They’d be hard to get. A lot of us hide, lie about our gender, or share accounts with a guy.
Not being visible is the best way to not be bothered, but it does leave you out of statistics.
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I think the especially weird thing about the article is how it fixates on the brick and mortar stuff about GameStop, when honestly the rest of the world has already moved on to mobile, in much the same way you describe this shift in the 90s – and the targeting and advertising are much more naturally gender neutral in app stores for smartphones and tablets. So much choice. Such a massive audience, too, with their gaming device on them 24/7.
I don’t know if mobile is more lucrative, unless you count free to play and in app purchases, but mobile gaming is already quite sophisticated in terms of the hardware that is out there, and getting better every day.
I personally don’t think it would be a great loss if the classic man-cave console market (and all its brick and mortar support network, like GameStop) was simply abandoned by women as a relic of an old world we are already rapidly leaving behind. The way things are going I’m pretty sure the PS4 and XBone will be the last “consoles” to ever be released.
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One thing I often heard from people I knew in organized groups in MMORPGs, is that they felt the group dynamics were best when there was an even mix of men and women in the group.
I mostly participated in groups that emphasized roleplaying, or at least social interaction, but there was a range of play styles within the group, and among others I’d interact with: some preferred to emphasize socializing and roleplaying, some preferred to focus on the formal game mechanics like combat or mastering the complexities of the system. And there were noticeable trends in the genders of people who gravitated towards the extremes – but trends, not absolutes. I’d see something like a 3:1 ratio of men to women favoring a focus on gameplay mechanics, and the inverse favoring a focus on socializing. But most people, women and men, favored a mix of activities, and things were much more fluid and creative in the middle range. The stories were richer when they involved dangers and challenges to overcome; the gameplay was more interesting when you had some narrative that gave it meaning.
So as I’ve said, I’ve been disappointed in the design trends in MMOs, in which gameplay and socializing are essentially isolated from each other, and the socializing is pretty limited. And it seems to me that it kind of goes along with a sort of reinforcement of stereotyped gender roles and segregation of genders.
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I would not say that.
As far as I can see, “Bronies” are pretty well-accepted (they have their own board on 4chan and own con)
Yes, there are people out there who hate bronies relentlessly
But it is a fact of life (not just internet life, mind you) that someone, somewhere, is hating you relentlessly no matter who you are, what toons you watch, what gender you identify with and what you genitals look like
If our criteria for considering a group “well accepted” is “nobody hates them in a meticulous and preposterous manner”, the amount of “well accepted” groups in the world is (and always was) precisely zero.
P.S.:
[fun related gif][1]
[1]: http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/194/286/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-brony-untitled3.gif
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The article is correct that some of the mentioned games (Portal, Journey, LiS, Transistor) feature female or gender neutral protagonists with little or no focus on violence and sex, but I don’t think the author really checked the facts behind some of the statements. Journey for example is not created by women (I think there’s only one female dev in the team). Life is Strange has zero female devs. Almost same case with Transistor, where the only female is an artist and arguably had little impact on the game’s story that was done by their male writer. No idea about Portal, but it’s a bit bold to state those games were created by women.
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I also wouldn’t call transistor nonviolent.
Process robots are being slaughtered in droves 
I wouldn’t call Transistor non-violent either, but I said “little focus on violence”. There’s a difference between combat being part of the gameplay and its violence being in focus, like in Doom or Dead Space.
Dammit! I bought Mount & Blade (and some DLC I think) during a Steam sale ages ago and it’s still sitting there waiting for me to install it when I have enough time and less games to play. Now I have to play that and possibly a sequel? Why is life so difficult and demanding!
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This isn’t because they’re guys who are into a cartoon aimed at women, though. This is because their communities are filled and embrace sexist, racist asshats who harass and stalk people (including underage people), draw porn and flood it everywhere, make rape jokes at minors, and are all and all terrible people. Bronies have deserved their hatred pretty strongly. Their newest bit of “What the fuck is WRONG with you?” is defending a popular artist who’s been arrested for possession of child porn.
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This article and comments thread makes me very sad.
First, and unfortunately necessary: my credentials: I’m a sociologist who has studied and presented/published on gender/race/religious differences in education, and how those differences influence outcomes in life. I’ve marched to protest violence against women on two continents, volunteered in support of various women’s organizations across the political spectrum. I have participated in the modern abolitionist movement, with specific emphasis on putting an end to the sex-trafficking of women in Southeast Asia. In business outside of school, I successfully campaigned to make the workplaces I participated in more open, welcoming, and supportive of women, and was commended by all of my female co-workers and reports for it. My academic discipline and career included focused study on gender roles, gender differences, social and cultural constructions of the same, and so on. I have devoted serious time, attention, study, and professional effort into the issues I am about to discuss.
To the heart of the matter:
However “polite”, it was a direct argument for gender essentialism, which is straight-up sexist. Nevertheless, he got eleven direct responses, four of which were simply objections, seven of which were refutations of points he argued. So it’s hardly the case that his argument was ignored.
(Sorry, not familiar with this forum setup, so quoting directly to the post isn’t working for me).
Gender essentialism is not “straight-up sexist;” Sex-positive feminism, indeed, is a branch of feminism that takes gender-essentialism as its core principle. Sex-positive feminism is not mainstream feminism, however, and so has been so maligned often enough that many progressives believe that theirs is the only manner of thinking about gender. That dogmatic approach to social issues prevents real discussion on it - and, in support of Verse’s comments, blocking someone with whom they only disagree was a shameful thing for BoingBoing to do.
I enjoy video games, especially 4X strategy games like Civ V, and light-hearted adventures like King’s Quest. My wife and I play them together, usually at her preference. I don’t enjoy or find appropriate games with hyper-sexualized women, graphic violence (Skyrim is too much for me), violence-as-end-or-appropriate-process games, or other games that promote and glorify behavior/depictions that I find reprehensible elsewhere in life. I’m also a heterosexual man, and a person of faith; indeed, both my interpretation of my masculinity and my faith reinforce my belief in gender equality, and the moral imperative of opposing objectionable media.
As such, the general critiques in this article - that women are disqualified from gaming communities, that women are marginalized and mis-represented in the gaming industry in general, and that marketing is not directed at women - I agree with wholeheartedly. I also agree with some of the points made in the comments: that harassment of women in online games, in many gaming communities, and in the larger social context, both exists and must stop immediately.
But that argument is, unfortunately, lost in silence and rancor - silenced commenters, and rancorous debate. If two viewpoints - two feminist viewpoints! - can’t be allowed to speak on a forum, then that forum is no place for me.
Moreover, that movement is not a place for me. I agree with many of Anita Sarkeesian’s and others’ feminist critiques of video games. But I do not support the feminist orthodoxy of thought that has been demonstrated even in this thread of comments: a sex-positive feminist, Elsa_K, brings up an alternative female perspective, and is shouted down. A man (?) brings up a perspective that disagrees with the article, and tries to support it - and he is silenced; not because of his presentation, and certainly not because he was directly attacking or harassing specific individuals, but because his position is, apparently, fundamentally unacceptable to site moderators.
That is dogmatic, not open-minded. It is not progressive, it is not welcoming; it is prejudicial. That signals that this site, this community, this movement are not interested in dialogue, and that this thread is not a discussion, but an echo chamber.
As someone who is fundamentally opposed to the types of games Gamergate stereotypically supports, for both sociological and religious reasons, - and as someone who, like the article author, wishes that there were more games, more complex games, and more intense games that do not involve the marginalization/hyper-sexualization/objectification/exploitation of women - I still feel the appeal of that movement (Gamergate), because it opposes this (orthodox) one.
I will continue to fight for gender equality, as I have ever done. But it will not be on the terms presented here.
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Yeah, the appeal to GG really is in attacking others and trying to hurt others than it is in any actual consistent, decent philosophy, isn’t it?
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No, the appeal of Gamergate is that is opposes a powerful, orthodox movement that does not leave room for discussion.
Of the two of us, you are the only one who has attacked, even if you did so sarcastically.
My point in posting was this: as someone who is very committed to gender equality, I am pushed away from this (equality-in-gaming) movement that I otherwise would support, because I do not feel that movement itself is welcoming, etc.
I wonder how many people feel as I do?
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The appeal of Gamergate is that you can stand next to openly proud white-supremacists as they chant how much they hate lesbians.
If you were actually committed to “gender equality”, you’d probably think stuff like arguing that raping women shouldn’t be illegal, which GamerGate’s most loved “feminist” has no problem with people say, was a bad thing.
Or that people openly saying they hate lesbians was a bad thing.
Or that outing trans women was a bad thing.
But, you know, someone hurt your feelings by disagreeing with you about video games - so you’re PUSHED, practically FORCED into joining a hate group and helping to prop up actual literal fascists. It’s so hard.
Like, what you’re saying has been said by a thousand times before by shitty people just looking for an excuse to hurt others and express their bigotries, while acting like they are somehow FORCED to harass women or spew hate speech. If it didn’t fly the first thousand times, what makes you think when you say it is going to be special?
Also, I am personally not interested in having a “discussion” with people who openly state they hate my close friends. I am not interested in having a “discussion” with people who self-identify as white supremacists. I am not interested in having a “discussion” with people who literally argue that rape should be legal. Why do YOU want to hang out with them so much?
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I didn’t say I was joining Gamergate, and I am not. But your comments fully illustrate what I was saying - that things like this comment thread certainly don’t win any support for anti-Gamergaters from people, from feminists, like me.
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Also, as a side note: I never used the word “Forced,” or even implied it. I don’t believe I used “pushed” either; I think “drawn” - or, in other words, “feel the tug/attraction of” was the word I used. In either case, my later posts, I believe, make this more clear.
I am not upset, or angry, or offended by this thread; as I identified, the emotion I feel is “sad” concerning yours and others’ vitriol.
We are apparently fighting for the same things. Sad that we cannot get along.
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Ahh, I did used pushed. My mistake - “pushed away” from this movement, not “pushed toward” another.
Pretty sure anyone who feels “the tug/attraction of” gamerg8 is not someone we want as an ally anyways.
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If you say so - but again, sad.
Thank you for unfortunately proving my point.
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Not sad at all. Real allies don’t need cookies.
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Please, continue to double-down on your dismissal. My hope was not that you would affirm me - I will continue to pursue a better world regardless of the comments made.
My hope was only that someone would learn from my (ongoing) experiences here. If you actually want change in the world, you may want to listen to some of the rest of us in it.
That’s what this article is about, isn’t it? Actually making a better world together, in the very specific context of video-games?
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