Thanks to Heather campbell for one of my favorite answers to one of my least favorite questions.
TheStartScreen posed this question to Play magazine’s Cambell:
Being a woman in games journalism probably comes with its fair share of hurdles. What do you think has been or has not been accomplished in the gaming community as it relates to sex and gender?
HC: I’m not really good at these feminism questions, so if I offend my college professors here, I apologize.
I think that gaming is one of the few places where gender isn’t a barrier to entry. Sure, a lot of the content in gaming is programmed by men, with the male gaze in mind. We could deconstruct this as a social problem — boys getting pushed into different career paths than women from an early age, the reluctance of companies to hire women to dev teams, whatever. But gaming itself is not an activity where men and women have to be separated because of their natural physical differences, or sexual dimorphism. Gaming, it could be argued, is an athletic activity, yet girl gamers and boy gamers can access it on equal ground.
Content, as I mentioned, is a different issue. There’s plenty of press on the fetishization of women in games, but I would argue that the representation of men in games is just as heightened, just as overtly ridiculous. There are probably as many bare-chested, super-sexualized pecs in games as their are corset-supported, physics-enabled sets of tits.
In terms of community, I think both male and female gamers are talked down to by the industry. The language that targets women is no different from the language that targets men, and it all comes down to a question of maturity and intelligence, not penis and vagina. Gaming insults everyone. The companies that produce games need to realize there is an audience hungry for deep, thoughtful content, and stop pandering solely to our basest instincts.
I’m Community Manager and Admin for the NewsBoiler Network, home to N4G, TechSpy, AnimeShinbun, FilmWatch and 11×2. I also write for network editorial site, ZTGD.
Isaiah said...
1I am glad you liked her answer and hated my question. Lol. Considering this is a smidge out of context [because it was relating to an organization she writes for] she did totally pwnd that question dude. Like seriously…high five?
12/11/09 7:30 PM | Comment Link
Cat said...
2Haha, it’s not your fault that I “hated the question” – it’s just that as a chick in the industry that question comes up a lot – and as the length of her answer indicates, it’s not super easy to respond to. You can pretty much try to take it seriously and answer honestly, or just blow it off with something akin to, “hey, stop looking at my boobs”. ;)
12/11/09 7:33 PM | Comment Link