The Women of Red Alert 2

Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2 was released in 2000. It was released during a period where the ideal market was still the hardcore gamer (unlike the more casual gamers being targeted today). The designers and producers were still mostly run by white, middle-aged men. As such, women tended to be modeled in ways that would appeal to the ideals of the producers and the perceived audience. Women in Red Alert 2 are actually portrayed in two very different ways, and both seem to fit well into the male stereotype.

 

The American forces have a specialty unit named Tanya. Tanya is a specially trained super agent. Despite this, she does not wear professional military gear. Instead she wears a low cut tank top and fairly high-cut shorts. She carries a pair of pistols and can take out almost any unit before they even get a chance to attack. She talks tough and doesn’t take crap from anyone. Tanya portrays a dominant woman in a world ruled by men. However, this is where the gameplay plays into this stereotype. Red Alert 2 is a tactics game, so the players are in control of the units. In this case, the player is given direct control over this hot-headed woman. He gets to decide how she moves and what actions she takes. And as if that wasn’t good enough, Tanya carries a set of thermal detonators. She can blow up buildings.

 

On the Soviet side there is another woman, this one more subtle. Lieutenant Zofia first represents the American idea of the Soviets as traitorous. She starts out by watching from the sidelines. But as time progresses and the player proves himself in a series of battles, she begins to make herself known to the player. Eventually Zofia sides with the player (who plays as the Soviet general) because she claims she believe he will win. But the entire time she is seen to be hedging her bets slightly. It is not until the very end when the player has won that she throws her full support behind him. Zofia is also used as a subtle seductress who sometimes makes overt remarks to the player. She tries to play up her sex appeal to give the player some eye candy while he tries to pretend to be fighting for “The Honor of Mother Russia!”

 

The game industry has a history of playing up the female stereotype. Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2 is certainly a guilty party. But things are changing. Characters are becoming more vague, allowing men and women to play the same game and project themselves onto the character. The industry is searching for the next low budget casual game like Brain Age or Puzzle Quest that still sells millions of copies to combat the rising price of game production. Nintendo is leading the way in opening the market to more casual players. But other companies are also following suit. Electronic Arts is doing similar things with Pogo and Rock Band. The industry is headed towards a more all encompassing strategy that will include everyone under the title of “gamer.”

 

-Michael Gorbsky

Comments

[chuckles]

yeah, and Westwood's RA2 was believable and easily acceptable. what would you say for EA's shameless Red Alert 3, then? i know i was disgusted with its open hormone manipulation of adolescents. the game was walking a fine line of being soft-porn.