I’ve never really taken being a girl that seriously. I happen to be female, that is true, but the stereotypes of femininity never really applied to me. I played with Hot Wheels as a kid, I still can’t put on my own make-up, and I liked rough and tumble sports and action films. I love video games, so it made sense for me to write about them.
This has been an internship program that has proven time and again that I don’t need to be self-conscious about being a lady. People make a big deal about women in the games industry, about whether they’re legit gamers or if they’re just being hired to be a pretty face or what not. It all seems rather silly to me. I feel, for the most part, about sexism the way that Morgan Freeman is often quoted as thinking about racism – if we stop talking about it, that takes away a lot of its power.
What I meant about this internship not making it a big deal is that most of the people I’ve worked with on this for the last two phases have been ladies (sorry Kevin, but you’re the hold out dude). I’ve had the pleasure to work with Miranda, Stephanie, and Jamie. My internship boss is a lady (shout out to Katy) and there’s also Amy, and we’ve interacted a few times with Ashley – almost all our correspondence has been with women.
But I suppose what’s great about it, is that it hasn’t been a huge deal. We’re not writing about being ladies in the gaming industry, about how tough it is to do your nails and then handle a controller, or about how hard it is to find geek t-shirts that are awesome and fit our giant breasts (that’s a lady concern, right?). There are some exceptions. Jamie has written a great piece about GTFO, for example, and I’ve written about how inaccurately women are presented in a lot of fighting games (can we please get some clothing? Just a little?). But for the most part, we just write about what we’re passionate about: video games.
I think there needs to be a dialogue about the problems facing women in games. Sexism is rampant. But I think it’s important that we don’t just write about those problems, that we don’t just talk about how ridiculous it is that the games are named after Zelda but she’s not a playable character or about how Peach’s powers are derived from her emotions or that people missed out on the seriously kickass voice acting on Fem Shep in Mass Effect. It’s important, for the future of women in gaming, that we talk about the same things the dudes talk about.
It’s been great working with these ladies (and Kevin, maybe we’ll make him an honorary chick) and we’re going on to do great, awesome things. Farewell Bastion phase.
Goodnight and good luck. Peace out homies.
