I initially posted on this topic some time ago, and focused largely on the hostility or poor behavior of men (and/or boys) toward women (and/or girls) in relation to video games, particularly online gaming. Now I'd like to address the other side — the things that female gamers have done to entrench this behavior and, in effect, establish that it is acceptable and perfectly okay.
Now, I'm a woman, and a gamer, and this is something I've thought about a great deal. It's hard for me to blame other females for causing some of this, but the other night while browsing a website that features a gallery of (supposedly) real pictures of real gamers, i.e., the faces behind the characters, I was dismayed by the number of (again, supposed) female players who posted pictures in their underwear, often in a revealing pose. And even those who did not go so far as to pose semi-nude often posted pictures wherein the focus was obviously on their breasts.
One, which particularly caught my eye, featured a very pretty and slightly overweight girl of, I'd guess, about 20. The picture was pretty close up, from the waist up, and she was wearing a tank top. The central focus was definitely on her breasts; they were the first thing one would notice in the picture. She was standing in such a way as to hide as much of her arms as possible, and her (quite beautiful) curly brown hair was pulled over one shoulder so as to hide as much of her actual skin as possible (and, of course, any extra flesh that might creep into the picture).
It struck me as desperate and rather sad. She was a pretty girl and yet she was trying so hard to cleave to that near impossible standard of beauty in America by trying to play up what she obviously saw as her best feature — her breasts. Why can't we just be damned good players and look exactly as we do? When did the object become: get as many 15-year-old boys to post "omg ur hott i'm jerkin" below your picture as possible?
What happened to us? It seems to me that gaming girls take two steps back for every one step forward. We might get more respect if we learned to respect ourselves, ladies. And respecting ourselves means respecting our natural beauty, our natural talents, and not taking that sort of abuse — because that's exactly what comments like that are. They're not flattery. They're not compliments. They're abuse.
Article comments
1 - dietdoc
LegendaryMonkey writes: "...cleave to that near impossible standard of beauty..."
Reply: Nice pun, LM.
2 - LegendaryMonkey
Well, I do try.
3 - Jones Violet
"They're just women."
Yes, god. I love this. So well put and well thought-out, you did a great job of this. I checked out the fragdolls website and completely agree with you. It seems more about fashion than actual playing, though, to give them credit, it's a lot better than it could be. I wonder when it will just be about the games?
Anyway, really great article. Will pass it on to some friends.
4 - Matt Paprocki
I don't think it's so much the women, but you make some excellent points for that. It's just the demographics determine that males dominate. It's what they're told is right. Lara Croft wouldn't be "half" of what Lara Croft is if it wasn't for the vast majority (90% some studies suggest) of gamers being male.
There's money to be made here. Those girls are doing just that. Are they helping the situation? Oh god no. However, I think the industry itself needs to the make the change, not groups like Fragdolls. Those will always exis, even if it changes to 50% on each side.
There's that eternal question out there, what do girls like to play? The answer is, simply, there isn't one. Barbie games may attract the younger set, but they're not going to grab them when they're older and forced into FPSs. They leave the hobby behind.
If games are going to follow Hollywood (which they are of course), they need to figure out what draws the female audience. Chick flicks are a perfect example. There are hundreds of dating sims over in Japan waiting for translation. Why not give a shot to a few of those?
Then you have the problem of trying to convince a large chunk of the population into buying the console to play those games on. That's something else entirely.
Great post again monkey, and I promise not to hijack this one. =;)
5 - LegendaryMonkey
Women my age (I'm 26) seem to be drawn more to MMORPGs and games like the Sims. Younger girls, the up and comers, seem to have no boundaries, which I find exciting. My niece, who recently turned 13, will play just about anything except FPS games, but she's pretty girly.
But women of my "generation" seem to face a wall, both cultural and self-created (the two facets I've thus far examined) that girls who game aren't as good as guys. And I think we, as women, perpetuate it by trying to meet some image as cutie-cutie-girly-girls rather than just being gamers. It's bad enough that the vast majority of guys who game treat us like crap... we don't have to reinforce that stereotype that we can't be worth anything unless we're as sexy as Lara Croft AND able to beat ass in Halo. I think the latter should be enough.
Matt, something you might find interesting -- the games I've been able to turn the largest amount of girls onto were the Tony Hawk franchise. Especially the first two installments; they were fun and you could pretty much just button-mash until you figured out there was a skill behind it. Plus they had good music and featured guys you could see on ESPN2. All the factors seemed to be there.
And they've always had a female skater as a playable character, which helps a lot. I think more women would be inclined to play games if they didn't have to play as a guy, or some busty, impossible female avatar... see DOA, Tomb Raider, etc.
Samus of Metroid Prime fame... that's who our female gaming heroine should be!
6 - LegendaryMonkey
It seems more about fashion than actual playing, though, to give them credit, it's a lot better than it could be. I wonder when it will just be about the games?
It IS a lot better than it could be, but there is still that element that it's not about the games, but rather about the girls. They seem to serve as pinup girls for gamer geek boys, and that is what bothers me. I'm glad there are girls out there making money off being great gamers, but I just wonder if they're not doing as much harm as they are good.
I'm glad this post is well received. I'm definitely going to make this into an extensive series, and it's nice to get the enouragement!