Book Review 3.1

John Green, a fantastic author, decimates souls with his tragic books. One book, The Fault in Our Stars, is about a teenage girl, Hazel, with terminal cancer, her life slowly coming ever closer to an end, who falls in love with another cancer victim, Augustus. John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, opening the floodgates of eyeballs everywhere, breaks hearts with its tragic love story.

A theme of The Fault in Our Stars is that love prevails through hardship. For example, Hazel and Augustus love each other more and more even as Augustus dies. Hazel continued to love Augustus before and even after he died. Additionally, Hazel's parents love her and each other, saying that they will endure Hazel's death together when it happens. Thus showing how their love will endure hardship. In addition, even Augustus's parents, who actually lost their child, stay together after his death. Their love endures the hardship they face when Augustus dies.

The main character, Hazel, is a very caring character.  For example, she says, "There is only one thing in this world shittier than biting it from cancer when you're sixteen, and that's having a kid who bites it from cancer." She is more concerned about her parents feelings than about herself. The fact that she cares more about how someone else feels than whether she lives is a serious sign of selflessness. Additionally, she says, "I went to Support Group for the same reason that I'd once allowed nurses with a mere eighteen months of graduate education to poison me with exotically named chemicals: I wanted to make my parents happy." She puts up with stuff she doesn't like just for her parents. This once again shows that she puts others before herself. In addition, at one point in the story, Hazel tries to break up with Augustus. She does this because she doesn't want to hurt him when she dies. Even though she wants to stay with him, she wants to save him from herself.

Gender roles don't play much of a part in this story. First, Hazel's parents defy gender roles in that her dad is always the first to cry in a sad situation and her mother is shown to be emotionally stronger. Second, Hazel doesn't try so be some sort of damsel in distress or girly girl. She's just does her own thing. She's completely detached from social norms and what's considered "cool." On the other hand, Augustus fulfills the role of "Prince Charming." He's "gorgeous" and always knows just what to say.

I would recommend this book. It's pretty sad, so I normally wouldn't read one like it; however, I watch the author's videos on YouTube, so I decided to try the book out. It was well worth the time taken to read it. 

Current Connection 3.2

In Karen E. Dill and Kathryn P. Thill's article, "Video Game Characters and the Socialization of Gender Roles:  Young People's Perceptions Mirror Sexist Media Depictions," they explain how the media and video games influence the thoughts of young people.

For example, in the article, Dill and Thill state, "Research has also shown that exposure to media images of ideal beauty causes college men to find average-looking 'real' women less attractive." Media exposure can affect how young men perceive women. This influence can cause unhealthy feelings towards the females in young men's lives.

Additionally, the authors state, "These findings suggest that failure to live up to the specific media stereotypes for one's sex is a blow to a person's sense of social desirability." If a man or a woman doesn't feel like they fit what they see to be the optimal mate, then they will feel bad about themselves. This is unhealthy and unfair because no one can live up to the high standards the media sets.

Furthermore, in the article, the authors state, "Gender portrayals of video game characters reinforce a sexist, patriarchal view that men  are aggressive and powerful and that women are not healthy, whole persons, but sex objects, eye candy and generally second-class citizens." This causes young people that are exposed to video games to develop unhealthy attitudes about gender roles. They will carry these perceptions throughout their lives and into the national politics of the country.

Similarly, while researching my topic, I read an article that stated that men are typically reluctant to seek help for their problems in real life; however, when they use a female avatar in a video game, they feel free to ignore the social expectation to not seek help. When they use a male avatar, they still feel compelled to fit in with social norms.

The portrayal of men and women in the media and video games has a lasting negative impact on the young people that are exposed to them. As the children who are affected by gender stereotypes in video games more and more each year grow into adults with opinions, social issues in the country are sure to be affected.

Sources:
Dill, Karen E., and Kathryn P. Thill. "Video Game Characters and the Socialization of Gender Roles: Young People ’ S Perceptions Mirror Sexist Media Depictions." Nouspace. N.p., 17 Oct. 2007. Web. 26 Jan. 2014. <http://www.nouspace.net/dene/475/videogames.pdf>.

Current Connection 3.1

In Jake Weston's article, "Gender Roles and Sexism in Gaming:  The Gamers' Perspective," he explains how females are generally portrayed negatively in video games.

For example, Weston states in the article, "Almost every game released nowadays features a male playable protagonist, but... only 15% of games feature female playable characters." Although nearly as many females as males play video games, there are few games that even have one female that is playable. Unfortunately, this bias towards men is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to sexism in gaming.

Additionally, Weston states, "While men in video games are typically portrayed as "macho", manly-men with big guns, women are portrayed as weak, timid, and unable to take action for themselves." While men are almost exclusively the heroes of video games, women are usually seen as a victim or a "prize." Women in games are incompetent and typically must be saved from a situation they got themselves into.

In addition, Weston states in his article, "If a woman is made as a playable character, then she is typically reduced to sexual appeal, with incredibly unrealistic curves made in an attempt to appeal to the teenage male audience that game publishers usually target." Women in games are mainly just a marketing tool to bring in more male gamers. They typically have no character and are just walking eye candy.

League of Legends loading screen

In a game I sometimes play, League of Legends (seen above), females are certainly used for their sex appeal; however, there are female playable characters and they are just as viable as the males. The female characters are still used as a way to market to a male audience, even though the female characters have just as much story and personality as the male characters in this case.

Women's portrayal in video games is not improving, in spite of the fact that more and more females are playing games. This is certainly going to hold the video game industry, as well as feminism, back in the future.

Works cited:
Weston, Jake. "Gender Roles and Sexism in Gaming: The Gamers' Perspective." VGChartz. VGChartz Ltd., 29 June 2011. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.

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