Cerise Magazine

September 2007 Issue

Features

• From the Editors
• Craft Check: Handkerchief Dice Bags
• Gaming in the Media: Reflections on Princess Peach...
• Market to Me: Feminine gamers

Interviews

• Blogger Interview: Regina Buenaobra [Acid for Blood]

Articles

• Gender & Live-Action Role Play: LARP and Social Darwinism
  Author: Samara Hayley Steele

Samara continues her series on gender and LARP.

• D&D for Girls?
  Author: John Kim

John discusses a recent incident involving gender and the official Dungeons & Dragons discussion forums, what went wrong and some ideas for making it right.

• Reclaiming Pink
  Author: Olivia Luna

Olivia takes a critical look at the some of the uses of the color pink in the world of handheld gaming.

• Sisterhood is powerful: women-oriented gaming communities
  Author: Andrea Rubenstein

Andrea brings up some of the positive aspects of women-oriented gaming communities.

• Is Gamerdom Really a Bastion of Masculinity?
  Author: Latoya Peterson

Latoya looks at the perceptions of gaming and gamers and what that means for the female gamers out there.

Gamer Stories

• The Dice of Evil
  by Robyn Fleming

Reviews

• Puzzle Quest
  by Olivia Luna
• Nocturne
  by Bonnie Moxnes
• Retro Review: Castle of Dragon
by Abby Wilson

Odds 'n Ends

• The Back Page

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The relationship between femininity and gaming has been, and continues to be, a rocky one. When you think of “feminine” in a gaming context, the first thing that comes to mind is likely something along the lines of a “sexy chick” licking a Nintendo controller, a “fake” gamer in it for the attention or a fluffy “casual” gamer who isn’t as good as the “hardcore” ones. But is there really any value in forcing all gamers into a hypermasculine paradigm? Furthermore, does it make sense from a marketing perspective to shut out feminine gamers, especially when women (many of whom identify as feminine) are a growing demographic?

Super Princess Peach

Commercial: Super Princess Peach

The most striking thing about this commercial is the way that it blends the traditionally masculine (specifically emphasizing the agency and toughness of the princesses) and the traditionally feminine (young girls in pink frilly dresses). As they’re shown, these two traits are not seen as mutually exclusive, but rather working together harmoniously.

This is shown not only in the visuals, but in the voice over, as well:

Once upon a time, princesses were called to rescue two captured plumbers. They trained intensely to master the skills necessary for survival. If you can stand up to really mean people, maybe you have what it takes to be a princess. Your mission: to use fire, wind, and water to save Mario and Luigi.

The commercial is meant to challenge one’s expectations: the princess saving the plumbers is one, and the sweet looking little girls being the action heroes is another. From a marketing perspective, this feature sets the game apart from others, which more often than not show characters in exactly the kinds of roles that players have been lead to expect. From a feminist perspective, it challenges the rigid boundaries of “masculine” and “feminine”, allowing the “feminine” princesses to seamlessly transgress the boundary and become active and strong participants in their own rights.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma

Commercial: Ninja Gaiden Sigma

This commercial is a fairly recent one that is being aired on television here in Japan. Like the Super Princess Peach commercial, it challenges the viewer’s expectations and shows the feminine as being compatible with being a gamer.

When the commercial opens, it seems as if it’s yet another Playstation3 commercial that is using sex to sell its product, rather than letting the product’s quality speak for itself. Pop music plays in the background, while a beautiful girl in a pink shirt seems to dance around. Then a hand taps her and you hear a harried voice say, “Excuse me…” She turns and looks around, suddenly embarrassed. The scene widens and you see that she’s in an electronics shop with a huge line behind her waiting to take a test play on the PS3. The store clerk bows and tells her very apologetically that she needs to stop playing.

While it is possible that the message was intended to be “our game is so good, even beautiful women can’t stop playing it!” another message also gets sent: just because you’re a beautiful woman doesn’t mean that you can’t be a gamer. The woman was clearly so engrossed in the game that everything else faded away, which is something that most gamers have probably experienced some time in their lives. Unfortunately she was the only woman in the commercial, which might end up convincing audiences that she (or the game) is an exception to the usual rule.

From a marketing perspective, the commercial takes advantage of the “sex sells” trope while setting itself apart from other commercials by challenging people’s expectations. From a feminist perspective, it challenges the notion of what a “gamer” is and therefore serves to help facilitate the acceptance of gamers who fit outside of the traditional paradigm.

Closing Thoughts

The way that the feminine is used in the above commercials is not wholly unproblematic. The Super Princess Peach one, for instance, may push the unrealistic standards for women even further out of reach, by conveying the message that women have be not only perfectly feminine, but also must be able to compete in the masculine sphere alongside men. With the Ninja Gaiden Sigma commercial, the lack of other women in the line brings up concerns about exceptionalism and also calls into question whether the woman in the ad is intended to be recognized more as a beauty or as a gamer.

Despite these concerns, however, commercials like these can still help to break the simplistic and harmful dichotomies of “virgin” (eg. princess to be rescued, dainty healer, childhood love interest) and “whore” (eg. sexy and sexualized heroine and sexy and sexualized villain), for characters and gamers alike.