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It’s quite weird that a few days after my thoughts on Megan Fox, and her views towards female gaming that a video about females in the video game world arises.
Coincidence? Well, yea probably.
After watching the video I have a few thoughts and disagreements about the subject matter presented by Daniel Floyd and Leigh Alexander.
The overall spirit of the video is based on a question that has alluded many for a long time — Why aren’t women interested in video games? While that’s a general, and widely speculative question, I’ll play along.
The video starts out saying that some women play games, but that they’re a minority in the overall gaming population. Leigh Alexander, a widely known video game journalist is used as a guest expert and I’m guessing most of the video is based on her research as it sounds similar to articles I’ve read by her.
The two main points that I took away from the vid is that women mostly stay away from games because they see a lot of titles objectifying women, and that most ladies are playing casual games. Well, I disagree with both points. The second being a contradiction to the argument the video is presenting anyway — isn’t a “casual” game, still a game?
The video uses ‘Halo’ quite a bit as a barometer of where “hardcore” gamers fall into. This is silly to me, because to be quite honest I consider Halo a very casual game. This is of course coming from someone who grew up with FPS’s on the PC. And once you’ve beaten the final stage of the original Unreal Tournament on Godlike!, everything else just seems casual. Which is exactly my point. You can’t judge how many ‘true’ female gamers there are based on the muddy dichotomy of hardcore/casual. The farther you tweak the slider for judging someone as ‘hardcore’, the more people you’re going to alienate, women and all.
The second main point of the video is something else I disagree with, and I might actually step on some toes with this. Floyd, and Alexander are of the mind that games are alienating to women because of objectification. Well, I have a reality check for both. In this modern advertising world, we’re all objectified. Men, women, boys, girls; the content that is present in all our main media outlets objectifies someone in certain ways. Read an issue of Seventeen, and tell me that teens, both male and female aren’t objectified in some way. It’s quite astounding actually. Yet, the majority of its readers are female.
Sex sales. That isn’t going to change ever, and to be quite honest I don’t think it should. I could be in the minority but there’s nothing wrong with engaging our carnal side. There’s nothing inherently wrong with buxom female characters. Christie Monteiro is my favorite fighter in Tekken and could arguably be the most scantily clad of the roster. I don’t want to see that change. And in doing so, probably isn’t going to draw any more female gamers into the mix. I think if we try and take sex out, or try to tone the objectification down we’re just going to create this weird state of censorship. I can just see developers sitting around a table asking — “are her breasts too big?”, “should we make her shorts longer?”, “maybe she should be wearing pants instead of shorts?”. Well, if Lara Croft is in the snow I’d say she probably should be wearing pants.. 
I think the video’s two strongest points are its’ least talked about. First, we need more ladies represented in the industry. Here’s an interesting article on CNN about the rising number of females in the development industry. Reports like this make me incredibly happy; because we need our industry diversified. The gaming industry can only grow, and become a stronger medium if we reach out and tap into creative minds previously unused. Having the female mind represented can not only further women’s involvement in games, but will assist the health of the industry altogether.
Something else the video makes note of, in just one sentence I believe, is that we need to start our girls out playing games at a younger age. It’s odd that it isn’t expanded upon more, because it’s the strongest argument in my mind.
I can use my sister as an example. I don’t think my parents ever bought her a video game system until the pink Nintendo DS was released. She became of video game age around the time the Nintendo 64 had just released, yet she’s never received a console. I did let her keep my old Nintendo 64, when I had my Gamecube and PS2. She played it like crazy. In fact I think she probably has more time logged into Harvest Moon 64 than I do, and I consider that one of my favorite games ever. I can only imagine how much more of a gamer she would have been, if she was more exposed to consoles than I was. If her lone (and lucky ) victory in Punch-Out! on the Wii is evidence, she probably could have turned out a better gamer than I am.
In conclusion, I believe there’s no true answer to the question presented by the video. All we can really do is try and expand the market, and do everything necessary to execute. Having a more diversified industry is definitely a good start. From there, the sky is the limit. Who knows, maybe there’s a video game idea out there that can break down all the walls between men, women, hardcore, and casual. If it is out there, I’d sure as hell like to see it.
June 29th, 2009 at 11:07 am
I am a woman and I love playing video games, my favorite games are rock band, guitar hero, Final fantasy and Super Mario of course!
June 29th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
I rather liked the video (first time I\’m watching it) -
I do hear some of your inconsistencies though, specifically that the casual demo really is a hard one to pin down. It needs to be a lot less presumed than it is. Like a *lot* less. Start to really define the concept of \’casual game\’ in more concrete terms than simply by example (i.e. \"it\’s like Peggle or Wii Fit!\")
As for the sex-in-games counterargument… I respectfully disagree. Sex sells, indeed, but the way the game industry handles sex is just plain clumsy. There\’s being sexy and then there\’s being hormonal. Games haven\’t really shown the former – I can\’t think of a single one.
Good article, definitely thought-provoking on both sides.
June 29th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Having been a part of a PRO all female HAlo team a Pro Rainbow six vegas team, and all around involved in the gaming industry for the last five years I would like to thikn I have some insight with the females in gaming argument. I Really like the point of view expressed by Leigh. I have had the unique privilage to attend every gaming show from Digitial Life to MLG to CES. The women in the industry who truly contribute to the industry as a whole, and not as ” oops I am not cute enough to make as a model, mb I’ll try the gaming thing” are truly a rare find. I have been approached on numerous occasions to do Booth Babe events, and it sux. Since day one I have had to prove that I cn kick butt in everything from FPS’s to MMORPGS. I Applaud any POSITIVE female influence! For the reason of diversity not because of big boobs in games, look at GOW, the guys are impossibly huge, it comes from all angles because games are fantasy. In the same breath I do not want to condem girls who act like girls! I have crystals alll over my Xbox,and a Pink DS, I also have over 10,000 games logged between Halo 2 and 3, and two lvl 80 WOW characters, just to mention a couple. The point is, it’s ry hard to draw that line between, “girl Gamer” and ” girl who needs attention” Until I found bunch of other chicks to play on line with I had a non girly GT and pulled my mic out, wasn’t woth the harrassment, this to me is equivalent to making fun of a girl because she can vote or drive, backwards and silly. The more girls who play, the more who make, the less of a deal, simple math.
June 29th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Interesting video and a very good thought provoking article. Females have been becoming more active not only in gaming but in the video game industry as a whole. I believe the sex or degrading of women in some games is a non factor. It is what it is, males are the bigger demograph but females, seniors, and even the disabled are becoming more of a factor in video gaming. It’s a beautiful thing if you ask me.
June 29th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
@JHay and Alexis – Thank you for your insightful contributions. I can support the idea that video games do handle sex a bit clumsy, and over the top. But to be honest that’s the nature of games. They’re “over the top” in nature. Look at some of the great games throughout the years. They’re all crazy, and zany in their own way.
Alexis, thanks for sharing a bit of what it means to be a female gamer in a medium with a male majority. I can tell you that there’s nothing more sad then playing a game online and hearing a girl/woman being harassed over the microphone. I have friends myself that won’t get on a mic because of the losers who constantly hit on them. And I agree, the more girls that can get involved in gaming, the more natural a fit that females in will have in the industry.
Thanks for your comments, again.
June 30th, 2009 at 3:59 am
I think its wonderful that she made a point of saying the objectification doesnt need changing, the one box he used as a reason was XBLADE and i will happily admit that i bought that game because of that cover, but i did only pay 11 pound so I was uber happy, its a bad game, but looks nice, and shes hot. I dont think I would be happy running around as a character that looks like me, i might get hot one day, but right now im a big busted tubby person who seriously needs to excercise more. i wouldnt like to see me as a game character at all. not unless my character in a game actually lost weight while running lol. we should all try running everywhere like in an rpg and see how long before we waste away. i think more women need to step up to the games industry, i wish i could do it myself but alas i chose to do fashion design so i can make gamer clothing, hopefully pretty bad ass.
June 30th, 2009 at 9:01 am
“I can tell you that there’s nothing more sad then playing a game online and hearing a girl/woman being harassed over the microphone. I have friends myself that won’t get on a mic because of the losers who constantly hit on them.”
Being objectified while playing the game really isn’t that different than being objectified in the game.
June 30th, 2009 at 10:00 am
@hayley – I must say the XBlade cover made laugh, and was debating on whether to rent it. Then I heard from someone who shares similar taste in games as me, that it wasn’t even worth a rent.
I also understand how you don’t want to play yourself in a game. Games themselves are fantasy, and it’s only right that characters represent a fantastical ideal. I’m not ashamed to admit I have many MMO characters that are female. Kinda weird to get hit on when they actually think you’re female though…lol So ladies, I have somewhat of an idea what you’re talking about..
@Connick – yea, I guess objectification is really everywhere. If an attractive woman busts out a Xbox cam when playing. She can probably rely on some horn dogs coming out.
June 30th, 2009 at 10:01 am
I”m not too worried about being “objectified” everyone somewhere at some point is….. wether if it’s because you’re ugly or beautiful, it’s human nature. The point here is women getting into video games. I know of a lot of little girls who play games, then reach highschool and notice there’s no clique for them. The girls that didn’t grow up playin games make fun of them and the boys either treat them like they are aliens, or pariah. The point of video games is it’s one of the few things that is an international community. Male,female,short,tall,fat,skinny,ugly,beautiful,athletic or handicap, we are all equal in the gaming universe. The sooner the greater picture is realized and not the smaller less consequential arguments hashed over a million times ( big boobs,too many guns, big muscles etc..) the sooner we can see more diversity. In case you havn’t noticed this is one of my favorite subjects, and I enjoy the so far intelligent debate, and well writen subject matter, *holds breath for teenage flamer to comment next*
June 30th, 2009 at 11:14 am
I couldn’t agree more. I like to think that the stigma is dying off though, or at least weakening, and hopefully one day “girl” gaming clubs won’t be needed. I like to think that I treat everyone the same that I meet in a game, or play a game with. Whether my ass is being handed to me by a girl or guy makes no difference. And I’m going to equally want to kick ass whether the person is male or female.