Feminist work in game studies is sort of like playing golf. You hit 20 bad shots to every good shot, but that good shot is what keeps you coming back. You finally squared your hips correctly, didn’t take your eye of the ball, the WHAM! It goes soaring across the sky and lands beautifully on the green. In that moment, all those bad shots don’t seem so bad because they led you to this one moment. Of course sometimes in game studies it seems like 100 bad shots to every one that makes it to the green, but for me it is that same feeling.
I recently had a shot land on the green when four people I greatly respect decided that my silly little dissertation about video games and the women behind the scenes of video games was worth giving me a doctorate.
Seems even more apt of an analogy when you think of the history of golf as a men’s game. There are still golf clubs that won’t let women be members or even play on their course. And I’m not talking about just a few clubs no one cares about, there are still 25 courses that don’t allow women to play, including Augusta National. Four of these are right around my neck of the woods in Chicago.
Now, I’m not here to argue about golf, mostly because this blog is meant to be a positive, uplifting one to start your Monday off with a smile. However, both gaming and golf have a similar tenet that underlies their exclusive policies: women naturally do not have the ability to do _____________ as well as men. They can’t golf as well, they can’t do math as well, they can’t program as well. But hey, don’t be sad, because ladies got the market cornered on having babies. I have seen this argument so many time, usually it just makes me sick, or sad, or really angry. Yes, women and men may have biological differences, but when it comes to participating in socially constructed activities like golf and video games, those differences essentially become irrelevant. Why? Because that activity was constructed based on particular consumers and with particular principles that privilege some people over others. So, and I’m not at all getting on board with this argument, if you were to argue that of course women aren’t as good at golf because they are biologically pre-disposed to be bad at it, that is a 100% bullshit argument. Golf is not a natural thing made to favor all people equally. It privileges certain things over others.
Now I don’t think video games are in this exact same category, because the ability to play a game using things like critical thinking skills, hand-eye coordination, and logic are not gender specific. However, when you look at who is making the games, this is where the analogy continues. Too often I see articles complaining about not being able to find qualified women to speak at a con or work at a company. They claim that women must just not care about video games or programming or whatever the specific job it for. There seems to be little reflection, however, that what they call “qualified” is their own construction, and in many cases, if you read between the lines, being qualified means having a penis.
For example, many companies require 10 years of experience. 10 years ago there were 5% women in the industry. As another example, hiring committees often actively try and find folks who fit in the “mindset” of the company, or who speak the language of the company, or who they think could “fit in easily.” Well if you look differently, speak differently, and approach problem solving differently does not in any way, shape, or form mean you are less qualified. It just means you will have a diverse perspective. But this scares people. In the industry, this kind of approach to hiring is rampant.
Every time I read an article arguing that women just don’t care about tech fields, that they just don’t have the natural ability, that tech fields are simply meant for men, I cringe. Sometimes I want to throw up my hands and go study rhetorical grammar or something. But luckily that one good shot keeps me going. Every time I get in an argument with someone and they concede to me in the end, every time I hear NYMG being talked about, and getting my academic work accepted into the community all tell me that this fight is worth fighting.
