Page 109 - Essencials of Sociology

82 CHAPTER 3 Socialization

Mass Media in Social Life

Lara Croft, Tomb Raider: Changing Images
of Women in the Mass Media
The mass media not only reflect gender stereotypes
With digital advances, video games have crossed the but they also play a role in changing them.
line from games to something that more closely Sometimes they do both simultaneously. The image
resembles interactive movies. Costing several of the “new” Lara Croft not only reflect women’s
million dollars to produce and market, some changing role in society, but also, by exaggerating
video games introduce new songs by major rock the change, it molds new stereotypes.
groups (Levine 2008). One game (Grand Theft
Auto V) cost $250 million. It took 250 people four
years to develop (Farnham 2013).
Sociologically, what is significant
is the content of video games.
They expose gamers not only
to action but also to ideas and
images. Just as in other forms of the
mass media, the gender images of video
games communicate powerful messages.
Lara Croft, an adventure-seeking These men decided to give Lara a makeover, and
archeologist and star of Tomb Raider in 2013 they presented a “more vulnerable and realistic”
and its many sequels, is the essence of Lara (Parker 2012). The new Lara, shown here, doesn’t
this new gender image. Lara is smart, seem more vulnerable. Her weapon is huge, she is out-
strong, and able to utterly vanquish standingly accurate, and she kills a lot of men. She is
foes. With both guns blazing, Lara more realistic in the sense that the new graphics make
breaks stereotypical gender roles her look almost human, but she still manages to ooze
and dominates what previously was sex whenever she moves. My best guess is that her
the domain of men. She was the creators have not had a mental makeover.
first female protagonist in a field
of muscle-rippling, gun-toting
macho caricatures (Taylor 1999).
Yet the old remains powerfully For Your Consideration
encapsulated in the new. As the A sociologist who reviewed this text said, “It
photo here makes evident, Lara is a seems that for women to be defined as equal,
fantasy girl for young men of the we have to become symbolic males—warriors
digital generation. No matter her with breasts.” Why is gender change mostly
foe, no matter her predicament, one-way—females adopting traditional male
Lara oozes sex. Her form-fitting characteristics? These two questions should
outfits, which flatter her voluptuous figure, reflect the mental help: Who is moving into the traditional territory of the other? Do
images of the men who created this digital character. people prefer to imitate power or weakness?

Advertising. From an early age, you have been bombarded with stereotypical images
of gender. If you are average, you are exposed to a blistering 200,000 commercials a
year (Kacen 2011). In commercials geared toward children, boys are more likely to be
shown as competing in outdoor settings, while girls are more likely to be portrayed as
cooperating in indoor settings. Action figures are pitched to boys, and dolls to girls
(Kahlenberg and Hein 2010).
As adults, we are still peppered with ads. Although their purpose is to sell products—
from booze and bras to cigarettes and cell phones—these ads continue our gender lessons.
The stereotypical images—from cowboys who roam the wide-open spaces to scantily clad
women whose physical assets couldn’t possibly be real—become part of our own images of
the sexes. So does advertising’s occasional attention-grabbing stereotype-breaking images.
In Sum: “Male” and “female” are powerful symbols. When we learn that different
behaviors and attitudes are expected of us because we are a girl or a boy, we learn to