GameSetWatch points out that a UK Frag Doll defected to form her own mini-clan.

Siren, the Frag Doll formerly known as Voodoo, posted some interesting thoughts on the whole concept of sponsored girl gamers on her new site, VersuS, in the about section under the subhead Freedom instead of Adverti$ing.

Although we may have strong opinions, you can be sure of one thing; We're not here to endorse any product or sell you anything. If we say it, it's because we mean it, not because it pays our wage. We've both seen the perils and pit falls of "selling out" and have learnt one vital lesson; if you love something then honesty, independence and freedom are the best path to take. We hope that you feel the same and are sick of just how invasive and abundant advertising has become. If so and you are ready to join the resistance, if' you're ready to stick the Vs up to the advertisers... then welcome to VersuS!

On a similar note, we may both be girls who game but we are not here to wave the "girl gamer" flag. We believe that by drawing attention to gender you create a barrier that is otherwise irrelevant. In our experience "promoting girl gamers" can often be used as the cover story of big business trying to widen its market whilst still getting some pretty faces in the Magazines, in other words: Free advertising.

It's a natural progression that more and more women are getting into gaming and of course we fully support that.
However, we don't see any need to define ourselves by gender. We're just two people who love games.

In a pre-emptive strike against the endlessly cynical we want to make it perfectly clear that we have a gallery because we are proud of ourselves, what we do, and what we stand for (and obviously to record our exploits.)

On a completely honest level we enjoy posing and messing around with a camera as much as the next person - so hopefully you can relate to that and share the fun in it. It's all about relaxing and letting go, being comfortable and proud in yourself. Enjoying yourself with your friends. Hopefully our site can help promote and share a little of that fun.

Finally, someone gets it.

Personally, I have nothing against the gamers who make up the Frag Dolls, I'm sure they could handily kick my ass in any game in which we played. My problem is with the idea of using these gifted gamers as walking advertisements for a publisher. Worse still is the notion that perhaps, when Ubisoft is doing a casting call for a new Frag Doll, some Ubi-troll may not be as interesting in their gaming skills as they are in the way the future fragger would look in a newspaper article or on the cover of a magazine.

I don't even think this is just a girl gamer thing, It's a gamer thing. I'm sure that there are sponsors out there who look at guy gamers the same way. They don't want some fat, inarticulate slob representing their brand, they want someone pretty. But pro-gaming shouldn't be about beauty or charisma or speaking skills, it should be about ability. Brian Crecente

Ex-Frag Doll Branches Out, Bits Back [GameSetWatch]

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