Can't we all just love one another? Even Oedipus had a mother!

Opinion from Sarge - Thursday, 01 September 2011 @ 2:02pm

I hate that I'm writing about the whole "sexism in gaming" issue that has sparked up recently, I really do. And yes, I realise the irony in writing a blog entry that goes on about how I hate that it's getting so much attention. I should warn you that I don't know what exactly I'm going to write until I get this thing started. This is basically just me brain-dumping on the issue, so this may get a little ramble-y. I've also had a few drinks too.

I basically wanted to talk about some of the shit that went down at this year's Freeplay festival. More closely, one particular panel called The Words We Use, which was about games writing. For those that don't know what went on, you can Google the full issue, but basically, there was a panel full of writers of various forms and talent levels. Someone in the audience asked "I play games, and a huge constituency of game players are women. Is that reflected in games criticism? Or is it all boys?", then none of the people on the panel were able to name any female games journalists. Cue drama. Everyone pipes up with their opinions, Twitter goes into meltdown, blogs go crazy. And me? I sit here, yawning so hard my jaw clicks. WHY AREN'T WOMEN EMPLOYED AS GAMES JOURNALISTS? WHY ARE WOMEN ALWAYS IN SUBMISSIVE ROLES IN VIDEOGAMES? WHY IS IT SO HARD FOR WOMEN TO GET WORK! blah blah friggin' blah.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for women having their opinions heard, but let's be honest, this is a bullshit argument and is nothing but a distraction. It's a crappy excuse for people to get fired up during the low-season of games releases. Because at the end of the day, whether you admit it to yourself or not, here's my take on it:

There. I said it.

Now, there's a few reasons why I think this issue is bullshit--

Actually, before I get started, I firstly want to express my disdain for the word "journalism" when it comes to video games. Mainly because there's too many people think that they are journalists, or writers, but they're not. They're bloggers, nothing more. Personally, I'd never ever use the j-word to describe what I do here at Australian Gamer (and I doubt any of the rest of the team would either). I don't even refer to myself as a writer - which should be obvious, given that I used the words "brain-dumping" and "ramble-y" in my intro paragraph (I'll try and make it up and use some clever words later) . If you were to get an email from me, my email signature says that I'm simply a "Melbourne Contributor". I would never ever claim that I'm anything more. I live in Melbourne, and I contribute to the site. I'm not a "games journalist", or a "games critic" or a "games reviewer" or even a "games writer". I write about games because I love video games and you read this site because you also love video games - that's it. I would never assume that my opinions are better or more informed than you. All I am is a random douchebag with a laptop and an internet connection.

Now, it's a shame that the people on the panel couldn't name a single Australian female games journalist - but that's more of an issue because they're linked to the industry and one would assume that you would know the other people in your career circles, whether they're your direct competition or a colleague. Personally, I know I couldn't name more than a couple of female games journalist. I think the only one I can think of is Tracey Lien. But that's not because she's necessarily a female, it's just because she's a bloody good writer. But you know what? I struggle to come up with more than a handful of games journalists of either gender that I can name-drop. In fact, the only ones I could really think of, aside from Tracey, would be Joab Gilroy and Mark Serrels. I can name Joab Gilroy (who writes for Game Arena) because he's a friend and lover of many of the AG team. Mark Serrels I can name, because, he's the editor of fucking Kotaku. That's about all the mainstream media-types I can think of - I like watching Good Game, but I would consider Bajo and Hex to be more "presenters" of the show, rather than the actual critics or writers themselves. They do a great job, don't get me wrong, but don't be fooled into thinking that they play and review every single game that comes across their desk.

But even then, do you really care who writes your games articles? I mean, here at Australian Gamer, we're all about personality in our reviews, and one person's review of a game can vary greatly. Even I quite often read reviews on our site and think "really? You actually think that??" But that's a good thing, that's kind of what we strive for here and I believe that that's what brings people to our site; we don't have real structure or formatting rules when it comes to writing reviews. We don't really give a shit when it comes to what a lot of developers think of us - if a game is shit, we'll be quite honest and say that it is shit. Yet, whenever I'm reading reviews online, or in a magazine, I rarely, if ever, pay attention to the name on the review. I honestly don't give a shit. And I would bet you a large chunk o' change that your average gamer on the street doesn't either.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm sure there's a handful of you that could rattle off a lot more writers than I could, but you need to keep in mind that you're in the vast, yet vocal, minority. For your average guy on the street, the ones that are lining the pockets of games companies, they wouldn't. Whether you like to admit it yourself or not, the sad truth is, is that a lot of the people campaigning this issue are all doing so for self-serving reasons.

I put this sort of issue in the same confusing box as people who host rallies that protest against domestic violence. Don't jump to conclusions here - domestic violence is fucked up, but why host a rally? Is there anyone honestly out there who thinks that there's a perfectly logical and valid reason to punch their wife in the face and severely beat their children? No, there isn't - and that's why I think this issue is stupid. Is there a single person out there who thinks "women definitely should not be involved in the games industry, and here's why..." and then proceeds to rattle off a list of highly compelling reasons.

A lot of women aren't in the games industry because they don't want to be there and have no interest. Yes, yes, I know girls like games these days, but you have to admit that this is a pretty new and only recently increasing statistic. Take a trip back to 1994 and visit your local Time Zone arcade centre. They're always a massive sausage fest. I know now that it's slightly different, but you're still working within a legacy. The gender balance will improve over time, but that doesn't really give you carte blanche in the mean time, going on like it's akin to some kind of race issue. This isn't about equal opportunities. You're not there now, because you haven't been there in the past. That's all. Generally, business is loathe to change too radically, but slowly, it'll change. I mean, just a few months ago, I got beaten out for a job with a major games developer by a girl. And the interview I got? Two females.

Sometimes women just aren't interested in being in the games industry - and you have to realise that that's okay. I mean, just look at our recent rounds of finding new people to join the AG team. When I came along a year ago, I was chosen with two other people. Me, Nat, and another girl who'll go unmentioned. She dropped out before we had a chance to introduce her. Then in the latest round, we'd picked a few more girls, but nearly all of them also dropped out because they suddenly had no interest. But that's okay. I don't instantly think "we should never EVER have another girl on our team, because girls were unreliable", I just think "we should never have those people on our team, because those people are unreliable". Whether or not you have a vagina doesn't make your views any more or any less important. It just doesn't factor in. Sure, there are some old-school business types in the gaming industry who'll probably think it does, but trust me, in time, they'll go the way of the dodo. You just have to learn not to pay attention to that kind of base-level bullshit methods of thinking.

I was going to write some more about the whole "females in video games" and how I think that that argument is bullshit too, but I might save that for another drunken rant.