"Is it the way we are raised, in a society so biased on gender-division?"
I'm pretty certain the answer there is 'yes'.
And I say that based somewhat off personal experience: the fact that, from a young age, I was reading books with female protagonists regularly (some of these remain personal favourites today) is likely one reason I'm perfectly happy to read books/watch shows with female protagonists now. (I got lucky, basically.)
I would say "and play games", only...well, there's simply not that many of them with female protagonists that I've seen. I just took a look at my PS3 library, and: Devil May Cry 4, Prototype, both Ratchet & Clanks, all three Assassin's Creeds, inFamous, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Just Cause 2, Grand Theft Auto IV, Bioshock, and Batman: Arkham Asylum: all male protagonists.
Dynasty Warriors 6, Final Fantasy XIII, and Resident Evil 5 (and I guess Top Spin 4, LOL, though it should be noted that, as with Dynasty Warriors 6, there are more male "options" than female) are a mix.
Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, and Saint's Row 2 allow you to pick (so far I've gone with two female and two male, between those three games).
And I guess LittleBigPlanet is neutral. x)
Definitely less of a mix in the gender of the protagonists compared to my reading mainstays (and that's factoring in one of my all-time favourites being The Lord of the Rings, where there's like three females in the entire cast, wut [even though Eowyn and Galadriel are freaking awesome, but anyway]). If I step back to my more extensive PS2 library, it doesn't get better, either. Same for my smaller PS1 library.
Really, aside from those games where there's multiple protagonists, at least one from each gender, or games where you can choose the protagonist's gender, I can only think of a handful of notable games with a female protagonist.
SO, I guess what this bit of babble adds up to is that I agree with you.
Also, some may laugh, but I do wonder if things like the new My Little Pony show attracting a "periphery demographic" are a positive sign. Sure, there's certain problems with aspects of the fanbase (when are there not, I suppose), but at base, what we have here is males willing to openly say "yes, I like this show with female protagonists". Call it a start, perhaps.
I'm pretty certain the answer there is 'yes'.
And I say that based somewhat off personal experience: the fact that, from a young age, I was reading books with female protagonists regularly (some of these remain personal favourites today) is likely one reason I'm perfectly happy to read books/watch shows with female protagonists now. (I got lucky, basically.)
I would say "and play games", only...well, there's simply not that many of them with female protagonists that I've seen. I just took a look at my PS3 library, and:
Devil May Cry 4, Prototype, both Ratchet & Clanks, all three Assassin's Creeds, inFamous, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Just Cause 2, Grand Theft Auto IV, Bioshock, and Batman: Arkham Asylum: all male protagonists.
Dynasty Warriors 6, Final Fantasy XIII, and Resident Evil 5 (and I guess Top Spin 4, LOL, though it should be noted that, as with Dynasty Warriors 6, there are more male "options" than female) are a mix.
Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, and Saint's Row 2 allow you to pick (so far I've gone with two female and two male, between those three games).
And I guess LittleBigPlanet is neutral. x)
Definitely less of a mix in the gender of the protagonists compared to my reading mainstays (and that's factoring in one of my all-time favourites being The Lord of the Rings, where there's like three females in the entire cast, wut [even though Eowyn and Galadriel are freaking awesome, but anyway]). If I step back to my more extensive PS2 library, it doesn't get better, either. Same for my smaller PS1 library.
Really, aside from those games where there's multiple protagonists, at least one from each gender, or games where you can choose the protagonist's gender, I can only think of a handful of notable games with a female protagonist.
SO, I guess what this bit of babble adds up to is that I agree with you.
Also, some may laugh, but I do wonder if things like the new My Little Pony show attracting a "periphery demographic" are a positive sign. Sure, there's certain problems with aspects of the fanbase (when are there not, I suppose), but at base, what we have here is males willing to openly say "yes, I like this show with female protagonists". Call it a start, perhaps.
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