Gender in Video Games

     Gender has always played a heavy role in the video game world, particularly a misogynistic one that heavily caters to a predominately male audience.  Time and time again, as new games emerge, the same testosterone driven plots are thrown at us with a new template for the same shoot 'em up game you just bought the month prior.

     But occasionally there are game changers.  As early as the NES system, games such as Metroid, were risky enough to add playable female characters to their games. Much to the dismay of players that had found out their "guy" Samus was actually a girl the whole time, it still wasn't a harshly accepted ending.

     I am more interested to explore gender roles within video games, and those roles that break the norms set by years of male gamers' games.  I know from experience as an average gamer that I'm a lot less likely to play games with female leads due mostly to the gaming world I was raised in.  But am I alone?  I would venture to say that most hardcore male gamers would do the same because it's what they've done for years. This begs the question "Why not pick the girl?".


Photo credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/random_j/

Keirsey Temperament Sorter

     The Keirsey Temperament Sorter is a test designed to categorize the personalities of individuals in an attempt to discover how they would interact with others in the work place. The results of my test were shockingly accurate to how I have assessed my own personality. It seemed to describe me, my working habits and interpersonal skills very well.

     For my results, I scored as the "Idealist Counselor".  The Idealist Counselor is a very personal individual who is in touch with the emotions of others, as well as the emotions of themselves.  They strive to help others as much as they can. The amount of information on the temperaments available on the Keirsey website is quite intricate.  To quote a small portion from their information on the "Idealist":

     "Idealists, as a temperament, are passionately concerned with personal growth and development. Idealists strive to discover who they are and how they can become their best possible self -- always this quest for self-knowledge and self-improvement drives their imagination. And they want to help others make the journey. Idealists are naturally drawn to working with people, and whether in education or counseling, in social services or personnel work, in journalism or the ministry, they are gifted at helping others find their way in life, often inspiring them to grow as individuals and to fulfill their potentials."

     The descriptions provided for both the "Idealist" temperament as well as the "Counselor" temperament, combine to create a very accurate description of myself and my working habits. An employer using this test is likely to find accurate results if I was able to find such great results for myself.

http://www.keirsey.com/default.aspx