Something has come up that hasnt come up in the past. Id like to take a moment to address it and am doing so here as Facebook doesnt give me 140 character limits as Twitter does. The photo for the Women of Gaming section of my website, which has been doubling for pre-promotion for the return of Women Gamers Week on social media, has generated some interesting reaction on Twitter the past few times I used it there. This criticism never existed in previous years. Ive done this series since 2011 and have used graphics to promote it that entire time. Today, and just recently as well, the criticism revolved around the attractiveness of the women in the photo. Assumptions were being made... mostly by women, mind you... that the women in the photo and/or in the series arent real gamers because these people happen to find them attractive. Some are even adding in the idea that I should choose women who are less attractive for the features and/or the graphic. Lets lay it out right here: I do not choose who to feature based on appearance, and I will not start now. I am not going to disqualify featuring a women in the video game world if they happen to be attractive, nor hunt for women to feature who people might consider unattractive just so I can fit some sort of social media satisfaction. I did the original Women Gamers Week in 2011 after two things happened: 1). The womens team at an eSports contest got zero mention in press coverage, yet the booth babes at that event did and 2). I saw a huge forum argument out there that claimed that women only came into gaming recently despite ESA stats showing otherwise. The series was, and still is, aimed to go beneath the surface and talk about what got them into gaming, what influenced them to now, etc. The vast majority of those featured turned out to be gamers right out of their diapers and stuck with it for this whole time. Among the women featured to date include game developers, world record holders, eSports competitors, broadcasting personalities, game journalists, podcasters, studio executives, and more. Yes, there are also some actresses and models, either past or present... but their stories and gaming credentials are just as valid. As I noted, I am not going to pass on a legitimate feature simply because someone might find them attractive. Note that within the write-ups I never go the same directions that others whove featured women often do. I never call them sultry or act like they are a speckled unicorn. The fact that people, both men and women, would pass judgement on those featured simply based on a photograph... based on their appearances... is why this series exists in the first place. I aim to shatter those assumptions and stereotypes. It is disappointing that there are still so many, both men and women, who seem to be more stuck on a simple photograph and/or looks than the content Ive worked so hard to produce in this fight over the years. That said, it also proves why it is important that I continue it.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 17:15:08 +0000
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