I'd argue that there are a lot of women blogging on games out there, but not all of them pepper the blog with unicorns and pink bows and love-hearts and woman symbols. And when you're talking to a gamer on a forum, or reading a games blog, and the gender of that person isn't immediately apparent... we all assume the writer is male. I actually discovered a new games blog the other day where the author was talking about how hot Takeshi Kaneshiro is, and I thought - oh, how unusual, a gaming blog by a gay man! Of course, the blog is Acid For Blood, and it's written by a woman. It took me too bloody long to come to that conclusion.

Le Driver
http://www.rpgb.blogspot.com

ledriver

Holy crap there's some anti-female sentiment in this comment thread, isn't there? Lots of pro, too, but boy, what a lot of anti.

Alice

shaunomacx

Brinstar

The commenter who talked about us being pigeon-holed and damned if we do, damned if we don't had it absolutely spot on.

For those of you who say you don't care and wonder why it should matter, the answer is that it shows other women that they can be involved in a hobby in which they may have felt excluded from in the past. More and more women are getting into games either just on their own or by being introduced to them via their boyfriends or husbands, but many others don't even feel comfortable getting involved because they think of it as a guy's hobby only.

Simply having a prominent woman writing about games, even if she's not talking about gender-specific issues, shows other women that it's a perfectly normal hobby for them.

I have received tons of emails over the years from women who said that when they saw me writing, playing, and talking about games right there with the guys, it inspired them to brave the sexism and the jabs and get into games themselves. That alone made what I did important, and it matters.

My game blog: www.hellchick.net

Hellchick

I think Crecenteman and Co. [love the term there :) ] know that they would need an actual gamer, not just a woman with opinions. And I do think that those people exist. I also think they are doing a great job too, but if they are looking to hire a female, that's awesome too.

cortana86

Everyone seated? Good! Then I shall begin:

This is hilarious.

I can understand why you Kotaku folks could go for a female blogger - diversity is definately a potent spice of life. However, I think I'm just going to turn out to be another voice for things that have already been said - you're going to have a grand 'ol time finding a good writer/blogger who also games enough to keep up with the guys here.

I know some folks are saying "we don't need a female gamer, we just need a 'female with opinions'." Fact is, in order to have opinions on anything at all in world you're going to have to participate in said topic. Gaming is no different. She will need to know the industry, the goings-on, the people that matter... It's the equivalent of those shitty front-end magazines that proclaim another break up between another celebrity couple that I still don't care about. I digress. How can people - a woman, no less - find these things on par with that sort of gossipy entertainment? Boggles my mind...

Arbitrary views are oh-so lukewarm, not to mention open to attacks along the lines of: "lawlz, u dont noe bout gaming so STFU adn leeve it 2 tha guys! go revew cake or sumthin. PWND!!!1! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL POST PIX!"... you get the general idea.

It's already been well stated that unless the selected female is (even slightly) considered as "one of the guys", she'll probably just be seen as a talking head... with boobs. An effective puppet, I'd say, guys have a habit of listening to things with- ok, enough of that. The other side of the coin is an attention whore who might as well not (or probably doesn't) care about gaming. Complete with the "Tee hee!" and everything. Eeegh...

So yeah, good luck with that one, Crecenteman and Co. I personally think you're doing a fine job as-is. And if you happen to come across a female who isn't an airhead/thinks this is LiveJournal/actually GAMES/knows the industry, the people that we consider important/can write well and entertaining enough/etc then give her a trial run. The faithful viewing public will pass their judgment swiftly and decisively. I hope.

That is all.

Buzzy Beetle

This is all turning into a "and what's the deal with airline food?" joke so I'm going to stop commenting before I dig myself into an even deeper hole.

pengie

cortana86

cortana86

And Kotaku, if you guys are seriously looking to hire a female writer, then go for it. There are a number of girls in the comments here (myself included) who would jump all over it. What I think some of the remaining commenters seem to be missing is that the Kotaku staff IS smart enough to select a female writer who can contribute positively to the website, not just some airheaded big-boobed retard who's played only enough Super Mario Brothers to know what a Goomba is. Wait, I don't even know what a Goomba is. Okay, bad example...

pengie

rainofwalrus

Not a girl gamer, not a female spokesperson, just some one with an added perspective, which has nothing to do with affirmative action. No one is twisting arms here. This ain't because of "The 'lib" .

Kotaku happens to be one of my favorite blogs because it deals with games as it relates to pop culture and it gives me (a girl) insight on what is going in a world that I am not necessarily totally a part of. I play animal crossing on my ds while my boyfriend kills things on Gears of War, but sometimes when it's a really hard stage, I'll put it down and play a mission with him.

And honestly, pop culture IS a girl's game. Kotaku would greatly benefit from getting another Eliza on here.

keempoo

Blogging today is not just about news, it's about the personality of the person delivering it too - many pages can blog about the same news, but some blogs will attract different readers for the personalities behind them. Getting a wider slice of personalities (which don't clash with each other, of course) just makes good business sense in terms of attracting more readers.

Good luck finding more viewpoints, and specifically hoping to find an available good female one. Alice really would be ideal, but she can't be the only one. Just be careful you don't find an Alice-a-like.

Tinkergirl

I agree with some of the other comments here. Having a mix of people is healthy, but I find the problem with *some* female game-bloggers is that they're far too eager to use it, in a negative way, to get attention. Posting images of themselves, flirting with people to get them to read the blog more, that sort of thing. What on earth do images of the blogger have to do with games? Those type of girls feel like they're different and special just because they're female, or feel like it's a "handicap" they've overcome.

Pleeease, Kotaku, if you hire a girl, don't get one of those! It sets us all back.

saikokitten

coach_mcguirk

I think some of the attitudes here show exactly why a female blogger on Kotaku is a good idea; the assumptions about women and female gamers here demonstrate that certain Kotaku commenters really need to develop a better understanding of women, even if it is only through reading what they write on the internet. :P

Ojo

None.

neverhadachoice

Blogging is free. It's easy. Even my mum has a blog. There are no obstacles between any-one and starting a gaming blog that depend on your gender. The simple answer of why there aren't more female gaming bloggers is that "they're not interested".

iwanttobeasleep's comment says it all. "Were I at all inclined to blog, I would be jumping all over it.". Bingo. Even the ones who care, don't care enough to do something about it. That's not to give any disrespect to iwanttobeasleep - you're not obliged to write about your gaming experience just because there's more guys that write about it than girls. There's more guys that play games than girls, it only follows basic statistics that there's less female gaming bloggers.

Personally, I don't give a crap what a writer's got in their pants. I don't even see how it's relevant. Elevating the status of female bloggers and highlighting the heightened importance of their input just because they're female just removes their credibility.

neverhadachoice

What's a game? What's a sport? Why are sports like basketball and hockey and soccer male dominated? Sports are pretty much the only games that are aimed at adults. They're physical...it seems one of the only types of games aimed at adults.

Okay, what about card games. Poker. That's for adults too. Adults isn't gender-discriminate, poker would be an adult game as well.

What other kinds of entertainment are adult? Popular with women? What do women do with all their time? What do men? Well, women like romance novels, and drama, and fashion. Okay, let's get some "interactive entertainment" with that stuff too.

Hm. It's probably the lack of adult women that prevents gaming from maturing as a medium. Expanding an audience, fulfilling an audience's needs...Adult men, too. Gaming takes up too much time...

Everybody watches TV (well I don't really), watches movies (not me again), reads books (nope), listens to music (nuh-uh) (wow I'm so uncultured). ~40% of North America has access to games. It's all about the money, then...

Gaming isn't one medium. We have a bunch of different consoles. We don't have a bunch of different types of movie theatres, competing TV standards, platforms for books...or, at least, movies/tv/books/movies don't have $400 ones.

Okay, I have the answer. Interactive entertainment will never get away from the for kids, escapist, gaming mentality until consoles are integrated into televisions and all content is delivered electronically, like cable. Games are fun and it's great that adults can enjoy them, but they're not going to be taken seriously in the dominant cultural environment where consumerism and the money to support that lifestyle is prioritized above all else. Gaming has to be made relevant to making money, being rich, being famous--for the average player--before it will really become mainstream.

Bah whatever. I don't care. Kid, adult, art, entertainment...nothing to do with me. I just gotta find the exit to this rat race maze before I get stuck in some dead end job like the rest of the real world.

SolFalling

I love how so many people assume they know how girls write or what they'd write about.

Obviously you don't know jack, and obviously Kotaku needs more female writers to put you jerks in your place.

FunkyJ

It would be so awesome if Kotaku got a female blogger. Were I at all inclined to blog, I would be jumping all over it. I applaud you for opening up to diversity, I'm so sick of the penis club that is the gaming industry.

iwanttobeasleep

Crecente, is this just your thoughts and wishes, or are you accepting resumes for female writers interested in gaming? I spend entirely too much time (like 6 hours a day) playing video games although I am a writer at heart (and an English/Technical Communication Major). That would be a seriously awesome dream come true. So...taking applications?...or just expressing thoughts?

cortana86

cortana86

Incidentally, Eliza Gauger is/was one of my favourite writers. Her posts on Kotaku were always amusing, and she didn't (need to) go the "look at me! I have boobies!" route to get attention for her writing.

Basically what I'm trying to say is... focus on finding good writers, and if they happen to be female, that's great. I just don't want to see you hiring someone purely for her second X chromosome -- it makes all female gamers/bloggers look bad.

...

Nintendo Gal

Kat

Kudos, Crecente, for trying to make that happen.

hikkifan1986

But finding a female gamer who writes well with time to blog isn't going to be easy. Still, this conversation has turned up folks whom Crecente might want to talk further with, particularly if someone lives around San Francisco which I seem to remember would be useful for proper round-the-clock coverage.

Kotaku is already a place to talk with gamers much different than me and a broader voice among the blog authors would be much appreciaated.

Chilly Hollow

My wife games, and I trust her opinion on games, but it has nothing to do with the fact that she's female. I think it's ridicously stupid that people actually care about the gender of someone who's writing about games, who they're playing against, etc. It's about the games, not if you have a cock or a vagina. It's bad enough XBOX LIVE had to give female's their own little "gamer girl" icon on their gamertag to make them feel special. LAME

sorry if this is a double post

usedtabe

whoneversleeps

Lucri

hambone

My wife games, and I trust her opinion on games, but it has nothing to do with the fact that she's female. I think it's ridicously stupid that people actually care about the gender of someone who's writing about games, who they're playing against, etc. It's about the games, not if you have a cock or a vagina. It's bad enough XBOX LIVE had to give female's their own little "gamer girl" icon on their gamertag to make them feel special. LAME

usedtabe

neonspacebeagle

Kia

Niko LT

Thats a very mean thing to say and very untrue. You must know just a few gamers or you're just a very shallow person to say that about people who play games. And no, you cant say that, cause it makes you look like a jerk. Unless you don't care, then you are just a jerk.

Lucri

put all that together and you have what youve found. im not at all surprised youre having problems. my girlfriend is a gamer. she loves to write. but theres no way shell devote her free time to blogging and trawling news and community sites. that would be hell to her.

in the end, the ultimate problem is, there are no women gamers. i know there ARE, as i said my SO is one, but they are statistically insignificant and skew young enough that you cant find a respectable writer to employ. effectively they dont exist.

personally, i dont care. i dont want to read the female perspective on gaming. its an immature enough pursuit to begin with that i dont want someone telling me how cute this character is, and how stylish that is, and how this game is overly masculine, and that ones characters all have psychological problems that said female blogger is totally qualified to analyse, and watch them actually respond only to those posts that will hopefully get them seen by someone bigger, rather than genuinely participating in the community they're a part of.

and if that sort of thing isnt what you want, and you just want a female editor who doesnt reference her sex... then why employ a woman. i dont feel short for it. i have a feeling you could magically ban all women from reading kotaku and your views per day would lower by less than 1 percent.

give it 5 years.

aestheticity

I still do think that, yeah, a girl could bring in the readership by reviewing those niche titles marketed primarily towards females, but that wouldn't be their only purpose and I really hope nobody thought I meant that. (I mean, c'mon, I'm a fucking girl.) Hopefully I didn't piss anybody off. :(

pengie

From the tone and content of your posts in this thread, I certainly think you should. Well written and well thought out.

Karlott

Trying to "genderfy" games only serves to attempt to legitimize otherwise shitty games (like that "games for girls" display at Gamestop that got posted a month ago) or erroneously labels games that everyone likes (like a display I saw at Yodobashi Camera saying Animal Crossing and Kirby were for girls and DBZ and Naruto were for boys).

Let's let game blogging be about the games, and leave the subjective judgement up to the individual. If people want to talk about being a woman and a gamer, well, there better forums for that then here.

Mr. Fluffykins

trina

The problem with interviews in a male dominated industry is that a lot of employers will take a fella over a woman even if she has better skills because they want to play it safe and don't want to take the risk of employing someone that doesn't fit the "mould". There was a documentry a while back (in Britain) where they sent out identical CV's to employers with the only difference being the name (male or female) and the males got a much higher perecntage of replys despite having exactly the same qualifications. Perhaps if the women got to the interview stage they might have more of a chance but if a certain number are being binned purely because of gender i doubt the interview will go well.

And i think you should up your commitment to blogging!! :>

KeyonSumner

As much as I'd love to write for Kotaku (my second favourite gaming blog after UK:Resistance), due to our fierce online rivalry (heh) sadly it wouldn't be possible. I weep every night in sorrow, I promise, Brian!

clashcityrockerkat

I agree that we need to encourage more women to write and cover the gaming industry. I have 6 volunteer female writers for the site. While at GDC, I was one of maybe three women in the press room at any one time. It definitely felt like a boys club in there. Fast forward to a Meet the Press Seminar where the whole panel of game journalists were male. Jane or Jessica could have been easily invited to speak on that panel. I truely believe that in order for there to be more Women Game Journalists there needs to be a change in the way Editors view them. My volunteers review games of all types. I would never stereotype and ask any of them to only review Nancy Drew games (which are actually very good) yet many video game magazines do exactly that. One year ago I asked why that is the case over at EGM and an editor told me that women do not play games. That was just a year ago.

It is my hope with gaming communities like mine, that I help promote and give women a place to have their voice be heard and then we can start showing the gaming industry that women game journalists are more people looking for attention because they are female and really just people that love to game and want to write about it.

Sorry that went for so long. lol ^_^

trina

neonspacebeagle

Any girl who writes on this blog has to deal with one major insecurity: "Do they really care about what I'm writing or do they care because I'm a girl."

Some gamer girls who have written have taken the overt approach: "I have boobs and I'm a gamer." They're usually branded as Attention Whores. Some unfairly, some not.
Pros: You get recognized as a girl and a gamer... with boobs.
Cons: Everything you write will be pigeonholed.

The Yin to the above Yang is to turn them into androgynous slaves where the only thing that could possibly identify them as a female is their name. They could write about Halo, and Doom, and play Xbox 360 Live with the best of them. This is fine, and easier to swallow for the "community" at large, but eventually you're robbing them of their perspective.
Pros: You're one of the guys now and you're "accepted"...
Cons: ...At the expense of your gender identity. You make a conscious choice to duck issues that could attract attention to yourself lest you be referred to as an attention whore. You're still pigeonholed because there will still be haters that think you're just overcompensating.

something_amazing

*Bfly*

neonspacebeagle

I just don't have the time, energy, or the will to do it. Being poor and in college does that to ya. ;) Nor do I have the writing skills to be able to do well (er.. I do, but.. the lazy thing again).

I don't get hassled in game stores, if only because I'm not "attractive." Piercings, short hair, little overweight, and likes games.. doesn't exactly always attract the men, but I have a steady boyfriend anyways. :)

Kotae

I completely get what your saying. I think that it's more like, people with different backgrounds bring different perspectives. When you come from different experiences you can bring something maybe some might not of thought about. However, that is no guarantee, maybe I think just like the rest of guy bloggers out there. That's why we have job interviews to look for people who exhibit more than just the run of the mill. : )

Maybe I need to up my commitment to blogging.

Ren_Gamespeek

What I'd like to see at Kotaku, and this is where I absolutely agree with Crecente, is the voice of a woman who for, let's say 90% of her posts, reads as gender-concious as the boys do -- which is to say, not particularly. Sure, an occasional Kotaku Original when it's merited, or perhaps even as a regular feature... but really, when I think about what we as readers gain by having a diverse group of voices, it doesn't come from sentences that start with "As a woman..." We can see from the byline that it's by a woman; everything about the post, therefore, is shaped by the experiences and opinions of a woman.

Rather than the kind of niche, and dare I say it, token "girl gamers" for whom that identity is everything, for whom that is the inherent appeal, I want a writer who neither regularly goes out of her way to express a female opinion nor who regularly goes out of her way to be treated just like any other male gamer -- I just want a female writer. That in itself, if she's good enough to be writing here, means I'm going to get a female perspective.

Basically, I want Alice.

Obviously, I love the idea of the site adding another talented writer. And obviously, I love the idea of the site adding a female voice. It sounds like that's what Brian wants as well, so I'm all for a concerted attempt to fill both those needs with the same person. I just think we're better served leaving those who are out there out there.

dan

Yeesh, I agree, it's all about the writing though I would say cleavage shots are an added bonus (hey, I'm a hetero dude and I like me the boobs).

I don't think there's anything wrong with a woman speaking as a woman (because, y'know, they are) as it really does bring a different view point. Most of us who read Kotaku are guys and material written by guys is inherently written for guys. The male experience finds that way to creep in. A female writer will have the same 'issue' and it's okay. Boys and girls are different and that's just super as long as everyone respects everyone's right to exist and be who they are.

The reason I responded to your little blurb is because of the cleavage remark, by the way. It reminded me of the 'she was asking to be raped the way she was dressed' mentality and frankly, that frightens the shiznit out of me. Judge on the basis of the contents, not on the packaging. Good advice for any product, even writing.

SuedeGopher

Raising the flag would be a good thing, but my opinions on women in gaming (despite being one) aren't very strong as I find that I find myself agreeing with men a lot more, rather than defending my gender.

In an ideal world, this shouldn't matter, but there is a definite attitude to woman in gaming put out my the men and women with can often strongly oppose each other (even though that could be a sweeping generalisation) and I often finding myself feeling that a lot of women pick out the less important things and targetting them saying it is against us. I also find some women to completely deny that gaming is generally a man's field and isn't focused at women and even games which are ("Nintendo Dogs", "Wii Sports") are rare and often don't last as long or leave a girl wanting to play more.

One thing I have noticed is the generation below us is attracting a lot of girl (I know a niece or two who own PS2s although no-one at my high school in my year plays computer games). Maybe the market will be more open in the future.

Even so, women can be too picky and sensitive on the matter, which usually leads me to get angry. :C Not cool. D:

Wuffles

It's not that we need a "gamer girl" writer, but the perspective of someone who's "a woman and a gamer", as Brian actually wrote.

"gamer girl" is a stereotype, a "woman that play videogames" is, well, a person with a hobby...

yhancik

hatsumi

Exactly, hearing from different backgrounds can bring some fresh perspective to how we read about the industry. I think it would be a boon on their [video game publications] parts to seek out people with different back grounds (granted they are excellent writers). I'm not particularly for Affirmative Action.

Ren_Gamespeek

(nah i'm not even gay)

yhancik

Brian Ashcraft

I suppose the reason there's a lot more male writers on gaming than female ones is down to the stereotypical gaming gender divide once again...

Overlord11001001

I've always admired her writing, and the fact she's quite attractive is an added bonus.

(Before people yell out "sexism", I think the same about Crecente...)

Or would there be a conflict of interest there with her working for IGN?

Then again, IGN are News.Corp now. They don't understand the meaning of conflict of interest...

FunkyJ

I think it's very good for the industry. In fact it's good for any male dominated industry and sometimes their opinion might matter more, not because they have a vagina, but because they can bring fresh ideas and insights into an industry dominated by males, many of whom aren't pushing their skills because they've got lazy and comfortable in their position and who's main credential is their penis.

KeyonSumner

I believe myself to be a strong writer, I have a degree in Journalism (with an emphasis in PR, so should be able to promote myself/my podcast) but it's very competitive to be visible. It is a passion of mine, however, and I keep keepin' on because I just like talking about video games.

And I don't think it's necessary to have a female gamer, to review and discuss "girl games". Wow, way to restrict the gender to gender specific games. I'd rather just hear the news from a different perspective. I podcast with two other guys about video games and it interesting just to see the "Console War" or the allure of certain games from different ethnic/gender backgrounds.

Ren_Gamespeek

Seriously though it doesn't matter who blogs (male or female) just that they blog well. I hate seeing anyone from PMS blogging at 1up. 50% of it is the "I'm a girl gamer" crap and the other 50% is bitching about not being taken seriously because they are a girl gamer. Meanwhile their pages are full of cleavage shots.

A few weeks ago I saw a blog on 1up from a woman who wanted everyone to vote for her for Miss Video Games or something like that. I followed the hyper link, not to vote, and about 80% of the contestants' profiles are cheesecake shots. What a joke.

But ladies, blog if you have the urge, just don't resort to that PMS brand of crap, blog like you want to be taken seriously.

jack_straw

Karlott

I also get extremely annoyed about the vicious cycle with women in gaming. People perpetuating the need to have female gamers only makes male gamers more annoyed and feeling like they don't take female gamers (especially competitive ones) seriously. They in turn only piss off the female gaming contingent by treating them like crap, effectively turning them off to gaming all together. I feel like there must be a happy medium, but until we all get a bit more mature/accepting of female gamers in GENERAL, I don't think it will happen.

zukiii

And re: the "why do you need a girl gamer" question coming up in these comments. SOMEBODY needs to blog about the girly games nobody else wants to. I don't think the staff is looking for a "look I have boobs and I can use an Xbox controller TEE HEE" attitude, I think they're looking a) for someone who can contribute positively to the website and b) for someone who will cover Hello Kitty Super Fun Partyland Adventure 3. Because, let's face it, I doubt Ashcraft or Crecente really want to cover those titles--but a female would, and may be able to draw in the female readers that this site may currently be lacking.

pengie

sweetie55

Karttikeya

jinx

Heh.

Scuba Steve

Who the hell cares???

mandarin

Then again she would only talk about Dante and TotA lol

Roguestriker

rob

neonspacebeagle

"I do sometimes get a sense of defensive attitude but I can certainly understand that frame of mind. I'm sure most of us can relate a story or two of when a girl was browbeat/hit on/etc just for having the audacity to speak and concurrently announce their gender."

That is what I'm talking about. Why do you have to announce a gender? It serves nothing more to that you are seeking special attention. Just play games and enjoy yourself. :)

DigitalHero

When I was looking at grad schools in music composition (another field that's a sausage-fest) many of the schools I looked at made at big deal over wanting me because I was a girl. It was actually very annoying, because I wondered if they liked my writing or if they just wanted to see some boobs in class every now and then.

Although since you proposition women to blog, here you go:

http://blogs.ign.com/naia28

Before I blogged there I blogged at Gamespot. Then they annoyed me so I left. Although I'm thinking a one-stop gaming related blog site. Just in case today I registered this place:

http://naiarants.blogspot.com/

Since a lot of designers/ and developers use blogspot to reach out (ie CliffyB) maybe if I can get a gig in the video games industry I can join the ranks... or whatever.

xkc20d

@xhazeleyes01x
That's because, unfortunately, you are somewhat of an anomaly because woman gamers are still very much in the minority and when they hear you're buying for yourself they then delude themselves into thinking you're single and they've got some kind of chance at getting your number.

Nice to see some woman commenting on here. it's the most i've ever seen.

KeyonSumner

I'd personally love to write for a site or a blog or anything and have tried multiple times but everytime I attempt to join a site, something goes wrong. Either the person who was going to start it decides not to or I don't fit the requirements for a writer for that site. I've thought about site before but right now, I just don't have the time.

So I write where I can (normally forums and personal blogs) for now. So don't worry. The interest is there but there maybe girls in the same boat as me; just unable to get a break.

Kumiko

NovaGreensocks

omgjuicyjuice

Just be a person. And a good writer.

Frodo

D00mM4r1n3

I think you may be confusing it with a 'treat me the same because I am a friggin person.'

I do sometimes get a sense of defensive attitude but I can certainly understand that frame of mind. I'm sure most of us can relate a story or two of when a girl was browbeat/hit on/etc just for having the audacity to speak and concurrently announce their gender.

SuedeGopher

I used to try and do some stuff for womangamer.com now and then, but I figured that maybe I was better at making snarky comments to other people's articles instead.

Anyways, thanks again for supportin' us gals.

Magwidgeon

giapet

DigitalHero

shaunomacx