A Woman Can Be a "Rockstar" Too

 

I have a bone to pick with Rockstar.

Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of the Grand Theft Auto series, and Red Dead Redemption is one of my favorite games of all time, but I am still not happy with the company. Despite producing fantastic experiences within the past decade, there is one thing that bothers me most about the games that they have made: none of their major franchises features a single female protagonist. Sure, there was a game published by the company in 2001 called Oni, but other than that, there has been no substantial account of a woman as a lead in twelve years.

I'm sure that anyone reading this could imagine my disappointment when Rockstar announced in November of last year that there would be not only one, but three male protagonists in Grand Theft Auto V. The GTA series has been under fire for countless years by the media and gamers alike for their treatment of women. Rockstar completely missed one great opportunity to fix their somewhat challenged view of women in their games with a chance to diversify the series. Simply casting a woman in place of one of the three men would have been not only pretty badass, but also a step in the right direction for femininity in games, in which the industry so desperately needs right now.

 

I know it is not entirely Rockstar's fault. Generally, when met with a choice to play as a male or female in a game, men will pick a man. Why wouldn't they? Playing as a man in a game portrays an extent of their identity. When I am given a choice, I always play as a woman. Why? Because I want to be able to relate to my character on a personal level. I love having that choice, considering I am constantly forced into playing as a typical male character in most other situations (see: majority of main characters in games within the past twenty years).

Rockstar just wants the majority of its fanbase to feel comfortable in their character's skin. With the massive rise of female gamers recently, I'm a bit confused as to why the developer wants to isolate a large portion of its newfound audience. If players are given a choice, is it really a detriment to the story as a whole? Mass Effect seemed to pull that off just fine. So why is it that GTAV, which seemingly makes character transitions easy and quick, make it so that none of these characters are women?

A quick Google search has shown me some particularly unflattering comments about women in games as a whole, which is expected. When I searched specifically for female protagonists in Grand Theft Auto, I came across comments such as this:

"Not cool enough?"

Offensive remarks aside, how cool does one character have to be to fight, cheat, steal, and kill their way to the top of the underground? If it is a "coolness" issue that needs to be addressed, then i would most certainly assume that this user does not know the likes of some of the most badass women in history. Anne Bonny. Annie Oakley. Belle Starr. All of these women are fantastic examples of how "cool" a female with certain choice skillsets can be. Why can't there be a modern day virtual equivalent?  Take Julie D'Aubigny, for example. Julie, also known as La Maupin, was a bisexual opera singer and master swordsman during 17th century France. This girl was dangerously fierce and most definitely worth a Wikipedia read. You could make a game about any of these women, and it would still be just as rad as the new Grand Theft Auto.

 

No big deal… just illegally dueling a man to the death. Carry on.

I find it fairly upsetting, as a woman who was born and raised on video games, that I have such a minimal amount of representation in the medium that I am so passionate about. A missed opportunity means a lot when it comes to the future of women in this industry. Will we ever see any female take on the Grand Theft Auto series? To be blunt, probably not. Keep in mind that I am still excited to buy and play GTAV come September… I'm just hoping that the phone girl makes a surprise appearance as the fourth playable character, bikini or not.

Taking a selfie post-heist.