CFP of Interest: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Video Game Studies

http://hastac.org/opportunities/cfp-race-gender-and-sexuality-video-game-studies

This edited collection is interested in rethinking the role of race, gender, and sexuality in video game studies beyond typically reductive or divisive debates. Abstracts are due July 15, 2013 with full papers in October.

Happenings of Interest

I had hoped to blog about these two things before I went out of town for another conference, but with the end of the semester also looming, my to-do list was overflowing.

Rather than let them sit and wait until I return, I thought I’d draw your attention to a couple of items that I have found interesting over the last few weeks;

• #1reasonwhy
  • Game developer Luke Crane tweeted to ask why there weren’t more women in the gaming industry. The hashtag #1reasonwhy has been used to track answers. As is often the case when people attempt to bring attention to gender disparities in this arena, many of the responses are quite misogynistic in and of themselves. But for the most part, the chorus of answers has been honest and productive. These tweets prompted the derivative hashtag #1reasontobe to explore the positive reasons that women choose to work in the industry.
• Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology
  • The Fembot Collective have published the first issue of their new journal, Ada. I look forward to delving into the first issue and will post a review once I return from the conference. They have some really cool themes coming up, including one on feminists of color.

As I said, I will blog about both of these more fully when I return. But until then, happy reading!

 

Gamasutra: Arinn Dembo’s Blog – Gamazon: ‘Feminist Whore’ Powers Activate.

Gamasutra: Arinn Dembo’s Blog – Gamazon: ‘Feminist Whore’ Powers Activate..

Read this. Now.

This issue and the blog response were brought to my attention by my friend and colleague Amanda Phillips.

And if you’ve any doubts about the pervasiveness of these attitudes and the need for ongoing, thoughtful discussion about gender, just take a gander at the comments.

One of my favorite moments, in response to a commenter who insists that nobody would be upset if the gender-roles were reversed, is by the original post author, Arinn Dembo:

“Since offensive terms were not applied equally, since we aren’t working in an industry with gender equality in the workplace, and since we’re not getting into what characters deserve to be called (only what they are called) we’re having the discussion.”

Engage in hypothetical response all you want, the reality is this is the thing that happened and that needs to be addressed.