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They do say sex sells, but in the information age I find it hard to believe that heterosexual men are bereft of porn...
The male ego can be an extremely fragile thing. The simple act by a publisher of shining a spotlight on a perceived gender bias in these products, or lack thereof if that is the case, is likely to push male customers away from the product. These customers may or may not have an opinion on the matter, but the idea that they might is going to make many of them uncomfortable. This in turn results in the same behavior most men demonstrate when faced with emotional turmoil: Ignore the cause. It may not be something that has occurred in this industry yet, but it has in others, and it is a real concern. On this we can agree. It's a sad fact that a privileged group rarely rejoices in being reminded of its advantages, whether it's men, white people, or whatever. I wouldn't in general advertising go on about the prominence of women in the setting for that reason. In this thread I think it was a fair thing to do because Mr. Porter was addressing women who, presumably, would be pretty pleased to hear about the sheer number of women in leadership positions in the setting (and indeed I was!). But outside of this situation it would sadly be inviting defensive reactions. The best thing is probably to implement whatever measures of equality you want to in a quiet fashion. The draw of more equal representation will do its job of bringing people in without calling attention to it, which could have unfortunate results from other groups. Except, of course, for situations similar to this one where people are specifically asking for or addressing products that make these efforts.
Oh, I wanted to say that I like the look of Niobe Mylona, one of the two main characters of the webcomic you're working on. She looks interesting and capable, cute and appealing without being objectified, and it's always refreshing to see a WoC. I think she could be a really good vehicle for drawing interest; there are a lot of women who love webcomics out there.
None that I am aware of at this point, but then again I don't play much other than Pathfinder. My statement is not a matter of pointing out examples, but a warning that it can go both ways if the designers' focus is on the wrong aspect of the task. In theory, maybe, in some farflung future. But in practice it's never happened so I wouldn't exactly worry about it. If you want an example, though, I would point out the initial post in this thread. There is nothing wrong with having a primarily matriarchal setting. This becomes an issue, however, when the designers feel the need to point this fact out, to parade it around in order to demonstrate how they are working toward bettering the gender representations within their products. Gender should not be a primary consideration in these works: The focus should be on story, theme, and character; these works stop being about the setting, and instead becomes focused on gender specifics; the content and value of the works are lost, because they ceases to be the primary concern of the designers. Women are regularly underrepresented in positions of power in fantasy settings. Having a majority of group and faction leaders be women certainly isn't enough on its own to sell me on any setting, but if it's a setting that already appeals to me for other reasons then yeah, it may influence my final decision to invest in the setting one way or another. Yes, the most important thing is to have an interesting and compelling setting, but I figured I didn't really need to tell any designer that. But sometimes part of what makes a setting compelling to me is seeing women represented and filling a variety of roles. Sorry if that makes me superficial, dude. And I say dude for a reason.
I think all of us have agreed to this, I am wonder what on the actual role playing side do you think female gamer are more responsive to? The same things that appeal to male gamers, really. Roleplaying a concept you find interesting; playing a new character type you haven't tried before; destroying foes with ease; supporting the group as a whole to succeed; exploring a new and interesting worlds. If you're looking for the stereotypes, I've noticed that women are often concerned with supporting the group as a whole; even when creating a really optimized combat monkey it's often for the sake of being able to protect their allies. Also, nature-oriented classes or ones with animal companions do tend to get attention, particularly for newer players (which many women may be, not for lack of interest in the hobby but because of barriers to entry, as I noted I had). This is probably a holdover of what women are generally encouraged to focus on in real life. Also, let's be real, having a guard lion is pretty boss. Making sure it's clear to all potential players (men and women both!) that these are viable options probably wouldn't be a terrible idea. That said, creating specific advertising campaigns specifically for women with those stereotypes overly represented would be pretty insulting. Life is tricky that way. EDIT: Whoops, I accidentally a word.
LPJ has an admitted issue with portraying overly-sexualized and unrealistic female characters. That's a good thing to recognize, but it appears what you are attempting to do is overcorrect the perceived slight. By pushing your product line to include "acceptable" female imagery you are still going to end up creating an unrealistic and artificial setting. It is the focus on female characters that is the issue, not the specific depictions you have included thus far. What games have this problem exactly? I would like to find this game that has so little objectification and sexualization of women that it somehow is unnatural and off-putting.
This is a really great way to make sure there's a good variety of character types for all genders, I recommend it. It isn't necessarily always realistic (because while men and women do come in all types, society does treat them differently and that is going to impact their life in many ways), but for the purpose of a fantasy game I think we'd all rather avoid that. It's nice to imagine a world where culture doesn't discourage me from being whatever I want to be based on my gender.
I'll be honest; the biggest barrier for me with regard to getting into tabletop gaming was other players. I didn't dare even try until I lucked out and fell in with an all-women gaming group online. Though certainly having women wearing something less overtly male-gazey helps, as does having women be in positions of power and prominence in the setting. Also filling a variety of roles and races, including ones that aren't traditionally attractive. |
