A discussion on the role of video games in the gender socialization of children growing up.
This paper, through a literature review, looks at how gender differences have been discovered in the socialization of children when it comes to the video game market. It proposes a research study to address the question of gender targeting for video game marketing that will ask questions that will determine whether the games are geared more for males than for females. It also addresses the issues of socialization in the children who play them and how the genders are impacted by playing them. It also examines how the study will be important to the future of the industry by shedding light on what the marketing department is doing to turn away female consumers and possibly how they can change the games to be more gender-equal and more socially responsible.
“This particular study looked at males that were eight to 18 years old and their video game playing habits. The research discovered that boys who were between the ages averaged 41 minutes a day sitting in front of and playing video games. The study also measured how many minutes per day the girls averaged playing video games and came up with a mean number of 12 minutes(Smith, 2003). This research is important to the proposed study because it prompts the question of whether it is the type of game played by girls or the length of time that trigger the actions that may be undertaken because of the games.”