Katie's+Paper+Two+Reflection

Paper 2: Gender In Video Games (A Visual Argument)

This project took a lot more research and thinking on my part than I had previously invested in my first project, but the experience was just as fulfilling. After numerous class discussions on the imbalance of gender roles in video games, I thought more and more about the games I had played as a kid. For example, until //Pokémon: Crystal// in 2001, I doubt I had ever played a video game with a strong female character as the protagonist. I was extremely excited when this installation to the series arrived, but before that I had never realized how lacking the video game industry was and is. Since then, there are several games and series that specialize in their leading females, but still there remains a dominance of male protags and female stereotypes.

I tackled this project after I felt strong in my research and had two arms full of games that I could reference on the subject. From //Metroid// and //Mass Effect// to //Duke Nukem// and //Mario Bros.//, I felt more than ready to argue about the imbalance of femininity in games. Now I'm no feminist, but you can't argue that the game market is female driven in any shape or form.

//• You want my advice?//

Write about what you know. And once you hit a wall and don't know what else to write about, that's when you start your research. Search around for related articles that are relevant to your topic, but don't just start copy and pasting information. Take notes on what each article teaches you, keep their tabs open, and keep looking around until you end up not learning anything new. That's when you can feel comfortable enough to call yourself an expert on your topic. From there, you find that you have plenty more to write about and your paper goes from fail to fab!

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