TV-spel i nöjesjournalistiken : En undersökning om tv-spel och recensioner utifrån ett genusperspektiv

Sammanfattning: This study is about how videogamecompanies and Swedish newspapers represent masculinity and femininity in the covers of the games Assassins Creed 3, Grand Theft Auto 5, Bayonetta and Tomb Raider along with the reviews being done in conjunction with the game. The reviews has been published in the following newspapers: Aftonbladet, Svenska Dagbladet, Expressen and Göteborgsposten. The image that is formed in our society about how a man and a woman should be and behave will be the basics of this study. The covers of the games often represent what the game itself is about and what it contains and the reviews also conveys what the consumer who buys the game gets. The video game industry has grown in recent years to become one of the largest entertainmentindustries, but despite this, there has not been many studies on how this media represents masculinity and femininity. This is why this topic is both relevant and interesting to study. The method that will be used for this essay is a content analysis with semiotics studies as a basis, along with the terms denotation, connotation and stereotypes as tools for the above mentioned method. A couple of gender-related theories have also been used since the essay’s basic idea is to study how the video game industry and the swedish press presents the traditional gender roles and gender issues. The theories that have been chosen are: gender, power, interpreting bodies, gender perspectives in media and mass culture, massmedia and journalism and finally the theory of the media market. The purpose of this study can be summarized into how the gaming industry and the related reviews in the Swedish press present masculinity and femininity. The result of the analysis shows that the video game industry presents masculinity and femininity according to the traditional and stereotypical ideals that exist in today's society. The analysis of the reviews in Swedish press shows that in most cases feminist struggle is not discussed and gender issues are in general not addressed.