Why the hell is nobody talking to me?

Women... the plural.

My hope is that Ms. Sarkeesian's work will be entertaining for those that view the final results of her kickstarter, but that her opinions won't be given any more value than the countless other women out there. I don't want to see her on gaming panels or TV as a 'representative" of female gamer interests anymore than most men likely want to see Jim Sterling becoming the expert on what men want from video games. If developers continue to consult with her regarding the development of female characters I hope they realize that she is simply one of many feminist viewpoints, and in no way representative of the vast majority of "feminine" viewpoints. If people really want to know what women want in video games... ask us - the collective us. It's really not all that difficult or expensive to do.

The same holds true for gamers in general. Technology has changed and rather than listening to the vocal voices on forums, on web sites or in gaming media - the industry has the ability to talk to gamers directly about what they want. In the end, this may not result in fewer gaming tropes (these are already an established part of gaming history), but it may result in better understandings about how to target specific demographics with games they want, games they will buy and games the majority will better enjoy. When the diversity of the gaming populace changes, then much of the sexism, misogyny, homophobia, racism and other issues with gaming culture and games themselves will change. One person's opinion in the world of gaming should simply not be representative of any specific demographic.

... and besides, as I stated on someone else's blog... I don't need the boob job, but I do occasionally like to change into my chainmail bikini when running around town... as long as I have the option of more serious armour for battling that enclave of evil mages who live in a cave (it's almost always a cave or temple isn't it!). I don't want my chainmail bikini option taken away because the developers consulted with some feminist media specialist! What women want, isn't always what's good for us. Don't take away my ice cream and give me low fat soy frozen yogurt... every once in awhile I want my Haagen Daz Rocky Road! If I'm going to be fed a constant diet of soy frozen yogurt... I may have to just give up having dessert. Now if gaming developers can find a chocolate that most female gamers like, that is also good for us that most feminists will like... then that would be awesome!

... but first those devs need to talk to women about video games. "Women" the plural... not "feminist woman" the singular. Sexism in gaming will change when the numbers change. The numbers will change when game developers have a better understanding of what women want from games. Surveys are easy to do... so why aren't they doing them? Someone should kickstart that... give the survey results to anyone who pledges $25.00, and any developer that doesn't pledge the $25.00 is simply stupid not to at least want that kind of information for such a cheap fee.

I'll pledge some money for that... but not to see yet another person's singular opinions.

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