Feminine gamification viewpoint: flipped objects
Imagine you are going to a business related conference and exhibition the size of a few football pitches. Exhibitors have obviously gone all out to impress and made their displays look professional and attractive with colours, try out areas and the all important token beautiful body to present your drinks, flyers and sweets.
Now which gender beauty jumped to your mind? (honestly ;-))
Stretch your fantasy a bit and imagine it is a male model, wearing nothing more than a tight fitting pair of boxers and on some display areas even a bow tie to complete the picture. Now the model whilst friendly and charming they are only allowed to invite you to meet the real owners and knowledge workers namely women dressed in power suits or in the industry standard denim and t-shirt with colourful sneakers. Are you still with me?
The expo magazine has a small article featuring an innovative approach to the industry, namely focussing on the male market, whilst everyone else is still primarily focused on the female buyers.
Tell me what is wrong with this picture?
In advertising circles it has often been mooted that sex sells, hence the pretty looking model for good measure. I have to admit I appreciate beautiful women and men just like the next person, but what I find disturbing is the treating of either gender as an ‘object’ for conference or other purposes. Do people really still buy in to this stuff?
It gives any industry a grubby, seedy feel if you ask me. Yet at what was portrayed as a ‘must attend’ event for the gaming industry, I experienced the flip side of the fantasy tale above. As a professionally dressed woman of non-model proportions, I got approached twice in the space of 5 hours at the expo by exhibitors to find out what I was interested in. It was odd and made me question, whether society still really buys the gender object idea?
In my view it wouldn’t have taken much to make the event more female friendly, from having female execs at the expo stands, approaching men and women in equal proportion, to lighting that would set a welcoming mood rather than a ‘dodgy bar’ type setting and female welcoming displays where women were also invited to try out the items on display.
What else should gaming events do to make them more welcoming for both genders?
