Kotaku: Gender

A Follow-Up with David Jaffe About that Oral Sex Remark

Kate Cox — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:30:00 EST

In a promotional video interview that went live on February 6th, David Jaffe included a statement that I and others found objectionable. So I objected. After the piece ran, Jaffe reached out to me through Twitter and we agreed to schedule a call. Yesterday evening, we spoke about the issue by phone for roughly half an hour. More »

Does David Jaffe Really Recommend His New Game as A Sexual Aid?

Kate Cox — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:30:00 EST

Game designer David Jaffe has been in the news quite a bit this week. His newest game, Twisted Metal is set to launch in a few days and his recently announced impending departure from studio Eat Sleep Play made a bit of a splash. More »

On Playing Dance Central 2 While Male

Kirk Hamilton — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST

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Recently my friend, who for this article we'll call "Dan," was over at my apartment for beers and video games. We'd gone through most of the big fall releases—I showed him some craziness from Saints Row: The Third, got across the gist of Catherine, and played some (shockingly fun) split-screen Modern Warfare 3 spec-ops. The Kinect had gotten a go as well, and we'd laughed our way through several levels of Gunstringer and gotten our asses kicked by the surprisingly difficult Child of Eden. More »

These Might be the Most Sexist Gamers on the Planet

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:00:00 EST

Get some popcorn and/or a cup of tea. This is some good late night reading. More »

Nerds and Male Privilege Part 2: Deconstructing the Arguments

Harris O'Malley — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST

A few months ago, I wrote an article on nerds and male privilege. Maybe you read it. More »

I Agree with This Little Girl about Pink Things

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:30:00 EST

In the above video, little Riley goes off on the way toys are marketed to kids: blue and superheroes for boys, while girls get pink and princesses. More »

The Problem With Women's Armor, According to a Man Who Makes Armor [UPDATE]

Stephen Totilo — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:00:00 EST

Ryan, aka "Jabberwock" makes armor. He therefore knows more about armor than I do and maybe more than you do. More »

Nerds and Male Privilege

Harris O'Malley — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:00:00 EST

I want to tell you a story. More »

It's Time for a Lady Hero In Grand Theft Auto

G. Christopher Williams — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:00:00 EST

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Drawing on familiar media representations and cultural histories for the sake of building a female gangster actually seems pretty difficult. More »

In which I don’t try to write like a man...

Margaret Robertson — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:00:00 EST

I have a friend, whose name is Mark Sorrell, who yesterday posted this column. It's probably worth going and reading that first, or none of the rest of this will make sense. More »

To Whom I Have Offended: An Open Letter from Tom Bissell

Tom Bissell — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 11:00:00 EST

Editor's Note: What follows is an open letter from author Tom Bissell regarding the response to a joke he made in his review of Skyrim for the website Grantland. The joke in question: "If you have no idea what the Elder Scrolls franchise is, you are probably either (a) an adult woman, or (b) the sort of person who once beat up the sort of person who likes the Elder Scrolls franchise." More »

If You Say The Elder Scrolls Isn't For Women, This is What Happens...

Stephen Totilo — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:00:00 EST

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He said he meant it as a joke. Just a silly line. But when critic Tom Bissell wrote that adult women probably haven't heard of The Elder Scrolls, he struck a nerve. More »

Passing the Buck in a Culture of Dismissal

Nicole Leffel — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:00:00 EDT

This weekend I had the good fortune to attend NYU Practice, a fantastic in-depth conference on game design. I was repeatedly surprised at how clever the solutions were to the presented challenges. The lessons were both insightful and, more importantly, applicable as a game designer working for a social games startup. The NYU Game Center really hit the ball out of the park, and I can't wait to attend next year. More »

I’m Tired of Being a “Woman in Games.” I’m a Person.

Leigh Alexander — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:00:00 EDT

Sexism in games remains an unsolved problem, it's clear. Some of you will be nodding along, and some of you will hear the s-word and roll your eyes and go, "oh, this again?" You guys can piss off-–go click on some new screenshots or a trailer consisting of a release date slowly fading into view. You're hopeless. More »

If a Woman was the Lead Character in Grand Theft Auto...

Stephen Totilo — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:20:00 EDT

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Women in Grand Theft Auto games have had many roles. Mom. Girlfriend. Nightclub manager. Criminal. More »

An Eloquent Apology for Geek Misogyny to a Woman That Doesn't Exist (Yet)

Mike Fahey — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:40:00 EDT

Geek men like to believe that we're the sensitive, thoughtful, and caring men that attractive women often pass over for asshole alpha male types. Recently male geek culture as a whole proved that not to be the case. More »

How Could One Sweet Little Cheerleader Ruin the Image of Females Everywhere?

Mike Fahey — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:20:00 EDT

In this back to school edition of Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter Paradox me wants to know what the big deal is about a scantily-clad high school cheerleader flashing her panties while taking out zombies with a chainsaw. More »

Welcome to Games Reviewing, Carolyn Petit. You're Doing Just Fine.

Joel Johnson — Thu, 19 May 2011 18:20:00 EDT

"I have no problem with the reviewer personally, but I dont want to see what is obviously a man, trying to look like a woman, its just too weird and I find it offensive, I dont want to be bombarded with gay/lesbian/transgender stuff on a gaming website, just have a regular guy or woman reviewing the games." – airwalker2000 in Gamespot comments More »

Dragon Age II Writer Eloquently Defends The Game's Sexuality Balance

Mike Fahey — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 12:20:00 EDT

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When a forum poster decided to criticize the developer for neglecting the core role-playing game market - straight male gamers - when developing romance prospects for Dragon Age II, BioWare writer David Gaider's response was swift and elegant. More »

A Teenager Tackles Respect For Girl Gamers

Mike Fahey — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 11:40:00 EST

Seventeen-year-old Jessica Cernadas is tired of the way she is treated online and games designed for men. She vents her frustrations in an NPR piece called "Why Do Girl Gamers Get So Little Respect?" Listen to it here. More »

Problematically In The Voice Of A Night Elf Woman

Katherine Cross — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:00:00 EDT

I never did put much stock in the idea that video games were "just games." More »

Gender-Bending Game Characters: The Revenge

Owen Good — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 20:30:00 EDT

In his last role-reversal gallery, artist David Stonecipher largely interpreted female video game roles as if they were portrayed by male characters. He's followed that up with a gallery of famous male characters, as portrayed by the fairer sex. More »

Gender Benders: The Goddess Of War, Master Chiefette & Dude Raider

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 12 May 2010 02:30:00 EDT

Seeing as much of what we associate with a famous game character is related to their gender, how would you feel if, say, Lara Croft was a dude? Or Luigi a plumbette? More »

Why Modern Video Game Armies Lack Female Troops

Stephen Totilo — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:00:11 EST

Women have been serving admirably in warzones for the U.S. military for years. But they're absent from the ranks of modern video game armies. A game developer offered Kotaku a justification of why we virtually fight as men. More »

Girls Night With The Most Male Game Of 2009

AJ Glasser — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:00:00 EST

It's Friday night and I'm gathering supplies for Girls Night over at my friends' house. Fashion magazines? Check. Nail polish? Check. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for the PlayStation 3? Check. As I chuck the box into my Tinker Bell shoulder bag, somewhere, a feminism fairy dies. More »

Their Bodies, Our Games

Owen Good — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST

That picture above poses an interesting question to Massively's Seraphina Brennan. Why, she wonders, is the knee-jerk reaction to get bent out of shape about a buxom, indiscreetly clothed woman in a video game, but not a ripped, stripped-to-the-waist man? More »

Study Shows MMO-Playing Women Overwhelmingly Bisexual

Mike Fahey — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 11:20:00 EST

The infamous Everquest 2 lying survey continues to make waves, as newly uncovered results reveal that the MMO has five times more bisexual women than the general populace. More »

Gendering Game Violence

Maggie Greene — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 14:30:00 EST

There's another great post at Vorpal Bunny Ranch, this one looking at the issue of female game protagonists and game violence — there seem to be different expectations placed on the reaction of female protagonists to violence that is par for the course for male characters. Oh, sure, violence may still be there, but it takes on a different tone. Is this societal expectations playing out on our consoles and PCs?: More »

Pretty Boys: The Male Dandy in Games

Maggie Greene — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:30:00 EST

There's an interesting essay over at the Vorpal Bunny Ranch (a blog worth visiting for the name alone) on the issue of the dandy in video games, a character known for a few different things: 'his impeccable sense of fashion, his wit, and his distaste for rough physical activity.' They're also exceedingly untrustworthy, giving rise to an interesting stereotype of 'the dandy' as crafty (and with suspect morals) or an outright villain (e.g., Kefka): More »

On Gynophobia and Misogyny in Games and Gaming

Maggie Greene — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:30:00 EDT

Over at Acid for Blood and Feminist Gamers, there are two interesting essays on the shooter/action game Cunt, which involves dastardly female genitalia (looking, as the FG article pointed out, "for all the world like a wizened creature out of the H.R. Giger convalescent home for aging genital monsters") and a player tasked with causing 'bloody cunt damage.' And it's not just a hack job from an amateur, being published by Newgrounds (of Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers). As pointed out in both spots, this game is a rather graphic representation of a fear of women that goes back a very, very long time, and, as pointed out at Feminist Gamers:

But as easy as it would be to point to a game like Cunt and say "golly gosh, anyone who plays this game certainly does have more than a few bound-for-your-personal-library issues with female sexuality," (and holy shit, is it ever), we have to take a step back and survey the landscape, so to speak. Because this game is not unique, it's not a one-off… it represents a very real and tangible culture of hatred of women that exists within the gaming community. After all, if the developers thought no-one would play the game, they wouldn't have made it in the first place.

The Acid for Blood piece opines:

However, Edmund McMillen is not just some basement coder or armchair designer. McMillan had a hand in the early development of current Xbox 360 indie darling, Braid, and he co-created the critically praised indie game, Gish. He is a professional game designer (or he has professional aspirations) and he not only thought that Cunt was a good idea, but he thought gamers would play it. Though it is a basic shooting game, Cunt has polish. Not only did people play it, but McMillen was lauded for Cunt:
Were you happy with the response for the game? I was honestly blown away by it. I really thought people would just write it off or get mad. Somehow it turned into something "punk", and was accepted by the "scene". Too bad the gameplay was lacking. If I knew it was going to get such a positive response I would have designed something more innovative and new for the gameplay.
The reception Cunt got amongst gamers shows how accepted, established, and insidious misogyny is in gaming culture. Cunt is not an isolated case.

Of course there are plenty of (male, heterosexual) gamers who aren't gynophobic misogynists, and there are plenty of misogynists running around who have never picked up a game (never mind Cunt in their life); but there is a pervasive bit of sexism that runs around the community that can be extremely off putting on a number of levels. The fact that so many conversations about issues like these devolve into name-calling and hateful bullshit almost immediately doesn't help matters. C*nt (the Game): Gynophobia and Misogyny [Acid for Blood]; Gamers and the vagina - the final boss? [Feminist Gamers] More »

In the Mood for Love: Cinema, Games, and Sex

Maggie Greene — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:00:07 EST

Sex, sexuality, and gender in gaming are hot button issues: even people who like to complain about the topics coming up can't resist weighing in. Gender history is one area I'm usually working on in some capacity or another, in addition to topics that are heavier on blood, guts, and political intrigue, so I always read discussions on sexuality and gender in one of my other pet subjects with interest. Beyond that, there is an expectation that - being one of those girl gamer types - I will write about gender issues, at least occasionally. More »

Boys' Brains Make Them Want To Win

torif — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 13:00:42 EST

Can't figure out why your old lady won't sit and play Halo 3 with you, guys? Don't know why the man in your life won't stop playing Call of Duty 4 until the wee hours of the morning, ladies? According to a new study by the Stanford School of Medicine, the part of the brain that gives of a feeling of reward and accomplishment is more active in men than in women. More »

Making Games For Everyone

Maggie Greene — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 15:00:55 EST

I really like the Blogs of the Round Table, since they frequently have some interesting musings on a variety of hot button issues and it's a nice way to check out some smaller blogs that are usually off the radar. This month, the topic is games and gender, and there are some interesting reads that aren't merely rants and raves. Some people tackle the question of women and games, some people look at look at gender more broadly. Game Design Reviews questions the way games are targeted and 'Pink Ware' (and provides some nice box shots to illustrate the point): More »

Who Knew: Men Like Casual Games, Too

Maggie Greene — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 17:30:09 EDT

I'm used to reading lots of 'no, really?' news on a variety of subjects, but it does seem that gaming gets the worst of the lot. In a report that Reuters describes as "shatter[ing] a widely held industry belief,' it's revealed that ... men like casual games, too! They just don't like to admit it. And don't want to pay for it, thus are more likely to look for ways to obtain free copies or get around anti-piracy measures. I'm not sure why this is a shocking disclosure, considering we're talking about games like Bejeweled, not Dash For the Manolo Blahnik Clearance Rack: More »

Shanda Says No to Men Role Playing Women Characters

Maggie Greene — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 22:40:11 EDT

Shanda Entertainment - one of Mainland China's heavy hitters in the gaming industry - announced that their subsidiary, Aurora Technology, has frozen accounts of male players who have elected to play as female characters in the King of the World MMORPG. Apparently there are no bans on women playing male characters, but women (and men-wanting-to-play-as-women) will be required to prove their gender via webcam. How exactly is this all going to work? And is it going to last? Who knows - but it certainly seems very odd and not prone to lasting long: More »

Creating Gender Identity Through The Face

Mark Wilson — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 14:20:51 EDT

As gamers, we see completely virtual male and female characters every day and it seems more or less normal to us. But aside from the obvious (boobies), what distinctions imply to our unconscious that a man a man and woman a woman? This video approaches this topic, though with the background argument that the Golden Ratio creates beauty (you've heard about the Golden Ratio before with the music of Zelda). It's worth a watch if you ever wanted to learn more about the face or fantasize about Natalie Portman as a guy. More »

Is Feminine an Advantage?

Maggie Greene — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 17:00:53 EDT

What are the perks and downsides of being a female in a male dominated industry? Jane over at game girl advance had a December 2006 response up to another opinion piece over at WomenGamers.com, and as is typical to the exceedingly broad question of women and gaming, there are no clear cut answers. More »

One Man's Descent Into Gaming Gender Bending

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 22:40:46 EST

Even though I'm a red-blooded male who has never once tried on mother's heels or my girlfriend's underthings, ten times out of ten, I'm going with the female avatar in a video game—if given the chance. More »

Gay Gamer Survey

egauger — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 17:45:12 EDT

In Newsweekly, companion website to In Newsweekly, New England's largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender news and entertainment weekly, has posted a story on a new survey meant specifically for GLBT gamers, or "gaymers" as the article so coyly quotates. More »

Gender Stereotypes in Oblivion

brownlee — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 13:40:44 EDT

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From the "people will complain about anything" department, this just in: female gamers are taking a break from their panty/tickle fights and making me dinner to complain about gender stereotypes in Oblivion. More »