years, they've had an incredibly difficult time convincing our society that they are a legitimate and important creative outlet. The reasons for this are probably manifold, but suffice it to say that the main comic audience (at least in the eyes of the mainstream) remains largely 12-18 year old boys.

If video games wish to branch out beyond the stigma that continues to plague comics, it must attract the brightest creative minds seeking to find an outlet for their vision - whatever it may be. If this is going to happen, it is imperative that the industry take the first step and shed the ridiculous female stereotypes that it continues to reinforce. Growth and the perceptions of legitimacy that come from that growth are only possible if the industry ceases the insulting and shallow female representations that it has for too long relied upon.

It's time for developers and publishers to stop putting all of their focus on the pubescent boy and realize that it is a vast, intelligent, and diverse world out there. Let's hope that they begin to make the games that adequately reflect this truth; I assure you, once they do, they'll find out that there's more money in video games than they ever dreamed.