Kellie Parker

This video was posted on Twitter (I’m sorry, I don’t remember by whom!) and I watched it with a mixture of dread and interest. I’ve only been in the gaming industry for 8 months, but already I’ve been faced with this being a predominately male industry, both in workforce and consumer. I was afraid that this was going to be a slam on women gamers. I was afraid it was going to be about how we should stick to pink DSes and cooking games, and leave the “real gaming” to the boys. I was very pleased to find that I was wrong.

I agree with the points expressed in this video. I especially agree with the frankly exploitative way that many female characters are marketed. As a marketer myself, I understand the inclination to do this. Give the audience what they want — give them something to talk about. But there is a line to be crossed here, and it’s a downward spiral of self-fulfilling prophecy to get there. Give them one semi-sexy female character, and it works well. The audience gets bolder, and demands more. The marketers give them more, which emboldens them more, and pretty soon you’ve got characters that are all T&A.

I don’t think that gender is the only issue here. The gaming industry is not just a boys club. It’s a straight boys club. I am almost a double anomaly in the gaming world — I am a gay woman. This mostly earns me puzzled looks — I’m not sure that people always know what to make of me because I’m a dyke in a traditionally straight man’s domain. And in an industry where a woman is there as a sex object, a lesbian (or even just two women) must be there to fulfill that lesbian fantasy, right? Sexual orientation just adds another level to the whole thing. As much as women can feel alienated from the industry, gays probably also feel alienated from the sheer heteronormativity of it all. I know that I do.

As an industry, and as a community, we have a long way to go to bring and embrace diversity. Just like the rest of the world, we come in all shapes, sizes, colors, genders, orientations, etc. From a marketing standpoint, we in the industry have to figure out how to serve the needs of all these people without stereotypes or insults. As a gaming community, we have to figure out how to embrace and include everyone, how to shatter stereotypes and stop petty turf wars. It’s a tall order, I know. But we’ve got to do it.

I don’t have all the answers, and I know we can’t get there without some good and honest communications. So let’s start right here in this blog.

(BTW, as usual, the comments on that YouTube video vary from mildly annoying to soul-crushing.)