see if you had man breasts then you could argue the penis (apologies) and breasticles cancel each other out

Crecente, I find it wholly unnecessary that you had to point out that you have a penis when you could have said "I am not female" or "I am male". Perhaps you are judging the intellect of the average visitor of this site, but I think they get the difference. Still though, thanks for the sex ed lesson. Apology accepted.

? this is one of those sites that strikes me as pointless sort of like gaygamer. Its not good enough to be just another gamer so you have to make a website that separates you from just being a gamer.

@animagnum: relax the comment was not meant to inflame

Wheres Alice?

@animagnum:

I'm surprised you didn't censor the word "penis" in your comment.

As for the blog, don't we already have Gay Gamer for the feminine perspective?

I kid, I kid.

@NitrousO: tell that to Flynn....i enjoy the features on gaygamer, believe it or not most of the readers on it are actually straight from a recent survey i remember reading

Don't be sorry for the penis Brian. To be honest, feminists are just as bad as jocks if you ask me.

"I am woman hear me roar" is just the same as saying "Now that's how a man gets the job done"

I'm all for womens rights believe me, but women toting all these feministic qualities and sayings and making males feel bad about having a penis & being male is just rediculous. It's just the same as guys who love Ford commercials, and are all about "manly stuff" like steak, big trucks, and football.

@animagnum:
Of course the penis was necessary.
Penis references are funny, in a strange, "giggle-about-the-nether-region" way.

"Its not good enough to be just another gamer so you have to make a website that separates you from just being a gamer."

Exactly...same thing goes in the racial department...and all aspects of life. If you want to be treated equal then act equal and stop segregating yourselves.

well, that didn't work out too good...

...several feminist gaming writers who recently banded together to launch the IRIS Network...

And in their spare time, they'll also be fighting against the Alpha Section and the Domz.

(I'm surprised no one ELSE made that joke by this time...)

feminist gaming writers? ungh. I'm in a huuuge minority in gaming. I'm not gay, I don't have a penis, I'm not a feminist and I really. don't. care. This "we are women hear us roar" stuff was important back-in-the-day when we were expected to wear dresses and stay home with the kids. However, it's not like that anymore. I don't care what anyone says, these sort of equal rights groups don't create equality they encourage separatism.

/rant

I hope it's not a coincidence that the Iris Network is also the name of the underground resistance group of journalists in the world of Beyond Good and Evil. Jade is simply one of the greatest female heroines brought to videogaming, ever.

shaunomacx -- I didn't really think the post was inflammatory, I just think it is funny that Crecente had to point out his having a penis.

Barob -- agreed.

Hmm, your comment is intriguing shaun but the when people bring ways that seem to segregate people on the internet into existence I'm usually wary and even hostile (not at the demographic the site is trying to please but at the site). Racism, sexism and the like weren't made when the universe was born. We fabricated it over many years :S and Id like to keep the internet free of it as much as possible.

So, you encourage them to become more active in the community and they criticize you for it?

Must be that time of the month...

@Volante3192:

*sad face* you beat me to my reference...

The idiom "gild the lily" means to attempt to improve something that is already perfect. I don't get why they would reference that in their guild's name. Maybe it's a joke?

@Larry Forney:
Maybe it's intended to suggest they have succeeded in "gilding the lily," so to speak. Even though, from my understanding, it is implied that such a feat is inherantly impossible.

Maybe it's one of those metaweb-2.0 things I've heard about.

@Larry Forney:

Pfffth, lilies aren't perfect. They lack gold.

@Shinamano: In a way segregation means every site becomes more community based. this place is for gamers of all races, beliefs and sexualities.

GayGamer is aside from the obvious reporting on videogaming, features about gay characters in gaming, features that while generally may interest some regular posters on Kotaku do not reflect the style of reporting on the USS Kotaku under Captain Crecente. This doesnt mean that Kotaku is uncomfortable reporting such features but this site is geared towards all ages, GayGamer caters towards those individuals in society who are of an age to be aware of the differences in sexuality and the responsibilities of reporting news that may offend a young teenager or child.

Getting back to the topic at hand, if women gamers want a place to chat about videogames without the shit that comes with them usually posting on sites (oh fuck off yoo n00b, youre a chick, go make me some dinner woman - or other relevant insult casually tossed out) then I say all power to them, you dont have to go there, same with GayGamer. If you find they are segregating then thats okay, theyre providing a place where they wont be privvy to crude comments like 'fag' or 'queer' two words that actually dont make sense in the English Dictionary in the context implied.

Im not claiming you have aimed insults at either site but Im using them as an example of how sometimes segregation works in the society we live in, especially a digital world where people are able to post hurtful comments in relative anonymity.

Shaun

@animagnum: my bad, long day....my head hurts...not that one!

gild the lily, sounds like something i do with my imaginary girlfriend :)

@skuntywrath: Amen!

This whole thing is kind of a double edged sword. On one hand hard-core gamers shouldn't forget that there are women gamers and may be a different demographic than they are, without wanting Barbie Horse Racing.

On the other hand, there shouldn't be any special treatment for women gamers and the feminist crap does get old.

@skuntywrath:

"I don't care what anyone says, these sort of equal rights groups don't create equality they encourage separatism."

I 100% agree with you.

Female gaming writers? Great.

Feminist gaming writers? No thanks.

Just write about games and the gaming world if that's your interest and forget about seperating men and women.

@ shaunomacx:
"Getting back to the topic at hand, if women gamers want a place to chat about videogames without the shit that comes with them usually posting on sites (oh fuck off yoo n00b, youre a chick, go make me some dinner woman - or other relevant insult casually tossed out) then I say all power to them, you dont have to go there, same with GayGamer. If you find they are segregating then thats okay, theyre providing a place where they wont be privvy to crude comments like 'fag' or 'queer' two words that actually dont make sense in the English Dictionary in the context implied."

Exactly. I'm all for separatism if it gives people a place to post stuff that will be respectfully considered instead of dismissed outright or mocked. Not that I'm claiming that this consistently happens here, but it does happen.

And "feminist writers," ehhhh...I'm skeptical of that because of what it implies, but feminism is a loaded buzzword. Not all feminists are man-hating feminazis.

Sigh.

I would love to give a nice long speech about how the word "feminism" has a thousand definitions and is abused by both sides. How about you look at it as "from a female perspective"? Does that make it feel less threatening?

I'm going to go will Shaun on this on. Sometimes it is nice when you have always been in the minority to have a space where you are in the majority.

How about a comparison? Say you love your Wii. You don't even own a PS3 or a 360. But how would you feel if every site out there was geared towards the PS3 and the 360. Sure there occassionally reported on Wii news but only rarely. And everytime you made a comment about the Wii, half a dozen others either insulted you or commented on how it was so odd and rare to see a Wii gamer.

Does that make it make sense do you?

I like women.

@SixSider:

That's actually exactly how I feel about sites like PS3fanboy as my affection towards that overpriced monolith continues to grow.

And seriously, congrats and good luck to the women at Iris. May their fight against the DOMZ free us all.

When i clicked on this i was expecting comments like:

"Wohho finally maybe i could get a girl there..score"

Wow i didnt know you people were so deep,lol.

@Erec:

Same here fella.Females FTW.

Debunch yer panties, all. Having gals write about games makes sense. The girl gamer audience is growing, fast, and there are plenty of game companies trying to capitalize on that market. By claiming an independant voice on the review circuit, it may be possible for us to get our opinions recognised and put into action in ways that weren't possible when gaming was thought of as a 'guys only' club.

Besides. We're smarter, prettier, and cooler, and we come with better peripherals. :)

Another forum dedicated to female gamers? We already have http://www.grrlgamer.com and http://www.thumbbandits.com/ so this is hardly original.

Besides, my fiance is a member on the GamesTM boards along with a bunch of female gamers who don't get any agro from the members over there. The only time she's recieved stick for being female is when shes beaten some twattish adolescent Americans who couldn't take her beating them at Black Arrow or PGR2 back when she played on Live so they booted her out of the game.

All thats really needed is for said adolescent teens to realise that theres more than just their pimply camping Halo/ Counter-Strike friends who play games. Hell I used to recieve stick on Forza for being British!

In my experience, a lot of gaming circles are pretty good at segregating themselves. There is still a lot of misogyny in the video game industry, and among gamers, especially online. If these women want to talk about what video games mean to them as women, why dispute that? Would you prefer that they come to general gaming forums and argue about whether female protagonists are eye candy or empowering role models? I'm sure they'd rather have their own space and not have to put up with people telling them they've already got equality and should just STFU, just like you all would prefer your game reviews didn't come with the feminist perspective.

PS. Just because someone visits a site like that doesn't mean they're going to avoid interact with male gamers altogether. You can be integrated and still interact with a certain subgroup.

Darn it, now I'll have to quit gaming before the women folk screw everything up like they did to politics when we gave em the right to vote.

@ RivaOni: There are loads of forums dedicated to gaming. None of those are new or original either. Is there a reason why you haven't protested the creation of those sites? Why should there only be a few women-oriented forums where they and can discuss games in a place free from the idiocy that goes on in most gaming forums? Also, if you take a look at the mission statement, nowhere does it say that men are excluded. Whilst the forum and site are focused on women, the policy is one of inclusiveness. So if you are interested in discussing gender, racism, sexuality, etc. in regards to gaming people are welcome to do so.

Gee, I don't have a penis and I didn't think you were being misogynistic.

I have never felt the need to announce my gender. I've never felt the need to join gender specific groups. It just doesn't matter.

I feel that these different communities are great because they give those who wish to hang out in a place with said topic or name a place to go besides "General Gaming Forum 324,102."

I don't know about many of you but sometimes it's good to find a small community where you find like-minded people, thus why there are so many sites on the web and not just one giant smooshed together site.

Brian -

Please allow me to quote my actual post, since I'm sure many won't read what was originally said:

"His post in no way considers the often rabidly misogynistic sentiments directed toward women gamers (nor the sometimes harsher responses regularly present in the comments section) that have been the standard for Kotaku for some time."

You can see by the above that I am not calling you "rabidly misogynistic" but instead that I am using those words to describe "sentiments". I haven't checked, but I am not even sure if the sentiments I have in mind were even written by you. I'm sure as editor that you take anything said about Kotaku personally, but in this case it wasn't actually about you. I did say you were cryptic, but is that such a bad thing?

The prominent display of my blog logo above the post might lead some readers to think that The Iris Network is an extension of my blog, but I am simply a member of the forum there and can't take credit for its creation. I wrote the post to help spread the word about this new online resource, but you have done much more than I ever could have to get the word out in the online gaming community. Thanks!

@Fujoshi:

I agree with you - I don't feel the need to join a gender-specific community like the one mentioned. But I wouldn't say "it just doesn't matter," because it clearly does to some people. It just doesn't matter to you or me.

And BTW, you just did announce your gender.

I think it's unfair to compare GayGamer to girl gaming sites. From what I've seen, the latter are typically filled with articles on how girls are horribly horribly repressed and they don't suck at games and boys have cooties and girls still don't suck at games and they sometimes play games too and blah blah blah. It gets boring fast, and as a girl who doesn't feel that all the internets are against me (or that my gender is particularly relevant in the first place), I don't think I'd feel comfortable posting on a site like that. I can only imagine how awkward it would be for a guy.

GayGamer, on the other hand, doesn't make straights (like me!) feel unwelcome. They do address important issues from time to time, but it's easy to tell that they don't take themselves seriously, and they prefer to make fun of the stereotypes than overreact or rally against them. So... whereas you get the GayGamer guys talking about their utterly fabulous imaginary castle, it's very rare to find a "girl gamer" who's willing to joke about pwning people from the kitchen while barefoot and pregnant.

This seems appropriate:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/03/21

Yeah yeah.. I thought of that after making the post.. haha

@Shinamano: Please, do tell how to act (racially) equal. Should I stop eating rice and more meat and potatoes? Stop speaking my language since it segregates myself to everyone else? Or bleach my skin white, since apparently my skin color is inferior to everyone else's?

@Brinstar: I have no problem with forums dedicated to particular types of games/gamers/any types of community, I'm a member on both of the websites that I mentioned, one of the members who writes for my website is female and as stated, my fiance is a female gamer. So gender doesn't come into it.

I also don't have a problem with the sheer ammount of different gaming communities, in fact I favour smaller communities as when you have huge ammounts of people on message boards, discussions get lost easily, look at IGN, Eurogamer, Gamespot and 1up for examples of that.

My point was that the topic sounded like it was shouting out "Womens gaming forum, all women gather here to protect yourselves from mindless idiots", which in fairness is a good thing, but its not the only one out there that has that approach, so surely if Kotaku is going to mention one forum/site it should bring attention to other options.

My main issue is that if female gamers segregate themselves from message boards with lots of males on, then theres no way that the issue of "OMG YOURA GURL!!!1111!!!!!eleven" is ever going to go away, the "war on racism" has never been dealt with in a quite manner, so why should women have to hide themselves away to talk about games? They shouldn't but by setting up websites such as this, they're removing themselves from being able to make a difference.

Fair enough, have your speciality websites and forums, but at the same time, make sure that you are trying to make a difference and show that women gamers aren't willing to just roll over, have abuse thrown at them and then move elsewhere.

As a female gamer, I get tired of women asking for special treatment and attention just because of their gender. I find that I often have the best conversations about games with guys simply because a lot of women don't take games seriously. I started a blog last year as an extension of an assignment from a professor asking us to critique games from a design perspective. I have a lot of games classes with guys and I find it the ultimate compliment to be treated no differently than any of them.

However, being in a minority does give female gamers a unique perspective that can add interest to their writing. I hope that, in the future, there will be more and more women who can speak and write intelligently about games.

@iwanttobeasleep: "PS. Just because someone visits a site like that doesn't mean they're going to avoid interact with male gamers altogether. You can be integrated and still interact with a certain subgroup."

Verrrry good point, I have a friend who plays with PMS, but it's through her that I was introduced to the majority of my friend's list (guys)... that and 1up.

Hmmm this site has a "Jade Reporting" section as well... Jade's certainly a swell character to emulate with a site targeted towards the ladies, I suppose.

This article is exhausting to me, the topic of gal gamers, as WELL as that of the word "feminist"... my God, that's a semester long course's worth of discussion...

@