Integrating Theory and Creative Practice

In my level 5 essay I analysed female representation in children’s books and evaluated whether they

had an effect on children. I was advised that I could expand on this topic by researching representation

of mothers in children’s books and explore how the roles are viewed by today’s standards and how they

are presented in newer stories. 

This would be a logical choice and I agree that there is potential to explore more on this topic, however

I didn’t say much about how this would influence my future practice other than a vague statement on

how I would like to write genuine character representations for storytelling.

I would certainly like to write and illustrate children’s books one day, and granted the stories I have so

far just so happen to have female main characters, but I have a hard time explaining why these issues

are important to me. I prioritise storytelling over diversity, if it’s not important to the story then it

shouldn’t be forced in just for the sake of pandering to one demographic.

I also have an interest in animation and video games and would also like to draw concept art for games

and create animations, perhaps I could integrate the female representation topic into either medium?

Maybe I could talk about remakes of classics and how feminist ideology has an influence on the

representation of females in games.

For example, the character of Lara Croft has changed drastically from the classic release to the remake

in 2013, what was once a quick witted, gun toting badass who happened to be a woman is now seen

as a frightened and remorseful little girl, which didn’t sit right with original fans. 

I also see this as an issue with female representation, even though the remake Lara is more realistic,

the classic Lara is a stronger character in a medium designed for escapism, and honestly which

version would women rather be? 

I see this feminist realistic pandering as a potentially damaging effect for representation and think this

is also worth exploring.

CORE DESIGN. (1996). Tomb Raider. [DISC] Playstation 1. Derby: Core Design Limited. 

CRYSTAL DYNAMICS. (2013). Tomb Raider. [DISC] Playstation 4. San Mateo, California: Crystal

Dynamics, Inc.