Gender segregation has been all over the gaming world as of late, it feels as though it’s a topic that – despite our palpable distaste of – just will not go away. I feel as though a vast majority of the vocal gaming community has made their feelings on the matter very clear; whether or not you hate the practice of the gender divide, or if you just hate having to talk about it, we can all agree it has no place within the industry.
In the past I have attempted to take a lighthearted tone on the matter, as I am so aware it is a subject we are all deeply frustrated by. In this instance I wanted to address the real issue we face as a united community, regardless of where we fall of the spectrum for this issue.
Several weeks ago we found ourselves at odds with one of the industry leaders, Ubisoft, regarding official statements made in defence of their all male Assassin’s Creed Unity and Far Cry 4 cast. In a situation where the choice to not include women could have been reasonably justified, Ubisoft botched their opportunity to quell the fury, and instead fanned the flames with ridiculously inadequate retorts, and claims quickly proven to be false. Then, again, just a few days ago we were outraged to discover the IeSF enforcing the absurd notion of gendered divisions in global gaming tournaments, whose implications were actually fiercely misogynistic and insulting. We are all intimately familiar with these incidents, and many others of the sort from the past few years, however the sad fact is that these are just the most immediately visible manifestations of a serious world issue, the dangerous effects of which bleed into our very real daily lives.
Gaming is fairly recent addition to the larger media and entertainments market, and just like all other advancements before it, the industry has been met with a certain level of stigma, antipathy and unwarranted accusations. Gaming is unique within the world of entertainment, as it allows it’s audience to directly take control of the stories and lives they are experiencing, and it’s this abolition of idle viewing that offers such potential and value to wider society. We have all sat through the many instances of gaming bearing the sole blame for various acts of horror in the world, be it tragic school shootings, or terror attempts made by bitter human beings that simply want to make headlines. Despite the fact we know these accusations are a deliberate and passive scapegoat to prevent people from analysing the state of social welfare in our communities, it does have the benefit of illustrating the reach and influence gaming can have.
I have come into contact with a great deal of people that refuse to address these issues based on the notion that making a change within this one independently existing industry wont improve the real world, so why not focus all of our attention on making those direct changes first? The fact of the matter is that sexism, misogyny and segregation within gaming is direct. The inherent value in gaming is derived from it’s ability to allow an even playing field regardless of who you are. If you’re playing Watch_Dogs for example, it doesn’t matter if you identify as a girl, a boy, or as gender fluid, in that moment you are Aiden Pearce.
Now, I strongly regard video games to be an art form, and a breed of entertainment that allows a uniquely active part in the story and experience of other worlds and lives. It is this perspective and action that separates gaming from other forms of entertainment media. Issues such as female tropes in gaming, airhead excuses to not include playable women and gendered divisions pulls the industry away from the very core component that separates it from other forms of similar media. It makes who you are as an individual the important issue, rather than the broad scope of experiences the nature of gaming seeks to offer. Realistically, it is unreasonable to expect all video games to be focused on women, or for even all video games to involve women – but far too few stories are told that are not about straight white men. It’s possible to pull the minority card sure, but women are not a minority. Women make up 50% of the population and close to 50% of the gaming market, and despite this fact, even the games that dare to include women fail to feature them on the box art. It generally implies that the majority of men within our community are too self-centred and close minded to even acknowledge a game that doesn’t feature someone that looks just like them. Realistically, even if that were the case (and I don’t believe that to be generally true) surely the same could be applied to women in the community. If nothing else it highlights a gaping gap in the market.
The fact that the industry is still so young puts it in a very powerful position to stand against, or at least grow quickly out of, the prejudices that haunt the rest of entertainment media. To continue to pander to them the way it has been, it runs the risk of not only isolating it’s market, but undermining many important and distinguishing qualities that make it as valuable as it is. It can be easy to write off issues that you may not feel apply to you and it often feels as though the industry is struggling to flourish beyond it’s boys club mentality, but gaming has a great deal to offer and certainly more valuable than wider society often gives it credit for. However, unless we begin to recognise, and act on, these forms of injustice, the industry will continue to stagnate around these same issues for the foreseeable future.
