"You Play Like a Girl" Summary

Elena Bertozzi’s “You Play Like a Girl!” explains how females are treated in various cross-gender competitions. She begins by discussing females in the digital gaming world. It is a fact that more men play video games than women, but Bertozzi dives deeper to find the reasons why fewer females play video games. It may have to do with their violent nature, and it may have to do with women being portrayed as sexual objects in many popular video games. However, this chapter focuses much on the interaction between females and males in competition, and how social expectations make it difficult for women to compete at the same level as men (Bertozzi 492). Tying this into video games, Bertozzi discusses how men are expected to treat women a certain way in society, and therefore this can cause problems when competing against them. Men are taught to be protective and caring towards women; male aggression of any sort towards females is unacceptable in today’s culture. Although, in theory, this standard should disappear in situations such as sport or game competitions, it is difficult for a man to disregard this expectation. This has even led to females choosing to use male avatars in video games so they are treated as true players, rather than coddled and protected (Bertozzi 492).

According to Title IX legislation, females are allowed to play on men’s teams if a female team does not exist. Therefore, it is not completely uncommon to see girls playing football or wrestling at the high school and even college levels (Bertozzi 493). This presents some issues for both sexes. Bertozzi uses the example of a male football playing on a co-ed team. He has a responsibility as a player to be physical with teammates in practices and opponents in games, but he also has been taught that his responsibility as a man is to protect and not harm women. So what if that opponent or teammate is a woman? He is faced with a dilemma. A man competing against a woman is also in a lose/lose situation. If he wins, it is not always a respected win because men are culturally expected to be stronger than women. If he loses, then he will be ridiculed for losing to the presumably weaker sex (Bertozzi 495). On the other hand, a woman who decides to challenge a man in sport has her own social issues. She may be seen as masculine, unattractive, and even viewed as a threat to masculinity. This can push men to dominate her in other ways, for example sexually, or they can taunt/punish her to challenging them. This is evident in video games as well, where men have been known to become “extremely aggressive when beaten by a player using a female avatar.” Females also worry about the damage to their sexuality and sexual relationships when they challenge men; a strong woman may not be seen as sexually viable (Bertozzi 494-96). This can be due to her dominance of men or due to her physical appearance. Female athletes are physically built and may not have the “womanly body” that the media shows as ideal (Bertozzi 497).

Bertozzi touches on many issues that females face when they attempt to break social norms. This can be in the virtual world, in sports, or even in the workplace. Although women should be treated as equals in any environment, historically cultural expectations are hard to move past. Bertozzi gives suggestions for how game designers can address sexist issues, one being that they should present competitive women as sexually desirable (Bertozzi 499). Her article, as well as her suggestions, should be taken into strong consideration by both sexes.