Portrayal of gender roles in popular videogames

Here's an interesting study on the perpetuation of women being presented as caricatures
in videogames. These games are geared toward young players who may not have the experience necessary to successfully navigate these kinds of stereotypes and so unwittingly digest the characters as being accurate representations of reality and/or ideal representations to strive for.

Too Good To Be True?

THE SUN article link

These 2 girls claim to be promoting the music but all they are really selling is sex.
The provocative nature of the photographs promote the women as being more important
for their physical characteristics rather than for their intellectual and artistic capacities.
If they didn't embody the current aesthetic ideal for women in the modern age, would 'The Sun' be making such a big deal about them? I think not, for the simple fact that
women in most cultures' worth to the majority of men unfortunately seems to be closely
linked with their ability to be objectified sexually.
The nature of this type of hierarchical objectification of women only serves to worsen the status of inequality among the sexes. It reinforces negative stereotypes and distracts from the feminist movement--which is not only having the freedom to take your clothes off, but to be celebrated for it by more people than just men looking to get off.
These ladies are unjustly hijacking the spotlight from hardworking musicians and artists who are truly dedicated to their art and don't have time to bind their naked bodies up in wires to please men.
Lauren Pope and Kellie Acreman's success comes at the expense of reinforcing longstanding stereotypes to both men and women (that are unable to sift through media promotional sludge) that women can only be appreciated for their looks first and foremost, while any other contributions they might make are just surplus.

The question is: "Why are they willing to create such a disconnect between themselves and the celebration of their whole feminine selves just to obtain a bit of fleeting attention from the 'male gaze'?"

see below for an explanation of the male gaze, taken from wikipedia
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaze#The_Male_Gaze_and_Feminist_theory)

In film and photography, the male gaze occurs when the audience is put into the perspective of a heterosexual man. A scene may linger on the curves of a woman's body, for instance. Feminists would argue that such instances are presented in the context closest relating to that of a male, hence its referral to being the Male Gaze.

The theory suggests that male gaze denies women human agency, relegating them to the status of objects, hence, the woman reader and the woman viewer must experience the text's narrative secondarily, by identifying with a man's perspective.

more links to this concept:

http://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/2007/08/26/faq-what-is-the-%E2%80%9Cmale-gaze%E2%80%9D/

http://www.ltcconline.net/lukas/gender/pages/gaze.htm