Female video game characters as you've never seen them before: With realistic bodies

Video game graphics have become increasingly realistic to the point where they're almost indistinguishable from the real world.

But one thing that hasn't improved is the industry's depictions of women, who are often presented with unobtainable and hyper-sexualised bodies.

The website bulimia.com, an eating disorder awareness site, altered some popular female video game characters to give them bodies that more accurately represent normal women. They point out that the reason the differences look so stark is that often the video game characters aren't wearing much.

What are the consequences of such interpretations? The perpetuation of unrealistic body imagery in the media can have decidedly negative repercussions. One could argue that the social pressures to obtain perfection are reinforced even through the depiction of video game characters. Girl gamers - especially young ones - could develop a skewed image of how the female body should look.

• bulimia.com

Go here for more information and context about the images.

More: How anatomically correct is that Spider-Woman cover?