The article discusses the gender barriers and discrimination that women face when they participate in the gaming industry and video game culture
More women now than then are playing video games but there are still barriers to diversity and equality in the video game industry
Women make up 11.5% of the industry workforce, with only 10-12% of this group employed in executive or creative roles.
Women earn an average of $9,000 less than their male counterparts, even with equivalent tenure in the industry
The image of the “hard-core” male gamer remains one of the most persistent barriers.
Research on the game play of girls has advanced considerably, and there is hope that evidence from these studies may convince game publishers to change their design and marketing plans.
For example, studies show that girls prefer games that support problem-solving or feature multiple ways to win; narratives about difficult situations relevant to their lives rather than vast, epic struggles; and games that allow them explore identities and relationship (“What Games Made by Girls Can Tell Us,” 131). A number of chapters in this volume also describe the efforts of academics to partner with designers to create games which can appeal to girls, develop their sense of self-efficacy, and help them learn programming and other STEM skills.
For example, women seem to have thrived in the “sandbox” environment of the Sims series of games–women comprise about half of the players in the series, and many are contributing user-generated content which requires sophisticated graphics and programming skills. Yet it is also tempting for marketers to construct this success as proof that women have a relatively narrow range of preferences.
Examining player motivations may be equally essential to the task of persuading publishers to expand rather than constrict the options of female players.
In “Are Boy Games Even Necessary?” designer and scholar Nicole Lazzaro takes this argument into the realm of market research. She outlines four “Fun Keys,” broad areas of appeal in which the motivations of male and female players largely overlap, and argues that these are far more predictive of appeal to players than demographic segmentation: “There is more going on in best-selling titles than fighting and violence. . . .emotions such as fiero(Italian for personal triumph over adversity), curiosity, and relaxation are found in abundance in hit game experiences whether it is a shooter like Halo or a match-3 game like Bejeweled”(209). According to Lazzaro, if game publishers want to expand their prospects beyond the over-saturated “hard-core” market, they’ll need to design games which provide diverse play-style opportunities for all players.
Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat and the Gendered Identity of Video Games. (n.d.).
Kafai, Yasmin B., et al, eds. Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat: New Perspectives on
Gender and Gaming. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008.
Salen, Katie, ed. The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games and Learning. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008.http://www.medialit.com/
Article TitleCenter for Media Literacy: Empowerment through Education: CML MediaLit Kit ™: | Empowerment through Education
Alexandria's Blog 