Violent games without positive representations of women, on the other hand, continued to dominate the field. Parents and critics began to suggest that if video games are a primary means of socialisation for young boys in our culture, then feminist mothers and fathers needed to be concerned about their content. Some argued that games reaffirmed or reinscribed dominant and patriarchal conceptions of gender roles through their frequent dependence upon rescue plot structures with male heroes and female victims, or more frighteningly, that they foster a culture which sees violence, especially violence directed against women, as acceptable. And given the link between early use of technology and later facility with technology, parents and educators also needed to be concerned about the lack of computer games appealing to girls. (p10)
The problem in the differential attraction to computer games stems from the fact that here, as is often the case, the cultural constructions of gender are not separate from those of power. It is not just that girls seem to like today's computer games less than boys do, but that these differential preferences are associated with differential access to technological fields as the children grow older, and this differential access threatens to worsen as technological literacy increasingly becomes a general precondition for employment. (p10)
Feminism has struggled to break down univocal conceptions of gender and open a space for many ways of being masculine and feminine. The development of girls' games needs to be careful to reflect the diversity of women's lives and to foster acceptance of a range of different feminine styles and identities. Industry insiders, however, note that to do so would necessitate fragmenting an already small, marginalised, and developing market, insisting that such specialisation of interests will be possible only when the girls game industry is more firmly established. (p27)
We might wish to question the very essentialist binary opposition between boys and girls. That is, we might ask in what contexts their play styles with computers differently than boys do, and in what contexts their play styles are similar? How do race and class intersect with gender in explaining differences in play styles? (p27)
Recent feminist inquiry suggests that the behaviour of men and women is often explained in terms of gender differences, regardless of its content, and despite the fact that the same behaviour might be explained in terms of any one of a number of other analytic constructs...That is, when one looks for differences between the sexes, and does not take into account other crosscutting variables, one is likely to find those differences. An alternative position might posit that we "do" gender, and that we do it differently in different contexts. This performative view of gender (in the sense that perform particular gender roles, as described by Butler, 1990) is discussed further...in terms of the issues discussed here, we might analyse computer games in terms of their reproduction of static forms of gender identities, noting that certain computer games allow girls to feel comfortable in their girlhood. Those games fit comfortably into what a girl believes (consciously or unconsciously) is expected of her in order to merit the label "girl". For example, Martin's analysis of how girls play with Barbie (this volume) suggests remarkable similarities in the way that all girls play with Barbie, and the remarkable constancy between how different generations of girls have played with Barbie, as well as remarkable loyalty to ensuring that if one has a Barbie doll, one's daughter should have one too. Such a description leads to the conclusion that Barbie play is a central part of the construction of girlhood. These meanings do not so much arise from the Barbie doll itself as from social norms about the appropriate way to play with Barbie. Martin's analysis of "universal" Barbie play contrasts with Rand's account (1995), which sees the Barbie doll as an object that lends itself particularly well to appropriation, and to a variety of self identifications and types of gendered behaviours. Such an analysis does not deny that there may be empirically observable associations between certain kinds of behaviours and children of a particular gender. We simply question the "single-genderedness" of these associations by asking what other variables are present (race, class, sexual orientation). (p28)
Thus, we might understand the kinds of activities that have been described as "what girls really do" not as neutral or isolated acts but instead as involving the person becoming and acting in the world as part of the construction of a complex identity. (p28)
"Tomb Raider" creator Toby Gard told The Face (as quoted in Whitta 1997): "Lara was designed to be a tough, self-reliant, intelligent woman. She confounds all the sexist cliches apart from the fact that she's got an unbelievable figure. Strong, independent women are the perfect fantasy girls - the untouchable is always the most desirable." Gard sought to balance traits that would make Croft an attractive role model for game-playing girls and a sexually attractive figure for their core male market, a balance not that radically different from the formula that made Xena such a cult success on television. Female gamers have objected, however, to many of the company's efforts to promote the game to male players, including the hiring of a scantily clad female model to impersonate Croft at computer trade shows, or the development of an ad campaign based on the theme "where the boys are" and showing lusty boys abandoning strip clubs in search of Lara (Brown 1997a; Jones 1997; Game Girlz 1997). An underground industry in home developed nude shots of Lara Croft, include a Nude Raider (1997) website, and rumours that someone has developed a hack which allows one to play the game with a totally naked protagonist suggest the dangers in linking female empowerment to images couched in terms of traditional sex appeal (Whitta 1997). (p30)
Arguments explaining male gamers close trans-gender identification with Lara Croft closely parallel Carol Clover's discussions of the "final girl" convention in 1980's slasher films (1992). In both cases, male identification with a female figure allowed a heightened sense of vulnerability or risk that did not endanger conventional conceptions of masculine potency and courage. The result was, in films like Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Scream, and in video games like "Tomb Raider", a more thrilling experience for male players. In other words, Clover's analysis might suggest that Lara Croft (the digital equivalent of the "final girl") exists not to empower women but to allow men to experiment with the experience of disempowerment. Interestingly, Clover argued that the androgynous personae of the 1980's slasher heroines (including tomboy traits and gender neutral names in many cases) were a key factor in enabling male fans to overcome their resistance to transgender identification, while the success of "Tomb Raiders" has been linked to the exaggeration of Lara Croft's feminine characteristics. Clover's attempts to explain the appeal of such figures for male horror-film fans, however, may foreclose too quickly the possibility that women may also find such figures sources of indentification (however compromised by male interests and fantasies) within scenarios of empowerment. Increasingly, research into the horror audience suggests strong female participation, and the recent success of the Scream films has been ascribed in part to their popularity with teenage girls. When Jenkins teaches a class in "Horror and the Supernatural" at MIT, female students consistently outnumber men. (p31)
The most powerful challenge to the separatist logic behind the girls' game movement has come from an unlikely corner - organisations of female gamers who have embraced traditional fighting games, especially 'Quake', as a space where they can confront men on their own terrain and literally beat them at their own game...embracing an ethos of empowerment through head on competition, celebrating their pleasure in "fragging" men, these women have formed all-female clans, such as Die Valkyrie, Clan PMS (psycho men slayers) and Crack Whores, to do battle in online 'Quake' tournaments.
In some cases, these groups see themselves as loosely linked to the Riot Grrls, a post feminist, post punk movement that has stressed female empowerment through participation in traditional male spheres ranging from motorcycle racing to punk rock and computer games. (p32)
The Riot Grrls have overtly criticised the victimisation approach taken by many "second wave" feminists, an approach they see as destroying female confidence and fostering the ghettoisation of women. (p33)
Such play with overtly sexualised identities reflects the Riot Grrls' political stance as pro-sex feminists who urge women to claim control over their bodies and who sharply criticise what they see as the repressive morality of anti-porn activists. Other groups embrace amazonian imagery, drawing on a whole tradition of images of women warriors and mythological goddesses. The Crack Whores' website plays with this tradition, running a contest for the best digital transformation of "Quake'"s beefy protagonist into a warrior princess. Although their all female membership might suggest some forms of separitism, these Game Grrls proudly report on their victories over male clans as well as acknowledge their partnerships with the male gamers. (p33)
The "Quake Grrls" movement gives these women, who range in age from their mid teens to their late thirties, a chance to "play with power," to compete aggressively with men and to refuse to accept traditional limitations on female accomplishments. Their unconventional rhetoric playfully flaunts their militarism, yet their ties to traditional feminism remain firm. (p34)
The "Quake Grrls" represent a radically different conception of the girls' market than proffered by girls' game industry insiders, refusing a separatist culture based on feminine interests and fantasies, insisting that women can hold their own in the realm of traditional fighting games and that they may take pleasures precisely in doing things that are not prescribed for women in our culture. The "Quake Grrls" are, on the whole, older than the girls being targeted by the girls' game movement, more self confident, more comfortable with technology, and more mature in their tastes and interests. (p34)
Cassell, J. and Jenkins, H eds., 2000. From Barbie to Mortal Kombat. Massachusetts: MIT Press
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