The Time has come for Women in Power
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Correction
This column was based on the premise that our industry lacks women in positions of editorial power. However, Media Coverage made a clear oversight in not mentioning that Game Informer launched with industry vet Elizabeth Olson at EIC and GamePro ran under LeeAnne McDermott as its EIC for the first 8 years of its existence.
The columnist is especially sorry for not mentioning their work and influence in the enthusiast press.
----------
It seems as if enthusiast press publications run a feature on how the videogame industry ignores girl gamers on an annual basis. In fact, the disrespected girl gamer feature has become such a recurring cliche in the enthusiast press that it's almost too easy a target for Media Coverage barbs.
This week, however, the director of the Women's Game Conference, Suzanne Freyjadis-Chuberka, sharply redirected some much-needed criticism directly back at the enthusiast press. She went so far as to label it "an exclusionary system in place that uses advertising and magazines to create an environment that is hostile to many women."
In an interview with Next Generation she added that, "more women could be playing the games as they exist now. The industry could grow even with the current games library that we have, if the games were presented in a way that doesn't just appeal to this one sector of the population."
Drilling the point home, she continued to target the enthusiast press mags. "They are intentionally exclusionary because they want to reach the target market of 18-to 34-year old males. They purport to be games magazines and they are supposed to accessible to all gamers but they are not. They are accessible to male gamers."
The enthusiast press' quick response was telling. Fingers pointed back to the game makers, demographic research was quoted, rationalizations were offered and shoulders were shrugged. The bottom line seemed to be that things are the way they are, and we can't change them.
For a sector of the media that so gleefully enjoys moralizing on this topic, few answers were offered. So I'll offer one of my own. (Sorry, guys, this one is gonna hurt a little).
It's time for a major enthusiast press magazine to step up and appoint a woman into a position of real editorial power.
Here are the reasons why:
The
enthusiast press has adopted a greater responsibility to women
gamers
By regularly commenting upon the videogame industry's treatment of women (while using the opportunity to highlight scantily clad ladies), the enthusiast press has made the introduction of women gamers a key issue in the gaming world Because of this, the enthusiast press has accepted a greater responsibility in the way that it should address female gamers.
Take for instance ESPN and its coverage of minority hiring practices in professional sports (a sports analogy for our male readers). Because ESPN has made this a key issue through many of its commentators, the corporation has placed itself under greater scrutiny for its own hiring practices, and has therefore adopted a greater responsibility in the way that it operates.
It's more than a bit unfair for the enthusiast press to point fingers at the game makers if they aren't willing to promote women editors above nominal staff positions.
Someone has to lead
It's easy to point fingers at the game industry and fire off solutions from a safe distance. "Game makers need to think about the broader market", "quit making so many Halo clones and start making more games with Ponies", or some variation of these answers are regularly put forward. When it comes to the magazines themselves, it's a different story.
If our industry is to ever expand beyond to the levels we all believe possible, someone is going to have to take the risks to invite women in. For game makers, the risk is greater and more immediate. If, for instance, you put ponies in Halo 3, you could sink a multimillion dollar game.
On the other hand, if a magazine was to promote a woman to a position where she could make some real changes, the risk would be far less. In fact, with the right talent, it's likely that a magazine with a female in charge would actually gain audience.
Here are two scenarios, which is more plausible?
A. That a woman immersed in the guy-dominated videogame world would be able to understand and meet the needs of male readers, or;
B. That a man, surrounded in laddie culture, writing for years with a male demographic in mind would be able to accurately reach out to female gamers.
The bottom line is that someday, someone has to lead the videogame industry out of the guy niche. It's an extraordinary and calculated step, but someone is eventually going to take it. The enthusiast press needs to first right its own ship and then point the way for others.
The
Excuses don't wash anymore
We've heard all the excuses before, but they're really starting to wear thin:
More than 90 percent of the readers are guys.
Let's call this one a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we keep writing for guys, they'll continue to be more than 90 percent of our readers. If we put people in positions who might be able to reach broader audiences, this may quickly change.
The games are all about boobs and guns so our coverage should be too
Perhaps that's because they get all the attention from the enthusiast press. Mrs. Media Coverage, for instance, is fascinated by The Movies and is willing to read just about any feature talking about the game. However, she's made it quite clear that she's not going to wade through forests of elves in thongs to find them. And truthfully, the typical cover ratio of elf thong to director pants is about 50:1. Why make a game that could reach a broader audience if it is covered less than the latest bikini shooter?
Guys generally have more experience in upper editorial positions
This is because the enthusiast press has always been focused on guys. Someone's going to have to step out of turn before things change. Once again, this is like the NFL's minority hiring practice. Unless a concerted effort is made to create opportunities for women to step into leadership positions, the same old patterns and cronyism will continue.
There are rarely any female applicants
Then go out and find some. It's as simple as that. There are plenty of brilliant women journalists, managers and gamers to choose from. This is a particularly weak excuse.
The
market needs to expand
If the enthusiast press wants to expand its influence and impact on the culture, we have to move beyond what we are right now. The simple fact is that we're not getting it done, we're not reaching greater percentages of women gamers (the demographics, at least anecdotally, are still where they were a decade ago), and we're not expanding the types of readers as quickly as the game makers (and the console publishers) are trying to expand their markets.
The console mags, in particular, represent hardware companies that regularly swear they are trying to expand beyond the traditional gamer. A woman with editorial control, would be a practical and workable means to that end.
Change would be welcome
Anything that would shake up the growing sameness of the majority of today's enthusiast press magazines would be a good thing. As mentioned ad naseum in this column on a weekly basis, many of the pages in today's magazines could be interchanged with other mags without the reader ever catching on.
Perhaps a different perspective on the running of a magazine might create that unique, breakout product that readers have been anxiously waiting for. A woman as top editor could very well create a magazine that not only blows away male readers, but also invites female readers into the fold.
Now
is the time
It's too easy to put this stuff off. If we don't purposefully think about this stuff now. No one ever will.
Correction
This column was based on the premise that our industry lacks women in positions of editorial power. However, Media Coverage made a clear oversight in not mentioning that Game Informer launched with industry vet Elizabeth Olson at EIC and GamePro ran under LeeAnne McDermott as its EIC for the first 8 years of its existence.
The columnist is especially sorry for not mentioning their work and influence in the enthusiast press.
----------
It seems as if enthusiast press publications run a feature on how the videogame industry ignores girl gamers on an annual basis. In fact, the disrespected girl gamer feature has become such a recurring cliche in the enthusiast press that it's almost too easy a target for Media Coverage barbs.
This week, however, the director of the Women's Game Conference, Suzanne Freyjadis-Chuberka, sharply redirected some much-needed criticism directly back at the enthusiast press. She went so far as to label it "an exclusionary system in place that uses advertising and magazines to create an environment that is hostile to many women."
In an interview with Next Generation she added that, "more women could be playing the games as they exist now. The industry could grow even with the current games library that we have, if the games were presented in a way that doesn't just appeal to this one sector of the population."
Drilling the point home, she continued to target the enthusiast press mags. "They are intentionally exclusionary because they want to reach the target market of 18-to 34-year old males. They purport to be games magazines and they are supposed to accessible to all gamers but they are not. They are accessible to male gamers."
The enthusiast press' quick response was telling. Fingers pointed back to the game makers, demographic research was quoted, rationalizations were offered and shoulders were shrugged. The bottom line seemed to be that things are the way they are, and we can't change them.
For a sector of the media that so gleefully enjoys moralizing on this topic, few answers were offered. So I'll offer one of my own. (Sorry, guys, this one is gonna hurt a little).
It's time for a major enthusiast press magazine to step up and appoint a woman into a position of real editorial power.
Here are the reasons why:
The
enthusiast press has adopted a greater responsibility to women
gamersBy regularly commenting upon the videogame industry's treatment of women (while using the opportunity to highlight scantily clad ladies), the enthusiast press has made the introduction of women gamers a key issue in the gaming world Because of this, the enthusiast press has accepted a greater responsibility in the way that it should address female gamers.
Take for instance ESPN and its coverage of minority hiring practices in professional sports (a sports analogy for our male readers). Because ESPN has made this a key issue through many of its commentators, the corporation has placed itself under greater scrutiny for its own hiring practices, and has therefore adopted a greater responsibility in the way that it operates.
It's more than a bit unfair for the enthusiast press to point fingers at the game makers if they aren't willing to promote women editors above nominal staff positions.
Someone has to leadIt's easy to point fingers at the game industry and fire off solutions from a safe distance. "Game makers need to think about the broader market", "quit making so many Halo clones and start making more games with Ponies", or some variation of these answers are regularly put forward. When it comes to the magazines themselves, it's a different story.
If our industry is to ever expand beyond to the levels we all believe possible, someone is going to have to take the risks to invite women in. For game makers, the risk is greater and more immediate. If, for instance, you put ponies in Halo 3, you could sink a multimillion dollar game.
On the other hand, if a magazine was to promote a woman to a position where she could make some real changes, the risk would be far less. In fact, with the right talent, it's likely that a magazine with a female in charge would actually gain audience.
Here are two scenarios, which is more plausible?
A. That a woman immersed in the guy-dominated videogame world would be able to understand and meet the needs of male readers, or;
B. That a man, surrounded in laddie culture, writing for years with a male demographic in mind would be able to accurately reach out to female gamers.
The bottom line is that someday, someone has to lead the videogame industry out of the guy niche. It's an extraordinary and calculated step, but someone is eventually going to take it. The enthusiast press needs to first right its own ship and then point the way for others.
The
Excuses don't wash anymoreWe've heard all the excuses before, but they're really starting to wear thin:
More than 90 percent of the readers are guys.
Let's call this one a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we keep writing for guys, they'll continue to be more than 90 percent of our readers. If we put people in positions who might be able to reach broader audiences, this may quickly change.
The games are all about boobs and guns so our coverage should be too
Perhaps that's because they get all the attention from the enthusiast press. Mrs. Media Coverage, for instance, is fascinated by The Movies and is willing to read just about any feature talking about the game. However, she's made it quite clear that she's not going to wade through forests of elves in thongs to find them. And truthfully, the typical cover ratio of elf thong to director pants is about 50:1. Why make a game that could reach a broader audience if it is covered less than the latest bikini shooter?
Guys generally have more experience in upper editorial positions
This is because the enthusiast press has always been focused on guys. Someone's going to have to step out of turn before things change. Once again, this is like the NFL's minority hiring practice. Unless a concerted effort is made to create opportunities for women to step into leadership positions, the same old patterns and cronyism will continue.
There are rarely any female applicants
Then go out and find some. It's as simple as that. There are plenty of brilliant women journalists, managers and gamers to choose from. This is a particularly weak excuse.
The
market needs to expandIf the enthusiast press wants to expand its influence and impact on the culture, we have to move beyond what we are right now. The simple fact is that we're not getting it done, we're not reaching greater percentages of women gamers (the demographics, at least anecdotally, are still where they were a decade ago), and we're not expanding the types of readers as quickly as the game makers (and the console publishers) are trying to expand their markets.
The console mags, in particular, represent hardware companies that regularly swear they are trying to expand beyond the traditional gamer. A woman with editorial control, would be a practical and workable means to that end.
Change would be welcomeAnything that would shake up the growing sameness of the majority of today's enthusiast press magazines would be a good thing. As mentioned ad naseum in this column on a weekly basis, many of the pages in today's magazines could be interchanged with other mags without the reader ever catching on.
Perhaps a different perspective on the running of a magazine might create that unique, breakout product that readers have been anxiously waiting for. A woman as top editor could very well create a magazine that not only blows away male readers, but also invites female readers into the fold.
Now
is the timeIt's too easy to put this stuff off. If we don't purposefully think about this stuff now. No one ever will.