Slashdot Mirror
Video Games Need A Woman's Touch
hattan wrote to mention an AP article going around detailing one woman's frustration with the roles for women in games. From the article: "Tara Teich enjoys nothing more than slipping into the role of a female video game character. But the 26-year-old software programmer gets annoyed by the appearance of such digital alter egos as the busty tomb raider Lara Croft or the belly-baring Wu the Lotus Blossom of 'Jade Empire.' Don't even get her started on the thong-bikini babes that the male gunmen win as prizes in 'Grand Theft Auto,' which was sent to stores with hidden sex scenes left embedded on the discs by programmers. "
No one's creative work "needs" anything. If you don't like what someone has made, then make your own. There's plenty of media and games out there I have no interest in, or that even downright annoy me. Do I say everyone should be making the types of games I like? No, different people have different tastes. I stick to the games I like, and others can do likewise.
Why, she asks, must women in video games always look like Las Vegas show girls?
For the same reason the men look like action heros.
Can we get a "-1 Wrong" moderation option?
Daytime TV shows need a man's touch.
show that it's gamers who need a woman's touch.
OSTG user statistics (Including Slashdot).
- 97% of OSTG readers are men
- average age is 29
Arguing about women in games on Slashdot is like a vegan arging about animal rights in a sausage factory.
94% of Repubs and 21% of Dems voted to renew the Patriot Act
There is a funny rant about this in today's sfgate.com (There's Sex In My Violence! What's this lame soft-core porn doing in my ultraviolent "Grand Theft Auto"? I am outraged!).
~~~~~~~
"You are not remembered for doing what is expected of you." - Atul Chitnis
Woman lucy = new Woman();
In the midst of a long conversation with a reporter about being a woman programmer and a woman gamer, he posed the question, how do you feel about the representation of women in games? I responded that I don't know why woman have to be so scantily clad, but it doesn't stop me from playing the games.
I had lots of good things to say about games. I am a gamer, I love games, including Jade Empire, and I never made a single comment about the portrayal of women in GTA. Note he says, "Don't get her started on..." He didn't get me started. It never came up. I thought the interesting part of the article was going to be about the challenges of breaking into a difficult industry, and the challenges of broadening the appeal of the industry beyond the hardcore gamer.
I didn't just use The Sims as an example of accessible, non "male oriented" games. I cited several examples to show that there's a public misconception that there are no other types of games out there. Look at Amplitude, Pikmin, Karaoke Revolution, look at the growing online gaming sector. My hope was to show that the game industry is NOT in need of a woman's touch. It's in need of better publicity. This article just reinforces the stereotypes.
Don't believe everything you read.