Stanford: Study Shows Women Who Wear Sexualized Avatars in a Virtual Reality World Feel Objectified

Photo: J. Fox et al./Computers in Human Behavior

Here are some highlights from a recent Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Study:

1. "...after women wear sexualized avatars in a virtual reality world, they feel objectified."

2. "Researchers at Stanford's Virtual Human Interaction Lab are delving into questions posed by sexualized depictions of women in video games.
Specifically, do female players who use provocatively dressed avatars begin to see themselves more as objects and less as human beings? Jeremy Bailenson, the director of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford, has found a way to use virtual reality to answer that question."

3. "The Entertainment Software Association estimates that across mobile, PC and console platforms, 45 percent of American gamers are female. But few game titles feature female protagonists. In many popular games in this fast-growing industry, female characters are in the minority; more often than not, they are sexualized. Many female gamers assert that gaming culture is not welcoming to women."

More information on the study is here and the Computers in Human Behavior Journal article is here.