Alternative: Girls (females) in D&D/ Roleplaying

[Nifft]

Women's magazines are in the business of selling magazines, diets, clothing, and cosmetics to women. They don't accomplish that goal by showing women that what they already have, they way they currently are, and they way they already look, is what men want.

Thus, women's magazines are not in the business of telling women what men actually want, and the pictures therein will not tell you.

If there's anything in the world that is telling women they aren't good enough, it isn't fantasy game art - it's women's magazines.

Men's books are guilty too -- there's no way I can look as manly as this dude:

Cheers, -- N

 

[Dausuul]

If there's anything in the world that is telling women they aren't good enough, it isn't fantasy game art - it's women's magazines.

It's not exactly an either-or proposition.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Have you or are you willing to (AYWT) make a distinction between the positive portrayal of women in games/ gaming and sexist portrayals?

What? I truly do not understand this question, or rather, how it might apply in real terms, at all.

Have you or AYWT accept that the consistent use of pictures of bikini-clad women strolling through snowfields alongside rug-wrapped barbarian men is potentially discouraging for some female gamers?

Answers itself, surely.

Have you or AYWT go out of your way to recruit or encourage girls/ females to join a gaming group?

No. Equal opportunity ftw.

Have you or AYWT go out of your way to encourage girls/ females to join RPG communities?

As above. Da ladies wanna play, ain't gonna get in their way.

Have you or AYWT tell a publisher, (by email, blog or f2F), that you'd like to see more positive portrayals of women in RPGs?

No. That would be between them and their future sales figures. Let nature take its course, no?

Have you or AYWT present youngsters with equal opportunities to get involved in RPGs?

Sure. Just hasn't happened. Much, anyway. Mainly, because there are ongoing campaigns, and they all (currently) contain considerable "mature" content. No, not necessarily that kind of thing, but well, stuff that wouldn't (or, in some cases, mightn't) be suitable for younger players.

Have you or AYWT adapt rules, settings and gameplay to offer a mix or balance of mystery, exploration, investigation, characterisation and novelty alongside combat-focused gameplay? (Either to encourage all kids equally or females).

Yikes. Also, answering the question directly, and at face value: No.

Have you or AYWT adjust your RPG purchasing habits to at least limit sexist content/ contexts?

****, no idea. It doesn't cross my mind, really. I doubt I'll lose sleep over it, either.

Have you or AYWT actively discourage obvious and persistent sexism at your game table, e.g. don't laugh along with the jokes/ speak up if a female player appears uncomfortable with some of what's being said?

Might well do. Assuming the lass doesn't say something first, that is. Depends on the circumstances, in a whole lot of ways, as is usually the case with real people and real situations. But AIWT? Indeed, and have done a few times.*


* But not only on behalf of female players. . .

 

[Umbran]

It's not exactly an either-or proposition.

Yeah, but really, when you consider the damage done by the imagry, and the size of the audience...

Fantasy art is a compact car technically speeding, but keeping pace with other cars on the highway. Women's magazines are a double-trailer semi, going 90 in a 55 zone, with a drunken driver text messaging to arrange some insider stock trading.

 

[Dausuul]

Yeah, but really, when you consider the damage done by the imagry, and the size of the audience...

Fantasy art is a compact car technically speeding, but keeping pace with other cars on the highway. Women's magazines are a double-trailer semi, going 90 in a 55 zone, with a drunken driver text messaging to arrange some insider stock trading.

Granted.

Still, one does what one can in one's own corner of the world. We gamers aren't going to change women's magazines, but our voices can have an effect on game publications. And have, in fact; the portrayal of women in D&D and in RPGs generally has improved quite a bit over the years. 4E is better than 3E, and 3E was better than 2E. I just want the trend to continue.

 

[Sunseeker]

Granted.

Still, one does what one can in one's own corner of the world. We gamers aren't going to change women's magazines, but our voices can have an effect on game publications. And have, in fact; the portrayal of women in D&D and in RPGs generally has improved quite a bit over the years. 4E is better than 3E, and 3E was better than 2E. I just want the trend to continue.

True, though I have to admit the decision to switch to a feminine personal noun, "she" "her" perturbs me a little bit. I think it's something along the lines of worrying about going too far past the right direction. It's not even sometimes male, it's almost universally female in many books.

 

[jonesy]

After complaining about Caldwell's pirate I do have to say that his Dragonlance and Gazetteer images are very good in this. The women dress realistically and Caramon gets to be a gladiatorial beefcake.

True, though I have to admit the decision to switch to a feminine personal noun, "she" "her" perturbs me a little bit. I think it's something along the lines of worrying about going too far past the right direction. It's not even sometimes male, it's almost universally female in many books.

I rather like it. It's very refreshing. But then again I am Finnish. I can refer to Lena Headey, Johnny Depp, an earthworm (which is a hermaphrodite) and the wall in my room with the same pronoun.

 

[Dausuul]

True, though I have to admit the decision to switch to a feminine personal noun, "she" "her" perturbs me a little bit. I think it's something along the lines of worrying about going too far past the right direction. It's not even sometimes male, it's almost universally female in many books.

That's one I've wrestled with a fair amount. One approach is to alternate male and female, but that can get rather jumbled stylistically. "He or she" is very clumsy, "they" arouses the ire of my inner grammar Nazi, and attempts to create a new gender-neutral term like "ze" and "hir" have generally gone nowhere.

In my own writings and posts, I try to write so as not to need a generic third-person pronoun. Where I can't avoid it, I've started to adopt the universal "she" out of sheer convenience. At such time as sexism is eradicated in Western culture, I will revisit that decision. In the meantime, I think the universal "she" is far less likely to make male gamers feel unwelcome than the universal "he" would for female gamers.

 

[AngryMojo]

Yeah, but really, when you consider the damage done by the imagry, and the size of the audience...

Fantasy art is a compact car technically speeding, but keeping pace with other cars on the highway. Women's magazines are a double-trailer semi, going 90 in a 55 zone, with a drunken driver text messaging to arrange some insider stock trading.

And these both pale in comparison to the downed airplane exploding on the highway that is problems with sexism elsewhere in the world. Take a look at the controversial TIME magazine cover that came out recently if you want a real example of horrendous problems with women's rights in the world. Next to that, the cheesecake/beefcake argument really seems trivial and silly.

 

[Umbran]

"they" arouses the ire of my inner grammar Nazi

I hear that a lot, but I kind of have to wonder - the singular "they" has been part of the English language since the late 15th century. How many hundreds of years does it need to be in use before it isn't considered against the rules?