I can only think of a handful of games where there is a female as the main character. Almost all games of the past 50 years have been male main characters. It has happened so much that it almost seems natural. I believe that games geared towards adolescent boys have strong gender stereotypes because that is when these boys are maturing and going through puberty. These stereotypes make them feel more empowered, for example, the main character being male; Or in such games as Grand Theft Auto, you have the power to beat up prostitutes. These games keep the user intrigued and makes them want to keep playing.

A game that challenges stereotypes for women would be Tomb Raider. Lara Croft, the main character, is a strong woman that the user plays through the game with. At the same time, they made her an unrealistic sex symbol for boys and men. The designers gave her enormous breasts and a tiny waist.

“In its raw form, gender can be arresting, as the hit counts of porn sites readily attest. In the context of gaming, however, gender more often serves as a character embellishment meant to drive rather than halt the story. Yet without moments of arrest, games that invoke or rely on gender as a plot device usually fail to transcend stereotypical roles for male or female characters.”

Companies continue to re-inscribe gender roles towards adolescent boys, especially gender roles where women are nothing more than a sex symbol, because they know that boys will feed off of that. Games such as GTA allow for these stereotypes to step in with abilities such as beating up prostitutes.