Growing up, I was a Black girl, but I often felt like I didn’t quite fit into society’s expectations associated with that label. My interests in cartoons, books, and video games set me apart from what others expected. However, these forms of media provided me with both comfort and a means to explore and understand my identity, mainly since my parents rarely talked about my cultural background beyond the skin color I inherited. It wasn’t until middle school that I learned about my mother’s Trinidadian heritage, and I discovered my father’s Panamanian heritage only at the end of high school.
Media helped me understand many things my parents wouldn’t discuss. However, I couldn’t blame them; they were two immigrants who came to the United States at a young age and had to figure everything out on their own. While the media played a significant role in my upbringing, it was largely dominated by an overwhelming presence of whiteness. The TV shows and movies I watched primarily featured white characters. The books available in my school library typically focused on white protagonists or animals. The video games for sale often lacked representation of anyone who looked like me.
Representation of Black girls like me was mostly absent in the media.
Media representation extends far beyond race and gender. It also includes ethnicity, cultural background, sexual orientation, age, physical abilities, and mental health conditions. The media influences societal self-perception and perceptions of others, prompting discussions about representation across various platforms. There is an increasing demand for authentic and inclusive representation, especially in the video game industry, where discussions have arisen about portraying and integrating diverse characters and narratives into gaming experiences.
For instance, one key example of these discussions in video games is the representation of Black female protagonists. Discussing the representation of Black female protagonists in video games is vital in today’s gaming communities because Black female gamers are an overlooked demographic that deserves recognition and representation in the industry. Their voices and experiences must be acknowledged and celebrated, as they contribute to the gaming landscape that doesn’t adequately represent them.
Representation fosters a sense of belonging by allowing Black female gamers to see themselves authentically reflected in the games they play, which validates their identities and affirms their presence within the gaming world.
This sense of belonging helps counter the longstanding stigma that video games are exclusively for White cisgender males. This stereotype often marginalizes and excludes Black women from feeling accepted in gaming environments. By highlighting Black female protagonists, the gaming industry can better recognize the contributions and experiences of Black female gamers while challenging damaging stereotypes.
To comprehend the importance of Black female protagonists in video games, let’s delve into Black women’s demographics in the American gaming spaces. While there are limited specific statistics available on Black female gamers, the Entertainment Software Association (2024) reports that there are 190.6 million video game players in the United States, with 46% identifying as female. Furthermore, 12% of American gamers are Black or African American. These statistics show approximately 10.5 million Black female gamers, representing about 5.5% of the total gaming population in the United States. In comparison, the general Black female population in the United States is about 23,530,579, making up roughly 6.92% of the total US population (United States Census Bureau, 2024).
Black women are not well represented in gaming compared to their numbers in the general population. This lack of representation raises questions about inclusion in the gaming industry.
Black female gamers face barriers, such as not having relatable characters, targeted marketing that overlooks them, and stories that do not reflect their experiences. This situation indicates that gaming spaces may not be welcoming or inclusive for Black women, which could discourage them from taking part in a medium that should be for everyone.
The experiences of Black female gamers in gaming spaces are greatly shaped by the complexities of their intersecting identities as both Black individuals and women. This intersection of race and gender creates a distinct lived reality, requiring them to navigate environments where they are frequently underrepresented and marginalized. As Kimberlé Crenshaw (1989), an American civil rights advocate and a scholar of critical race theory, explained, intersectionality highlights how overlapping identities can lead to either discrimination or privilege, illustrating the multifaceted experiences of Black female gamers.
In gaming spaces, this intersectionality is evident through hostile interactions, such as racial and gender harassment, and the psychological impact of stereotype threat (Richard & Gray, 2018). TreaAndrea M. Russworm, PhD, professor of interactive media and games division at the University of Southern California, noted that “[a] history of white supremacy runs deep in the gaming industry, both past and present…[and] doesn’t value or even acknowledge Black women players” (Starks, 2023). The continued marginalization of Black female gamers results in their existence and contributions being overlooked.
Black female gamers frequently face negative experiences due to barriers tied to both their race and gender, a phenomenon often described as racialized misogyny. These challenges can create a profound sense of isolation, reminiscent of the exclusion many marginalized gamers feel in the gaming community (Richard & Gray, 2018). Isolation can negatively impact an individual’s mental health by fostering feelings of loneliness, which in turn increases the risk of anxiety and depression (Mann et al., 2022). Loneliness can lead to mental and physical health problems, like increased stress, higher inflammation, and negative thoughts. Over time, these issues can make loneliness feel even worse.
Many Black female gamers reported feeling isolated in gaming spaces due to not only a lack of representation and inclusivity but also the prevalence of racism and online harassment, particularly from men (Starks, 2023). Many female gamers, especially Black female gamers, have faced harassment from males who make racist, vulgar, or sexist comments on platforms like Twitch and YouTube. A 2023 report by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on hate and harassment in gaming reveals that the harassment rate for women is 8%, while for Black gamers, it stands at 50%. This report does not include specific research on the experiences of Black female gamers. However, the available data suggests that the unreported harassment rate they face could be even higher, potentially ranging from 55% to 70%.
Princess Zelda (The Legend of Zelda)
When analyzing mainstream AAA games and established franchises, it becomes clear that Black female characters are present in the gaming world, though they are rarely the main protagonists. A look at video game history reveals that female video game characters were often depicted in ways that reinforced traditional gender roles. For example, characters like Pauline in Donkey Kong and Princess Zelda in The Legend of Zelda were depicted as damsels in distress, needing rescue from male protagonists (Bashir, 2022). In the 1990s, the introduction of strong female video game protagonists, such as Lara Croft from Tomb Raider, marked a significant shift. However, while many people credit Lara Croft as the first female protagonist in video games, the true pioneer was Billie Sue, a farmer girl from the 1982 game Wabbit for the Atari 2600, which a Vietnamese woman created.
Wabbit’s Billie Sue character
Regarding Black characters, most of their earliest portrayals were as athletes in sports title video games, reinforcing the “Black Athlete Trope.” The first playable Black video game character was widely recognized as the athlete in Atari’s Basketball, which was released in 1979 and depicted in color (Edwards, 2009). However, there is ongoing debate about whether the character in Sega’s Heavyweight Champ, released in 1976, could also be considered the first Black playable video game character, due to the game’s ambiguous black-and-white graphics (Norwood, 2021). Historically, Black characters in video games were often reduced to merely being selectable options in fighting games or serving as secondary characters that supported their white counterparts, who were typically the main protagonists. It wasn’t until 1987 that the first Black male video game protagonist appeared in the lesser-known PC game Mandroid (NowThis Nerd, 2018).
Black female protagonist D’Arci Stern in Urban Chaos
The gaming world didn’t see its first Black female protagonist until 1999 with D’Arci Stern in Urban Chaos (DirecTV, 2022). Since then, a report from DiamondLobby shows that only 8.3% of the main characters in video games are women from non-white ethnic backgrounds (Lin, 2023). This statistic highlights the ongoing challenges of achieving diversity and inclusion in gaming. Black female protagonists are rare, even many years after D’Arci’s introduction. Several recent examples of Black female protagonists in gaming include Nilin Cartier-Wells from Remember Me, Clementine from Telltale’s The Walking Dead, and Alfre “Frey” Holland from Forspoken. However, despite these characters, the gaming industry still struggles to create authentic and well-developed Black female protagonists.
Frey Holland, protagonist of Forspoken
From the perspective of a Black woman in gaming, it is essential to address issues such as colorism, harmful stereotypes, and the portrayal of trauma concerning Black female protagonists to improve their representation, especially since there are about 10 million Black female gamers whose experiences are largely overlooked in current gaming representation (Entertainment Software Association, 2024). Improving representation is not about just ticking a diversity checkbox. It calls for an industry to reflect its diverse audience authentically. Elevating these voices not only combats harmful stereotypes but also enriches the gaming landscape with multifaceted characters who can inspire a broader range of players.
There needs to be greater visibility for dark-skinned Black women, rather than focusing solely on lighter-skinned or racially ambiguous Black women in lead roles. Black women should not be reduced to one-dimensional tropes such as the “Strong Black Woman” or “Sassy Black Woman.” Their narratives should not concentrate exclusively on trauma, pain, or oppression. Instead, Black female characters deserve to celebrate the joy, complexity, and positive experiences that come with their identities.
In conclusion, media representation impacts societal perceptions and individual self-identity. Representation matters, especially for the little black girl I once was who rarely saw herself reflected in the media she consumed growing up. She would often feel out of place, especially with the presence of whiteness in her interest in cartoons, books, and video games. She never really got to see herself as the hero of the story. That little black girl even felt alone and invisible.
Now as a Black woman and still a gamer, I recognize how vital authentic and multifaceted gaming representation is for Black female gamers. Representation is a powerful affirmation of their identities.
When Black female gamers see characters who they can resonate with—characters that go beyond harmful stereotypes, colorism, or narratives solely centered on trauma—it combats their feelings of isolation by reinforcing that their presence and perspective matter in the gaming community. It cultivates a sense of belonging in an industry where they have been historically underrepresented or misrepresented. Addressing the representation of Black female protagonists in gaming is not just a matter of diversity. It is about creating inclusive narratives that acknowledge Black female gamers. By doing so, the gaming industry can provide the representation that many Black female gamers, like my younger self, desperately need to see.
Ashlee Lawson-Kilpatrick
References:
Anti-Defamation League. (2023). Hate is No Game: Hate and Harassment in Online Games 2023.
Bashir, D. (2022, May 18). World’s First Female Video Game Protagonist Was Created by a Vietnamese Programmer. Retrieved from IGN Southeast Asia: https://sea.ign.com/wabbit/185503/news/worlds-first-female-video-game-protagonist-was-created-by-a-vietnamese-programmer
Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989(1), 139–167. Retrieved from https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=uclf
DirecTV. (2022, February 28). The Evolution of Black Female Video Game Characters. Retrieved from DirecTV: https://www.directv.com/insider/black-history-month-the-evolution-of-black-women-in-video-games/#:~:text=It’s%20a%20somewhat%20distressing%20fact,deserved%20time%20in%20the%20spotlight.
Edwards, B. (2009, January 19). The First Black Video Game Character. Retrieved from Vintage Computing and Gaming: https://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/536/the-first-black-video-game-character
Entertainment Software Association. (2024). 2024 Essential Facts About the U.S. Video Game Industry. Retrieved from Entertainment Software Association: https://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Essential-Facts-2024-FINAL.pdf
Google. (2023, February). Google Global Insights Diversity Equity & Inclusion Report Feb 2023. Retrieved from https://games.withgoogle.com/: https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/gamer_research_on_dei.pdf
Lin, B. (2023, February 22). Diversity in Gaming Report: An Analysis of Diversity in Video Game Characters. Retrieved from DiamondLobby: https://diamondlobby.com/geeky-stuff/diversity-in-gaming/#:~:text=Gender%20Diversity%20in%20Video%20Games,females%20of%20non%2Dwhite%20ethnicities.
Mann, F., Wang, J., Pearce, E., Ma, R., Schlief, M., Lloyd-Evans, B., . . . Johnson, S. (2022, May 18). Loneliness and the onset of new mental health problems in the general population. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 57(11), pp. 2161-2178. doi:doi: 10.1007/s00127-022-02261-7
Nadal, K. (2021, December 27). Why Representation Matters and Why It’s Still Not Enough. Retrieved from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psychology-the-people/202112/why-representation-matters-and-why-it-s-still-not-enough
Norwood, R. (2021, February 26). Coding Blackness: A History of Black Video Game Characters. Retrieved from WIRED: https://www.wired.com/story/black-character-history-video-games/
NowThis Nerd. (2018, February 8). The History of Black Video Game Characters | NowThis Nerd. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-xEABBIk_8&t=185s
Richard, G. T., & Gray, K. L. (2018, January). Gendered Play, Racialized Reality: Black Cyberfeminism, Inclusive Communities of Practice and the Intersections of Learning, Socialization and Resilience in Online Gaming. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, 39(1), pp. 112-148. doi:10.5250/fronjwomestud.39.1.0112
Starks, S. L. (2023, August 22). Black Girl Gamers Band Together Against 2023’s Final Boss: Loneliness. Retrieved from allure: https://www.allure.com/story/black-girl-gaming-groups-loneliness?utm_source=chatgpt.com
United States Census Bureau. (2024). QuickFacts: United States. Retrieved from United States Census Bureau: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/RHI225223#RHI225223
By Samantha Lee Donaldson, a guest writer for GeekGirlCon
In 1992, only 21% of individuals coming from families with annual incomes of $25,000 or less qualified for admission to a four-year university, and only . 8% were minority graduates. Unfortunately, the numbers have not changed nearly enough in the last decade. However, with a significant increase in female college enrollment since the 1970s and the rise of women in technology, the ability to teach skills to students from low-income neighborhoods then can be utilized to help them succeed in life on a much larger scale is extremely enticing.
Therefore, when Eben Upton and a group of his colleagues at the University of Cambridge decided to create a cheap and efficient computer that could be used to show children the power of code and computer technology, the game was changed forever. Thus, the Raspberry Pi was born.
Six years ago, GeekGirlCon was founded on the belief that anyone can be a geek and that geek spaces can and should be inclusive, welcoming, and accessible to all. Our convention—which this year had over 11,000 attendees—seeks to teach, appreciate, and inspire geeks from all walks of life. We celebrate diversity because we each have unique experiences that are worth sharing. When we say “Every Geek, Everybody,” we absolutely mean it.
This week has been difficult for many of us. For United States citizens as well as people around the world, many of our core values have been fundamentally challenged. There have been some victories, though: the US now has its first Somali-American Muslim woman legislator and the number of women in the Senate has quadrupled. There have also been women elected in other parts of the world, and numerous leaders from underrepresented groups in other fields continue to hold the door open for minorities and marginalized communities.
GeekGirlCon is still here. We will continue to work toward a better future for women in STEAM fields, games, comics, and more. We will keep carving out and embracing spaces for us to do what we love. Because we believe that everybody deserves a place where they can fearlessly and fiercely be themselves.
If you would like to back our efforts, you can donate to or volunteer with GeekGirlCon. You can also show your support for some of our partner organizations. Or, if you are currently unable to donate or volunteer, there is still a lot that you can do. Learn. Love. Grow. Share. Make time for self-care–your feelings are valid. Inspire others with your optimism. Continue to be kind, empathetic, and compassionate to each other.
We’re here for you and invite you to connect with us at copy@geekgirlcon.com. Early next week, we’ll be posting some of your thoughts. What are you doing to foster community? Who are some women in STEAM you would love to see blog posts about here? What media are you turning to for inspiration right now (this letter from Leslie Knope is helping me immensely)? Share your favorite quote about empowerment. Community and conversation are key at this juncture, and we’re happy to help foster them in every way that we can.
Thank you for being part of our community and allowing us to be part of yours.
I have a pretty established preference for the serious when it comes to T.V. drama. (TGIT, anyone?) However, one night, about a year ago, in a room-cleaning daze, I happened upon the silliest, most light-hearted, and most romance-novel romantic series I know of: Jane the Virgin. It’s the opposite of everything I’ve come to expect from a binge-worthy dramatic T.V. series and yet, I love it.
Jane the Virgin is about a woman, Jane, who, in the midst of finishing school, getting engaged, and suddenly reuniting with her long-lost superstar father, is accidentally artificially inseminated. The premise is loosely based on a Venezuelan telenovela, Juana la Virgen, and is a jarring but captivating juxtaposition of telenovela tropes and real characters and problems. The drama is decadent, the writing is masterful, and the characters are hilarious, but that’s not the reason I will recommend the show to anyone and everyone. That’s not what has caused me to write not one but two academic papers analyzing the story’s development. I love Jane the Virgin because I love Jane.
It’s dark in space. Cold. And after a while, it’s a job just like any other. This is the world we are dropped into at the beginning of Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi/horror masterpiece, Alien.
Through voyeuristic cinematography, we’re introduced to the crew of the Nostromo. There is nothing glamorous about this version of space. Their jobs seem something akin to long-haul trucking, and their living quarters are about as clean. They make small talk, give and receive orders, and generally look bored. Of course, that all changes when they run into an alien species.
I’d love to wax poetic about the incredibly tense, bare-bones script of Alien that follows, but that’s not my focus for today.
My focus is warrant officer, Ellen Ripley (played with femininity and strength by Sigourney Weaver). She is one of the best examples of a truthful female character to date.
From the first moment she appears on screen she is treated with an equality rarely afforded women in film. She is shot with the same camera angles and lighting as everyone else. She wears no makeup because a person performing a job such as hers would not be wearing any. Her uniform is the same cut and fit as the rest of the crew. Nothing about her is highlighted in a stereotypical leading lady fashion. She’s just one of the crew.
The story moves forward as the characters struggle to make sense of the creature threatening their every move. Ripley fights, second-guesses, and makes mistakes along with the rest of the crew, but she is never treated differently because she is a woman. Certainly, she is strong, but she is notjust strong. She is frightened, flawed, intelligent, and most importantly, human. Her strength comes from her resilience in the face of being imperfect.
Ripley finally prevails over the creature, but not before being forced to give up everything, even (temporarily) the atmosphere in her escape pod. Her desire to survive is found in all of us. It’s coated in humanity’s DNA. It knows no gender. It is singular in its pursuit.
It is worth pointing out that the character was originally written with a man in mind. That piece of information gives the idea of strong female characters a whole new perspective. The character of Ellen Ripley is competent, real, and entirely female. This is because she is presented to us that way.
Armed with this simple behind-the-scenes knowledge we are given the most blaring example of gender-as-construct. Ellen Ripley identifies as female, so the actions she takes are viewed as female. Having strong, complex, emotionally alive female characters is as simple as focusing more on the character’s desires and actions and less on their presented gender.
Who we are is determined by what we do. When we create female characters with this focus in mind, they will be filled with all the tenacious strength humanity has to offer.
I’ve previously written about Cassius Issue 1 for GeekGirlCon, and now I’ve been given the opportunity to continue following Junia in her epic adventures to understand the mark of Cassius!
As a bit of a recap, Cassius is a story from Arbitrary Muse Comics, the collective mind of Ann Uland and Emily Willis, and, while inspired by the Shakespearean play Julius Caesar, it’s clear almost right away that this is probably not the sort of story that Shakespeare imagined. Junia, the protagonist, inherits the mysterious mark of Cassius from her mentor—while on the run from would-be assassins—has to discover the meaning of the mark and what her destiny is.
I’ve read a lot of comics in my time, but I’ve never really found many that address my non-comic political interests. A possible exception has been Mike Carey and Peter Gross’ The Unwritten series, which discusses things such as metastories and political philosophy, but that’s just one instance. Exceptions are rare.
This is why I was super excited to have the opportunity to review Cassius, which on the face of it, was going to address some of my other interests: I love history, I love Shakespeare, and I love dynamic female characters. Cassius has all of these things in scads, which pleases me immensely.
It was my best friend who pointed it out to me first—there aren’t many women on the radio. She sings along to the songs more than I do and she was complaining that too many were out of her range. When I started to pay attention, it was shocking how long I could listen to certain stations for before I heard a song with a woman on vocals, let alone a lady-only band.
Because I am who I am, the next logical step for me was to crunch some numbers and analyze just how big this disparity between the genders on the radio was. I contacted several Seattle-area radio stations in hopes of getting data directly from them (including Star 101.5 FM, KISS 106.1 FM, Kube 93.3 FM, The End 107.7 FM, and KEXP 90.3 FM), but only heard back from program directors at STAR and The End. Both stations provided a list of their most-played bands and artists from late May and early June. Luckily, KEXP has charts available online that, if I’m correct, show similar information.
When most people think of South Park, I doubt that feminism comes to mind. For years, the satirical show has been best known for its crude humor and irreverent catchphrases. To me, though, one of the most impressive elements of its ongoing eighteen-year run is the development of Wendy Testaburger’s character.
“When you can be this for as long as you have to be, then you’re a razor. This war is forcing us all to become razors, because if we don’t, we don’t survive. And then we don’t have the luxury of becoming simply human again.” Admiral Cain in Razor
Michelle Forbes as Admiral Cain. Syfy Channel Photo: Carole Segal
Not all strong female characters are role models—sometimes they’re villains. And sometimes they’re both. Though she appears in only a few episodes and the made-for-television movie Razor in the Battlestar Galactica series, Admiral Helena Cain has a lasting impact and is one of my favorite characters in the series.
The Battlestar Galactica reboot certainly didn’t lack for strong female characters, and it’s one of the reasons the show earned a lasting place in my heart. From the swoon-worthy swagger of Starbuck to Cat, Boomer, Dualla, and President Roslin, the series gave women a chance to portray strong, intelligent, flawed, complicated characters.
Admiral Cain certainly has all of those qualities: strong, intelligent, flawed, complicated—but especially flawed. She’s well-suited to military command as a confident, fearless, tough leader whose first loyalty, always, is to her crew. That loyalty is proved in a twisted way when she orders the takeover of civilian ships in order to get parts and supplies, ordering her soldiers to use lethal force if necessary. In her view, she must have those supplies at all costs, and the civilians must comply or their families will die. It’s a harsh necessity and she entertains no other options. She may feel some sorrow over the loss, but she won’t feel a speck of guilt for her decisions that result in the deaths of thousands of the last human survivors. Regaining the home planet and ensuring the elimination of the Cylons are worth paying any price.
At the same time, she proves herself to be nurturing, in her own way. With both Kendra Shaw and Starbuck, we see her taking younger women under her wing. She recognizes the smarts and potential behind the sometimes surly attitudes of both young women and encourages them to step up and grow into bigger responsibilities.
It’s safe to say that she is blinded by her unyielding hatred of Cylons, and that hatred is given more fuel when she discovers that her lover Gina is actually a Cylon (Six). She gives one of her officers free rein to torture and rape the Six, ostensibly in order to learn more about the Cylon plans and also about these humanoid Cylons themselves. But it’s pretty easy to see that the vitriol and disgust she feels toward Gina is also about her own betrayal and hurt feelings. On the one hand, she claims that Cylons aren’t people, don’t feel emotions like people. On the other hand, why would she order such brutal actions that are designed to hurt and humiliate if she doesn’t believe in Gina’s ability to feel hurt and humiliated?
When she is finally killed by Gina, it’s hard to feel much empathy for her, given some of the horrific things she’s done or has ordered others to do. Still, her unwavering bravery coupled with a hard-to-deny vulnerability as she stares down the barrel of a gun make me admire her and feel for her, even if it’s just sadness and frustration at her decisions that led to this inevitable end.
And no discussion of Admiral Cain would be complete without talking about Michelle Forbes, the actor who plays her. Forbes has a history of playing formidable, strong-willed, whip-smart characters in sci-fi and fantasy, including True Blood and Star Trek: The Next Generation. She has that quality of being able to seem like she’s looking right through you and all your b.s., a trait that is both terrifying and extremely sexy (or maybe that’s just me). She’s able to bring a steely depth to Cain that lessor actors would not.
All in all, Helena Cain is a total BAMF, worthy of the title of Strong Female Character. You may not like her or agree with her actions, but you can’t deny her strength and her appeal.
What flawed or villainous female characters do you love?
