Last week, I posted a series of interviews with five different women working in and around the gaming industry.

We heard from female journalists, developers and even a publicist, about what it’s like to work in a field dominated by men. What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a woman? Did they ever feel treated differently because of their gender? They each had unique perspectives and shared personal experiences from the workplace.

We received a huge response from readers, along with some very good questions. With that, we decided to pose a few of your questions to Game Girl Advance’s Jane Pinckard and “Sex in Video Games” author Brenda Brathwaite via e-mail. In my original phone interview with Pinckard, she spoke about empowering women to overcome sexism within the games industry. However, one commenter had this to say:

“Let’s say you’ve got someone who’s championing the cause of women in a specific industry, and she’s all about empowering women, and against their denigration. Sounds great, right? Then you look back at her own history, and find that she’s done some of the exploitative things to herself on her own, like writing an article about how she used a gaming peripheral as a sexual aid, and posting pictures of herself doing so.”

Read on to find out what the commenter is talking about, and see Pinckard’s and Brathwaite’s responses to your burning questions…

COMMENTERS’ QUESTIONS TO JANE PINCKARD:

Multiplayer: A reader wrote, “I’d be interested to have heard Jane respond to Morgan Webb’s decision to star in male-directed sexualized pictorials, given this quote: ‘Obviously for Jade [Raymond], she was offended that somebody would think that she would even do a Maxim cover or strip, and I think some women would. … So where is that line? I don’t know.’” Your thoughts?

Pinckard: Morgan’s decision is Morgan’s decision — she did what was right for her. I’m not qualified to comment on that.

Multiplayer: Regarding the Jade Raymond comic, a reader said, “I think the anger at Ubisoft is misdirected. CliffyB is a good looking guy and does interviews all the time when new Epic games are released, much to the delight of some female gamers. The difference is the response of the community. I can’t recall a similar comic being created about Cliffy and that’s what makes the community response disgusting and deplorable. Ubisoft is just doing what many other companies have done in the past with charismatic employees and that’s put them in the public eye. No harm no foul.” What do you think?

Pinckard: You’re absolutely right about the community response. But if you count the number of pictorials done featuring Jade, and those featuring CliffyB… I bet you would see more pictures of Jade. And as I mentioned in the interview, it’s a matter of proportion. CliffyB IS “Gears of War” - that was a game that he drove from the very beginning, a game he poured himself into in every respect. It makes sense that he is intimately tied to it. Without overlooking Jade’s incredible accomplishments on a great game, I’d still say her role was different. But you’re absolutely right that Ubisoft was just doing what game companies do, what corporations do - promoting their product by using whatever they have handy. Just because everyone else does it, though, doesn’t make it right.

Multiplayer: A couple of readers mentioned this. One in particular wrote, “Let’s say you’ve got someone who’s championing the cause of women in a specific industry, and she’s all about empowering women, and against their denigration. Sounds great, right? Then you look back at her own history, and find that she’s done some of the exploitative things to herself on her own, like writing an article about how she used a gaming peripheral as a sexual aid, and posting pictures of herself doing so.” How do you respond to people that think that’s hypocritical to your message of female empowerment?

Pinckard: Writing openly about female sexual pleasure is not empowering to women? Look, I guess there are always going to be some people who think ANY depiction of female sexuality is necessarily degrading to women. That’s very sad. But there is an important context for the photo and the article, which in retrospect I realize was really radical, and challenging. The article describes an entirely new interactive experience with gaming - something that no one had ever written about before. It really pushes the idea of synesthesia — which was the point of “Rez” — and what could be possible with interactive technology. Is that exploitative? I don’t think so. I wrote the article authentically and sincerely, and I took one photo of myself in which I’m wearing more than I’d wear to the beach.

Sex in games, sex and technology, sex and women, are subjects that as the industry matures we must tackle, seriously and playfully and respectfully - and it’s a potentially exciting new frontier. I deeply respect the work that Brenda Braithwaite, Regina Lynn, Violet Blue, and others do. We need to do more of it. And we need to create a space for this dialog that is safe, where women can participate without being called hypocrites, sluts, or worse - all of which I’ve been called. I’m really proud of that article. I think it really touched a nerve with people, it influenced people, it made an impact, and I got a ton of positive email from both women and men about it. I think in some small way I did help expand the dialog, and that is always my goal.

A COMMENTER’S QUESTIONS TO BRENDA BRATHWAITE:

Multiplayer: One reader wrote, “I couldn’t agree more with what Henry Jenkins said, but perhaps counter to what Ms. Brathwaite may believe, it’s my personal opinion that ‘Playboy: The Mansion’ is irresponsible. This of course is tied in to my personal view on the morality of pornography, but I think Playboy magazines, games as well as other merchandise promotes the idea that women are objects as well as takes advantage of women who are willing to degrade themselves for money.” What do you say to people who think it was irresponsible of you to help make a game like “Playboy: The Mansion”?

The same reader said: “I’m having trouble reconciling that Ms. Brathwaite is displeased with the hyper-sexualized representation of women in ‘Tomb Raider’ and ‘Baldur’s Gate’ but has no qualms with ‘Playboy’ (but perhaps her only issue is the gender inequality between male and female game avatars, although ‘Playboy: The Mansion’ seems guilty of that as well).” What is your response?

Brathwaite:

Hi Tracey,

I caught that post, in fact. It was eloquently stated. I will explain more fully where I sit on the issue, and my own views are evolving all the time. Here’s where I am today.

It’s not that I have a problem with hyper-sexualized women in video game worlds, per se. After all, there are a great many sexy women in the “Playboy: The Mansion” game. However, I believe there is, perhaps, an optimum way to consider sexual content’s inclusion just as there is in other forms of media. (As your reader suggests, the “optimum way” sways in one direction or another given the person’s feelings toward such content.)

For instance, if the character is, by default, sexed up in a plate mail thong bikini (I’ve seen it in a game, but can you seriously imagine that?), it would be ideal if the player had an option to wear something different. What’s appealing to one person may not be appealing to another. Having the option to change outfits (and not from a plate thong to a chain thong to a leather thong) would be preferable.

Another thing that I find odd is how often it’s just the women who are portrayed this way, and these characters contrast so heavily with the male characters in the same world. In “Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance,” the game I referred to earlier, it just kind of looks funny to me. In that game, she does have an option to wear other clothing, of course, but that intro screen still gets me every time and makes me laugh. I’m definitely not trashing the game. I really enjoyed it, and have played it a few times, in fact. The contrast is just so obvious there.

However, the game provides a good illustrative point of the difference between the portrayal of men and women in some video game worlds - how about a little equal opportunity? It’s easy to say that it’s mostly men who play games, but women and gay guys play games, too. For the men on that “BG:DA” screen, the default option is covered in clothes, head to toe. For her, it’s thigh high boots and a body stocking. I’m not suggesting they all start like that, though, particularly the dwarf there in the middle.

In “Playboy: The Mansion,” as your reader notes, there’s this same disparity - lots of sexy women that you can even do photo shoots with. No such thing for the men in the game. This isn’t a reflection of my personal tastes, but rather a reflection of the IP on which it was built. As a designer, there was no other choice to make. “Playboy” is a magazine that features beautiful women in its centerfolds. So, that’s what the game mimicked.

That said, including it just for the frig of it may not make the most sense for all games.

When people play a game, and the perceived sexual content is out of context, it just looks weird and can actually turn someone off video games, particularly if this is one of the first mainstream games they’ve played. More than one woman has walked away from a game based on how the characters look; I know because I hear about it all the time (though I’m willing to bet Sheri Graner Ray hears about it a whole lot more). In a nutshell, when the content is out of context and doesn’t fit with the overall narrative of the game, there are consequences to that. Seeing topless women in “Playboy: The Mansion” isn’t a surprise. Seeing a woman in a chain mail bikini in an RPG can be. When faced with monsters, swords and fireballs, I think most medieval women might have at least preferred an option for a little cover. As artists, though, I support a designer’s decision to include whatever they choose to include. They may not attract a particular audience based on those decisions, though.

The phenomena of hot women vs. moderately attractive or even unattractive guys isn’t unique to games, of course. As humans, we are just prone to prefer attractive people. In most forms of media, you have a mix of attractive men and women. In games, hot guys still have a ways to go. On one list, Link was considered the most attractive, though I’d give the honor to Kratos, myself.

When it comes to pornography and morality, we get into really touchy ground there. What’s acceptable to one person is completely off limits to another. I support that totally. Actually, that lends credence to my earlier point - nudes in “Playboy: The Mansion” shouldn’t surprise anyone. If you bought the game expecting something different, that would be surprising. It’s not so hip in any form of media when players don’t expect it and can’t do anything to change it.

Regarding nudity, my personal opinion runs along the lines of Hugh Hefner’s. There’s a quote from his Playboy Philosophy which reads “If the human body - far and away the most remarkable, the most complicated, the most perfect and the most beautiful creation on this earth - can become objectionable, obscene or abhorrent when purposely posed and photographed to capture that remarkable perfection and beauty, then the world is a far more cockeyed place than we are willing to admit.”

I very much support your reader’s opinions on nudity, though. Everyone is entitled to that, and I’d hope he’d not find objectionable content in any form of media if he were not looking for it.

brenda

For more thoughts on the gaming world from Jane Pinckard and Brenda Brathwaite, check out Pinckard’s blog Game Girl Advance and Brathwaite’s applied game design blog.