The thing I find funniest about the party with the dancers that IGDA put on in partnership with YetiZen, is that the IGDA Executive Director and the CEO of YetiZen are both women who organized that party. The problem was really they didn't do a good job telling people what kind of party it would be. Perception is everything and most people attended expecting something more "professional"

This is more of a blog entry rather than an article, in my opinion. Not to mention it is opening quite a large can of worms. For example, the IGDA example is due to miscommunication and wrong perception, but there was a female tech reviewer (can't recall her name off hand) who wrote an article that posted her letter she wrote to her daughter's teacher. It was regarding the teacher's handling of sexist remarks towards her daughter by male students in a programming class (the usual "Get in the kitchen and make me a sandwich" bs) that made her daughter not want to program anymore. Unfortunately, it is boys/men like those students that have that attitude towards women, who stick out the most in any industry.

The saying, "Don't judge us by our worst specimen.", rings true here as jobs are judged by the worst possible employees. The negatives always stick out more than the positives. For example, the industry isn't sexist, but because there are sexist people in the industry they leave a negative light on the industry due to those who speak out against those who are sexist toward them or someone they know.

As for work conditions, that is a case by case basis. Every industry has a company or more that are terrible. Unfortunately, again, they are the ones that have the lasting effect of giving that industry a negative light. In game development, EA is the biggest one due to the wife of the employee that wrote that letter about the terrible treatment and conditions that went viral.

This seems less like an informed assessment and more like a knee-jerk reaction with a few links tacked on for percieved validity. "Maybe they should have had male exotic dancers as well!" is a clear indication that you had your mind -- and rant -- made up before doing any research.

Now let's talk about sexism in games. This is the part where I will really get in trouble. It always bothers me that people bemoan the blatant use of exaggerated female sexuality in games, but no one ever mentions the same (and probably more pervasive) portrayal of women in almost every other visual media including art, opera, movies, and advertising to name a few. So why single out the game industry?

Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't make it right, right? It's an "appeal to the masses" fallacy and an "appeal to tradition" fallacy. I think the deeper problem is that women and their self-image are under assault from every direction in media. Next time you're at a grocery story, look at the magazine racks and read the hooks used on all the magazine covers aimed at women. A lot of them are not selling magazines, but actually sell insecurity and then let their advertisers sell the solution to the problem they created. If every form of media makes women feel under attack, inadequate, and objectified, it can't be doing good things to the psychological well beings of women... and men! As a segment of the media industry, we can do better and aim to create inclusive content rather than exclusive content. How?

When it comes to potentially sexist content, I think the key considerations to keep in mind are the following points:
1) If you were the gender being portrayed (and a normatively sensitive person), would the content make you feel uncomfortable?
2) Avoid double standards: Is the portrayal of a character interchangeable with the opposite gender?

In terms of business and profits, it makes sense to be as inclusive as possible. If we can make games which both men and women feel is built to include them, it can really open up the market and potentially make much more money. I mean, why would you outright decide to exclude 50% of the population from purchasing your product? It doesn't make good business sense.
At the same time, a game usually tells a story. Some stories may use sexist gender roles as a plot device, and certainly the content creators shouldn't censor themselves or alter the story. Just use your best judgement. We can certainly be mature about it all and include gender and sexuality in all its diverse glory, but at the end of the day, we want to ask ourselves one question: "If a woman picks up my game box off the shelf and looks at it, would she feel like the game is made 'just for guys', or for her as well?" (and vice versa)

If we build games and other interactive media in such a way that all genders feel like it's something they can comfortably partake in and feel included in, then I think we could expect to see much more of an equitable gender ratio in the computer science classroom and in the industry as a whole. As it stands now, the gender ratio is heavily weighted towards males. This is a product of our own making. If the games we create are teaching young boys and men to objectify women and treat them as a means to and end instead of being the end itself, then we are actually perpetuating a part of the problem of sexism in our education system, industry and society at large. We can change that, but it's going to be a challenge in which we have to sort of bootstrap our way towards equality through inclusivity. If we can do this, everyone wins.

As for the rest of the article? I think it is wholly inadequate at addressing the truly depressing state of the games industry (QoL, salaries, benefits, job stability, etc). It barely touches the wave tops and misses several at that.

Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't make it right, right? It's an "appeal to the masses" fallacy and an "appeal to tradition" fallacy.

Indeed. It's not cool to defend the state of the industry by saying "we're as bad as everybody else," which is what the article seems to be doing. Perhaps the absolute state of things is poor, but we want to be *better*.

It always bothers me that people bemoan the blatant use of exaggerated female sexuality in games, but no one ever mentions the same (and probably more pervasive) portrayal of women in almost every other visual media including art, opera, movies, and advertising to name a few.

People regularly mention and discuss the heavily stereotyped portrayal of women (and men!) in movies, TV shows, anime, comic books, regular books, and many other forms of media.

If there are women who feel victimized by the game industry's portrayal of women, then I only hope that those same people also refrain from attending movies and concerts for the same reason.

You're saying, don't try to fix a known problem? By turning a blind eye that will somehow make things better?

Doesn't maturity imply that we can create game content that is mature?

No, maturity means you take responsibility for your actions, and recognize that what you do (and by extension, what you create) effects everyone around you. Maturity means you act like an adult and learn self-discipline, not indulge in child-like self-gratification at the expense of others.

ma·tu·ri·ty (noun) : the state, fact, or period of being mature.
"their experience, maturity, and strong work ethic"

synonyms:
adulthood, majority, coming-of-age, manhood, womanhood
"her progress from childhood to maturity"

responsibility, sense, levelheadedness;
wisdom, discrimination, shrewdness, sophistication
"he displayed a maturity beyond his years"

This is how I read this article:
"I recognize things are wrong. But I don't care, I like it the way it is. Don't you dare tell me that my actions affect other people. If you don't like the way things are, either accept the things that are wrong and embrace them (i.e. learn to enjoy the things you know aren't right) or else pretend they don't exist.

Cop-out sentence, cop-out sentence, cop-out sentence, buzzword, buzzword, buzzword.

I certainly don't condone any these things at all! ...I only write articles defending these things and encouraging people to accept them instead of trying to fix them.

I recognize that they aren't good, but I like them - don't try to fix them. I don't want to take responsibility for my share in participating in and perpetuating them, so join me in moral ambivalence and let's all turn a blind eye together so we can all pretend that none of us are responsible."

An article wannabe that ramps up the frustrations of an 'adult' rationalizer.
Let's be more specific.

It is true that the reports of sexism and bad working conditions give the industry a bad rap. Note that I am agreeing the reports lead to the bad rap, not that I agree with the reports.

That made no sense. It is a positive feedback loop, as such, it is senseless to type: "I don't agree with the reports."

For example, the article cited that only 22% of respondents identified themselves as women.

To discern whether it is sexism or not, It is not crucial to compare the US average of female computer science graduates against the female employees in the computer games industry. I'd focus on why they are choosing to avoid computer science altogether. Is it because of fear of sexism in the workplace, or is it because they feel incapable of such endeavours, or is it because they don't like videogames(etc.)?

The whole argument sounded very adolescent. It occurs to me that adults were attending that party, which also included an abundant amount of alcohol, and adults should be able to handle adult oriented entertainment.

That's a no true Scotsman fallacy. There are plenty of adults who do not consider sexual-based entertainment an adult oriented one.

People can get in the conference and leave, but they already came inadvertently. It is stupid to expect people to accept such crap in a professional developer gathering.

I don't see a problem with an adult industry using the same adult-oriented types of entertainment that you would expect to see at other similar types of events.

That's a rationalization, and an appeal to tradition. The fact that other industries do it, doesn't justify its use in the videogames industry, especially when it is completely unrelated with the theme of the game in question.

At least the studios that do it right offer other incentives and perks (flex time, holiday time off, end-of-year bonuses) to try to compensate... something you rarely see in other industries.

Again, rationalizing, this time exploitation.

The whole article is a waste of time, I would call it a blog entry at most. At worst, it is a defecation exercise.

Wondering about how common these things are - based on my own experience and just from being around females involved in development - I haven't personally yet experienced anyone complaining about females being treated differently or any females complaining about female portrayal -- specific situations are unique and should be individually addressed. I think honestly some people(not just men) are worried about the development of a dogma/cultural-brainwashing / taboo that will prevent us from even creating or using attractive characters in our games for fear of coming under fire from contrived criticisms.

As far as hours go - is a sacrifice I'm personally willing to make. I love every moment of my work. Although probably it doesn't feel fair to most.

I think any and every company should have a policy signed to protect people from abuse/gossip/bullying or any unwanted behaviors in the workplace - one that should ensure accountability and encourage equal behaviors/treatment and positivity as much as possible. Hopefully this will ring true in most of the game industry.

(just my opinion)

Now let's talk about sexism in games. This is the part where I will really get in trouble. It always bothers me that people bemoan the blatant use of exaggerated female sexuality in games, but no one ever mentions the same (and probably more pervasive) portrayal of women in almost every other visual media including art, opera, movies, and advertising to name a few. So why single out the game industry?

The game industry is merely the new kid on the block. It is not being "singled out" as you claim, it is simply a newer form of mainstream media and it is falling under the same criticism as other media already have for quite some time. Clearly you are in no way an authority on media analysis or have much (if any) experience in this area. Thus I do not feel this article adds anything intelligent to the "national debate" on this matter. You are simply one more voice joining the shouting match.

What I expected from this "article" when I clicked it in my gdnet direct newsletter, was that you actually had something anecdotal to share (ie. actual experiences working in the game industry). Do you not have any such experiences, or did you not feel like they would be relevant to share here in an article about working in the game industry?

There are several good points raised in the comments about the nature of the article, but I have to take issue with one particular slant here:

Within the context of, "Is the game industry a bad place to work?" Direct comparisons to other industrial sectors are quite valid.

The issue I think author is wanting to address is not whether or not these things are good, nor whether or not we should be working to solve them. The issue being addressed is whether or not these issues are specifically worse within the game industry than they are elsewhere.

My primary issue with the article is that it does indeed sound more like a blog entry or journal entry than an article. Specifically, articles should be used to share useful skills or understanding, or at a bare minimum, they should share data. This is more of a response to an article than an article in and of itself. For that reason I would have marked it as needing improvement, but it's already been treated a bit harshly, so I'll abstain.

>people bemoan the blatant use of exaggerated female sexuality in games

Characters both male and female, in all fiction, are often smarter, or faster, or stronger, or more knowledgeable, or harder working, or more accomplished, or more talented, or richer, or sexier than the average person on the street. That is part of what makes fiction interesting.

If people complain only about "sexy" and "female", maybe they've got some issues they need to work out.

Sex in games has nothing to do with sexism in the industry. Sex is in games, movies, etc. because of one sad fact "sex sells" (especially movies, ever notice they have pointless nude scenes or sex scenes that make you think "Why?!"). Equating sex in the medias to sexism in the workplace is no more accurate than all the people that equate violence in games to violence in real life.

Sexism is an antiquated ideal that should have been completely squashed decades ago, IMO. In other words, the idiot men that are sexist and treat women like crap should have been dealt with decades ago.

Man you are jumping out the first reason why we havent women in our works...

The people is moved by their own interests and man-women interests are very different. So my advice is do not center the lack of women producing videogames on pure sexism (which i should call it pure generalism), center it on a lack of interest from her to really try it with all her resources.

I will add that as you plasmed this is a "hard sacrifice required" industry, and only people that really want to make videogames could get on it succesfully.

This is my opinion only....hope it helps.

I'm can't believe I didn't point this out sooner. There are tons of women in the game industry seeing as the industry is not programming only. If you recall, Sierra Entertainment (now defunct) was founded in 1979 by husband and wife, Ken and Roberta Williams. Not to mention Amy Hennig was lead writer on Uncharted. The list goes on, further proving this 'article' is 100% erroneous and nothing but fluff on a hot topic.

" Hennig herself claims that she has not encountered sexism in the industry, but that differing perspective from men in the industry has helped on some occasions." -- Wikipedia*

*http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/07/business/la-fi-himi7-2010feb07 (in the last bold section marked "Woman in a man's world").

I don't believe it could become as bad as you claim in only 4 years.

As the author of the article, I applaud all of your comments and critiques. And yes, this is actually more of a blog entry as I tend to write editorial articles rather than technical articles, I wasn't sure if this is the kind of content that GameDev.net is looking for and loosely categorized it under business.

I am not going to try to defend my points of view because I did not intend to write an article and then defend my point of view. I DID intend to generate the kind of intelligence and diverse commentary that was generated here, and thus my thanks!

As the author of the article, I applaud all of your comments and critiques. ...

I am not going to try to defend my points of view because I did not intend to write an article and then defend my point of view. I DID intend to generate the kind of intelligence and diverse commentary that was generated here, and thus my thanks!

You purposely posted an 'article' with erroneous information with the intent to spark discussion on a controversial topic, but then refuse to comment (or in your words, defend) on the views (which I can only assume is yours) that the 'article' puts forward? Instead you "applaud" us for pointing out your flawed arguments? Isn't that basically posting an article just to troll the site at that point?

As the author of the article, I applaud all of your comments and critiques. And yes, this is actually more of a blog entry as I tend to write editorial articles rather than technical articles, I wasn't sure if this is the kind of content that GameDev.net is looking for and loosely categorized it under business.

I am not going to try to defend my points of view because I did not intend to write an article and then defend my point of view. I DID intend to generate the kind of intelligence and diverse commentary that was generated here, and thus my thanks!

If that's what you're looking for, why not just create a forum post? That's what it's there for...

I am a little surprised by some of the feedback. It's not that I can't take constructive criticism. In fact, even after I accepted the criticism, I was still attacked by two more members who didn't like the fact that I didn't fight back. So, since you asked, here is my feedback.

First, play by your own rules: The text at the bottom of my screen reads:

"Note: Please offer only positive, constructive comments - we are looking to promote a positive atmosphere where collaboration is valued above all else."

Well here is some of the positive, constructive feedback I received:

• "This seems less like an informed assessment and more like a knee-jerk reaction with a few links tacked on for percieved validity. "Maybe they should have had male exotic dancers as well!" is a clear indication that you had your mind -- and rant -- made up before doing any research."

Yes, "links tacked on for perceived validity"...in other words "research". And I was serious about having male exotic dancers...if having female exotic dancers makes an event sexist against females, then it seems by the same argument that having male exotic dancers would alleviate the bias.

• "this 'article' is 100% erroneous and nothing but fluff on a hot topic."
• "You purposely posted an 'article' with erroneous information"

Since I cited at least two sources, it is pretty fair to say that my article is not full of erroneous information.

• "Isn't that basically posting an article just to troll the site at that point?"

• "If that's what you're looking for, why not just create a forum post? That's what it's there for..."

I didn't know that posting an article that sparked open discussion was trolling. And refusing to get petty and defend myself is a sign of maturity (ma·tu·ri·ty (noun) : the state, fact, or period of being mature.
"their experience, maturity, and strong work ethic").

As to whether this should be an article or forum post, I responded to an invitation to submit content to the site. If the members of this site don't want controversial articles, then I can accept that, but how would I know exactly without first submitting an article?

• "Indeed. It's not cool to defend the state of the industry by saying "we're as bad as everybody else," which is what the article seems to be doing. Perhaps the absolute state of things is poor, but we want to be *better*."

This was actually a very constructive remark but let me clarify: I am not trying to absolve the game industry of sexist practices. The claim that the article I was making was that the game industry is worse than other industries, and my argument is that it is not.

• "You're saying, don't try to fix a known problem? By turning a blind eye that will somehow make things better?"
  

No, I am saying don't moan and groan about how terrible it is in the game industry and then go spend $15 seeing a movie that exploits women. That is called "hypocricy" (a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess)

• "That's a no true Scotsman fallacy...,It is stupid to expect people to accept such crap in a professional developer gathering."

Yes, this is VERY constructive. And since you bring up logical fallacies, look up Ad Hominem

• "The whole article is a waste of time, I would call it a blog entry at most. At worst, it is a defecation exercise."

Given the guidelines for providing feedback, why was this entry even allowed. Wow! "Defecation".

So, I will no clarify my original remark. To those of you who commented on my article, but couldn't even follow the guidelines posted for providing such feedback, why should I listen to you?

For the rest of you, I applaud your comments and critiques.

Robert