And perhaps I'm the only girl in the world to feel this way, but I find that I'm a little annoyed by the existence of the Frag Dolls. And this bothers me, even. I feel like I should support them. They're go-to girls out there living the dream — playing video games on someone else's dime. And from the things I've read of their blogs and profiles, they seem like mostly cool chicks.
But the tee-hee-girly pictures and the Playboy-esque profiles featured on the website turn me off. These girls kick ass and take names in video games. I think it should be more about that than about dressing them in revealing clothes and talking about how much they love pink. They don't have to be ultra-girly-girly-plush doll Barbies to be impressive female gamers. They can just be impressive female gamers who happen to be attractive. A slight adjustment of the spotlight there would make me feel a lot better. These are women, of various ages, who should be ambassadors to prove that women involved with games don't have to be lust objects like Lara Croft or the sort of heinous dorky troll girl some assume would be the only type to play a game.
They're just women. Talented, attractive, normal women, and they deserve some respect... but first, I think they should make sure they create it themselves.
It would be nice if we could say it was all about talent. It's all about the kills, the frags, the race time, etc... but it's not. It won't be until we can get past those two stereotypes, and teach the desperate, love-me-love-me girls that they're deserving of respect. Then maybe, just maybe, we can all have one big happy killfest and no one will stop to ask, "omg ur a girl? r u hott?" Maybe someday I'll see more female lead characters in games who don't have melon boobs or who aren't wearing skin-tight scraps of this or that.
Well. It probably won't happen. But a girl can dream.
(Originally posted over at Sudden Nothing.)
Scanned: NB
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!