Welcome to “She’s Got Game Weekly Wrap Up”! The newest weekly series that will focus on what news organizations and the geek culture have been talking about from the feminine perspective. This series highlights what it means to be a woman in the gaming and geek culture — all the good, the bad and the downright ugly. This week we have Booth Babes at CES, informal research on why men are choosing to play female RPG characters, how Miyazaki films are beneficial to young girls, Wikipedia’s call for women authors and Kotaku’s less-than-spectacular “Top 40” list.
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) of 2012 might be over, but the BBC took some time to cover what it means to be a woman covering CES in the midst of the booth babe culture. In the link is a 4-minute video where women writers in the tech industry share their opinions on booth babes and how it undermines their passion for technology. For most women, it isn’t the fact that women are strutting around half-naked to get people to pay attention to their products, but what kind of message is being sent to those who attend. Says Taylor Hatmaker – senior editor for Tecca , “It definitely broadcasts a very loud, inaccurate image of what the technology industry is when it comes to being a woman…. I wish that there was more visibility for women that are actually working in technology and not just hired to strut around.” Unfortunately, the CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association Gary Shapiro says, “It might be old school, but it works.” Right, because doing things because “that’s how it’s always been” means it can never fail!
Speaking of things changing, we are starting to notice a trend of men gamers being open with playing as female characters in games. And not for the reasons we immediately assume. Writer Becky Chambers decided to delve deeper into discovering the reasons for why men were choosing to play female RPG characters by surveying gamers. She found that more and more men are openly discussing their choices for playing women in RPGs, which includes empathizing with the more feminine aspects of the characters in story arcs. Choosing a female character based on sexual preference and attractiveness was a minority opinion. This leads Ms. Chambers to question if our sexualized female characters are merely the product of just accepting what has always been placed in front of us as opposed to an accurate representation of what gamers really want.
Wired has a great article from “Geek Dad” Erik Wecks examining how different original Disney movies are from Hayao Miyazaki films in terms of what it teaches to young girls. Wecks discusses how Miyazaki’s stories promote healthy parent-child relationships, independence, and romance that puts respect, friendship and trust ahead of pure physical attraction. Wecks also speaks at length of how difficult it can be to raise young girls in a society that often feels that the “Disney Princess” way of life is the ideal.
The Stop Online Piracy Act and the PROTECT IP Act have been all over the news this week — and Huffington Post and Wikipedia writer Sarah Stierch took time during Wikipedia’s blackout to encourage women to contribute more authorship on Wikipedia articles. Stierch speaks about the difficulties of having only a male perspective on Wikipedia can be, especially when it comes to writing about areas where women have had a significant contribution.
Last but not least, Kokatu released a list this week known as “The 40 Most Powerful People in Video Games”. This is a list that will continue year round, with the individuals on the list moving up and down depending on what happens in the industry. All the standard fare can be found on the list, but noticeably missing was a remotely significant list of women. Only two were featured. Meggan Scavio was found at number 32 for her contributions as Director of the Game Developers Conference and Jane McGonigal was at 36 for being an “optimistic game designer.” Optimistic game designer? That sounds more like an afterthought Oscar nomination than a real title for someone who works in the video game industry. McGonigal’s actual title is Director of Game R&D at the Institute for the Future, by the way. Curious as to who is the most powerful person in video games? Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple. Seriously?
If you have an article that you would like to suggest or even a small spotlight for women in gaming/geek culture, please feel free to email me at stephanie@pixelatedgeek.com or leave a comment below.