History of Feminism
Related: About this forumGame changers: the women who make video games
Three of the biggest video game releases this winter have something unusual in common. Gears of War 3, featuring space marines fighting aliens, Uncharted 3, an Indiana Jones-inspired game, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution, a dark science-fiction adventure, were all written by women.
According to research by Tiga, the trade body representing the UK games industry, women make up just 12% of the development workforce in Britain a percentage reflected by similar surveys in the US and Canada. Why? The obvious answer is that, because games were born in dingy arcades and on 80s home computers, creators tended to hail from computer science and engineering backgrounds, areas traditionally dominated by men. "Women have, of course, always played video games, but in the past it was always as a minority. Yet a report by the Internet Advertising Bureau in September found that 49% of gamers in the UK are female; but that percentage is not being reflected in the makeup of the industry, particularly at senior levels.
Mitu Khandaker, who started programming at the age of 12 and now runs her own indie development studio, Tiniest Shark, credits "a complicated mix of marketing, early arcade culture, and deep-seated cultural expectations" for the status quo. "There are a lot of things in games that women can point to and go 'this isn't for me', whether that's eye-rollingly sexualised female characters, or just the openly misogynistic attitudes to be found within many gaming communities."
As an example, Khandaker refers to a recent controversy involving the zombie horror adventure Dead Island, in which gamers scouring an unfinished version of the game found a line of code referring to the female character as a 'feminist whore'. "It boggles the mind," she says.
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seabeyond
(110,159 posts)that it does. i will read whole article in a bit. this is the issue my hubby really has with the games. he LOVES them, and he hates that shit. finds no value in it at all. just causes problems for him he does not want. same with footie footie football and all the damn sexist ads. he would prefer to just be able to watch his game.
he is far from being the only one. more men speak out the better.
last year, i dont remember the game or company, but people were all in a twitter for naked, naked, want naked, give naked.
the people making the game said.... grow the fuck up. it was a hoot to read
redqueen
(115,103 posts)If you remember it let me know cause I'd love to read it.
And yes do read the rest of this one, its wonderful. (can't tell about comments as I avoid those, of course, so peruse those at your own risk)
This does look to be the future of gaming. My daughters are both avid gamers, so it means a lot to me.
Yay!
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)ha, i just put up a thread saying the same.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)I am very happy you found this article. Kudos.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)been wasting my whole day, but i was gonna get on them today. now i cant. i want to for sure tomorrow. really want to read them. sorry i forgot.
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)Like iI said, I was happy you found it because, while yes, there is a lot of crap left in gaming that needs to go, there are women making their presence felt and respected. This is the sort of article I wish I found earlier.
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)All 3 of those games mentioned are HYPER MACHO, not merely Macho, but with very manly heroes, and females that are capable of knocking said heroes out with their fists.