Ableism is targeting mentally challenged or physically disabled people. Disabled characters are under-represented in video games, and the characters represented are predominantly secondary, non-playable characters who are not primary to the story (Shell, 2021). For example, in the game Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, time travel is used to “fix” a disabled character, who is then disabled again in a traumatic way, and then “fixed” againbefore she is considered a viable Dishonored protagonist. In this magical world, there is no reason why she couldn’t have been portrayed just as skilled and powerful with her disabilities. Just having adaptive controllers, well-presented subtitles, or other physical accommodations won’t help disabled people feel included until they are represented in online video games without the usual stereotypes (Parlock, 2020). So, the lack of representation of other marginalized groups in online gaming environments, further helps to strengthen the views, beliefs, and prejudices of the majority groups.
Citations:
Parlock, Joe (2020). Video games and disability: Looking back at a challenging decade. Polygon Vox Media.https://www.polygon.com/2020/1/8/21056713/disabilities-video-game-characters-inclusion-accessibility-decade-in-review
Shell, Jethro. (2021). What Do We See: An Investigation Into the Representation of Disability in Video Games
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