Why Aren`t More Women Involved in Gaming? - Image Problems
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Again, it comes back to the matter of image. At conferences that cover women in the gaming industry, some speakers have pointed out that the industry’s “sleazy” image hasn’t encouraged young women to enter the field – or their parents to point them toward the field as a possible career choice. Dr. Inga Patterson, organizer of the Women in Games 2005 conference held in the UK, points out that parents are still a very strong influence on what their children choose to pursue at university. “They don’t play computer games themselves and are not likely to encourage their children, especially a daughter, to go into the industry if they are concerned about the salacious aspects of gaming.”
“Salacious” is almost an understatement, given the press coverage that most games receive. One need only take a look at the uproar created by the “secret” sex scenes in Grant Theft Auto to understand why women are choosing to stay away from this field in droves. As for games designed to attract women gamers, while there have been hits, there have been notable misses as well. The Tomb Raider series features a female lead character, but she was not drawn in a way that would appeal to female gamers. One blogger commented that “the giant twin pyramids mounted onto her chest look like something she could use to impale her enemies.” Nintendo Games scores points with its Metroid game series featuring female bounty hunter Samus Aran, but the most recent release in that series dates to 2002.
And let’s not forget the October 2004 issue of Playboy. It included a CGI photo spread with a handful of gaming characters, some of them appearing in the buff – well, pixilated buff. The spread accompanied an article about the changing face of gaming. It’s not exactly the sort of thing a woman game designer would want to show her mother.
While it may seem a little like a chicken and egg problem, the gaming industry must deal with the fact that, if they want to attract more women – both as gamers and designers – they must change their image. To do that, they must create more games that appeal to women. Doug Lowenstein, president of the ESA, sums it up best: “We need a cultural shift so that young girls and women feel that playing games is not a testosterone monopolized hobby reserved for their boyfriends and husbands.”
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