Given the depth and cultural significance of Tropes vs Women, the project has a wide range of audiences and covers several disciplines. The project received nearly six million views and earned national attention in the news. The viewership is mostly composed of young adults. People age 18-34 represent 77.8 percent of her audience.
Audiences:
Feminists: Before Sarkeesian’s project went viral, she imagined her main audience as young female feminists. “I envisioned my audience primarily as young women, largely feminists or those already dissatisfied or uncomfortable with the status quo,” Sarkeesian wrote on an update on her Kickstarter page. While the project has expanded beyond her initial expectations, this demographic remains the project’s core base of support.
Gamers: This group is the most important one that Sarkeesian is trying to reach. As the consumers, gamers have the power to demand that games become more inclusive and represent women more fairly and accurately. That is why Sarkeesian wants them to recognize that there is a problem with female representation in video games. Making gamers aware of the issue can result in the change Sarkeesian is looking for.
Video Game Developers: The project is also aimed directly at the video game developers themselves. She implores them to make more fully developed female characters and to avoid the unflattering stereotypes about women in games. Due to the success of Tropes vs Women, Sarkeesian has been invited to speak with many popular video game developers, such as EA, DICE, Bungie, and ArenaNet, about the need to improve the problem of female representation in games.
Educators/students: Given the curriculum she developed, its clear that Sarkeesian wants this project to be used as an educational tool. She designed this curriculum to be used in high school and college classrooms, so students can think about feminism and learn about the problem’s with the video game industry.
Disciplines:
Literary Criticism: While some do not consider video games art that is worthy of study, Sarkeesian’s critical analysis of them should be considered a form of literary criticism. The games she talks about contain creative and interactive stories with unique characters, such as the Legend of Zelda series, for example. Even if one does not agree with Sarkeesian’s conclusions, analyzing video games in an academic and literary sense can be beneficial. The media people consume can have profound consequences for society, especially when many of its consumers are children.
Feminist Criticism: As the name of Sarkeesian’s channel suggests, feminism is the central focus of her analysis. Sarkeesian views games through a feminist lens, criticizing or praising them based on how women are represented. Many of her criticisms, such as the over-sexuality of female characters, relate to many real world problems that feminists fight against on a daily basis.
