Cerise Magazine

Features

From the Editors

Craft Check: Make Your Own Tiara

If you’ve ever felt the urge to be a princess yourself, follow Rachel’s steps to learn how to craft your own tiara.

Gaming in the Media: “I’m Not Offended, I’m Just Bored”: Gawker Cuts to the Heart of our Apathy

Latoya examines Gawker’s recent article on the rampant objectification of women within gaming and the gaming industry.

Market to Me: Marketing Consoles

Guest columnist Anika turns a critical eye on the sexist marketing practices prevalent in video game console marketing and provides an alternative model for inclusive ad design.

Interviews

Industry Interview: Kelley Barnes-Herrmann

Video Interview: Gabrielle Munoz

Articles

An Atypical Princess: Ashelia B’Nargin Dalmasca

Author: Melissa Velte
Melissa discusses they ways in which Final Fantasy XII’s Ashe overcomes negative princess stereotypes.

Princess Peach: Feminist?

Author: Drew Mackie
Drew takes a look at the portrayal of Princess Peach and analyzes her history from a feminist perspective.

Should Gamers Embrace Femininity?

Author: Natalie Hill
Natalie makes the case that embracing femininity allows for more diversity in gaming.

Gamer Stories

Just Gimme the Tiara

Author: Robyn Fleming

Super Princess Peach: Assorted Ramblings

Author: Olivia Luna

Reviews

Barbie as the Island Princess

Author: Robyn Fleming

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey

Author: Teresa Lee

Lower Regions

Author: Robyn Fleming

Odds ‘n Ends

The Back Page

Whether as passive prizes to be won, powerful allies or player characters, princesses have long been popular in both table top and video games. Why the enduring fascination with princesses? We examine the princess trope in this issue of Cerise, and take apart some of the stereotypes that have been used to depict women as damsels in distress in gaming.

Drew Mackie joins us from his blog with a piece on the history of Princess Peach that analyzes her contribution as a princess in gaming. Melissa Velte applauds Square Enix’s positive portrayal of Ashe in Final Fantasy XII and Natalie Hill makes an argument for femininity in games as the herald of diversity and inclusiveness. Over in Craft Check, Rachel shows us how to construct our own princess tiaras from wire and beads. And, as always, we’ve got some fun content on The Back Page, including a chance to win a prize just for showing off your cool gaming threads!

If you like what we have to say about princesses, make sure to check out the submissions page to see our upcoming issue themes and start thinking about how you want to make your voice heard in Cerise!

What makes a princess? Is it the heritage? The upbringing? The attitude? Nah - I think we all know it’s the tiara! This particular tiara is a special one: it’s a (very) simplified version of the one I made for Robyn to wear at her wedding [Editor’s note: see “Just Gimme the Tiara,” in this issue]. Although that tiara was much fancier, you can see the beginnings of it in this straight-forward design. It’s also tremendously versatile, appropriate for princesses of any age, gender, or personal style.
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Nick Douglas nails this post for Gawker media about the issues found in video game reporting:

[Gaming Journalism] is still a new field and will always be as subjective as covering music or film, with the accompanying celebrity culture. But now that women outnumber men in online gaming, party games like Rock Band appeal to both sexes, and casual games (popular among women and adults) are the fastest-growing segment of the gaming industry, gaming journalism should be an all-inclusive genre. Why does it still pander to a core audience of straight young males with outdated misogynistic material, to the boredom and frustration of all of us who can get laid outside of World of Warcraft?

Douglas makes a good point here. This is problem that applies to both gaming journalism and gaming culture. Why do we ceaselessly campaign to stop the infantilization of video games but then turn around and throw adolescent sex jokes into our marketing and media? It’s ridiculous. (more…)

The old ad campaign standby of “sex sells” is a phrase that most of us are all too familiar with. As the oft-overlooked minority in the gaming community, women are frequently forced to tolerate this method of sexual pandering by witless ad agents who aren’t creative enough to come up with a campaign that doesn’t rely on bare midriffs and cleavage. We suffer through video game ads adorned with busty bikini models, regardless of game content.

The idea that video games often market themselves by marketing to oversexed heterosexual males is no revelation. But what about the consoles themselves? Do they pander to that same base instinct, or do the ad agents in charge of their campaigns aim higher? Caution: This post contains images that are not safe for work! (more…)

Kelley Barnes-Herrmann, who works as the Marketing Director for White Wolf and handles conventions for CCP, is an extremely busy woman. Fortunately for our readers, she was willing to take a little time out this month and answer some questions about her work and her gaming.
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In December, I was so privileged to be able to interview the daughter of Angel Munoz. Angel is the founder of the Cyberathlete Professional League, which was established in 1997. The league has as many as 10 international stops for tournaments all over the world including Asian, European and South American stops.

Angel’s adorable daughter, Gabrielle, spoke to me about how she incorporates gaming into her very well rounded life.

There were some things I picked up from conversing with her off camera, too, that might be of interest to you Halo 3 and Gabrielle fans.

Yvonna Lynn: What is your favorite gun?

Gabrielle Munoz: The needler

YL: I know you are pretty much in the beginning phases of learning to do FPS games. Do you use grenades?

GM: Well it is hard sometimes because of friendly fire which is not the most pleasant thing to do to a teammate.

YL: Do you think gaming is rather masculine?

GM: Gaming is not masculine or feminine, but most girls who don’t play think it is masculine.

YL: Do you play any other games other than FPS games? For instance, do you play any of the games traditionally made to appeal to girls?

GM: Well I like playing as a girl character in FPS games when it is an option. I also like playing things like Barbie’s adventure.

YL: Well in that sense, I guess girls get an advantage over the guys because most boys wouldn’t play those games… but girls get to play both. Gabrielle, Thank you so much for your time. I am tickled to have met such a great girl!

Video provided by Andy Whalen.

Female video game characters began as either the prize, the motive or the vixen, and then settled into supportive roles. Currently, video game ladies struggle to break free of the “hot and deadly” shell of a male audience. Princess Ashelia B’Nargin Dalmasca deviates from the stereotypical female role with her powerful personality and abilities in Final Fantasy XII and empowers females, gamers and characters alike.

Princesses in video games rarely appear without a typical entourage: gallant princes, castles and flowing dresses. Pursuing these princesses are devious, not-as-pretty women and arrogant, ill-intentioned men. FFXII’s Ashe does not carry such baggage; a refreshing and much needed change. (more…)

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on Coin Heaven. Drew Mackie now writes about pop culture on his blog, Back of the Cereal Box.

Had I asked this question ten years ago, the answer to the above question would be a resounding “no.” To be blunt, that Peach — who had then only recently shed the first name “Toadstool” in the States — was a big pink sissy whose primary function in life was to get kidnapped and scream “help.” Peach didn’t even have the honor of being the first leading lady in Mario’s life. That character, of course, was Pauline, who did about as much and at least got to wear a more modern-looking outfit. With her floor-length royal gown and odd, flipped-out Farah Fawcett hair, Peach was a dead weight character — a reminder of what a woman’s place was 50 years ago. She was an uber-stereotype of what women should be, injected into the Mario series to balance out the overwhelmingly male cast with a double dose of sugar-coated girliness. (more…)

This past Christmas I timidly strapped on a plastic guitar. It was my first time playing Guitar Hero outside of a Best Buy and I couldn’t exactly enjoy it. I was at my partner Chris’s cousin’s house, standing in front of his extended family, about to rock out to Nirvana’s “Heart Shaped Box.” My lack of self-confidence didn’t come from the fact that I knew I wasn’t going to be the best, or because I anticipated many missed notes. Instead, it came from the fact that I knew I was going to be better than Chris’s mom, a woman who, before this, probably only touched a video game controller when straightening up her living room, yet laughed her way through “Surrender.” I was going to show Chris’s family that I had a little bit of talent and the experience that comes from years of playing games. What I dreaded was that I knew his family wouldn’t accept that I’m a gamer in my own right, separate from Chris. My gaming isn’t a compromise, a way to spend time with my boyfriend. I wouldn’t be able to explain to them that gaming is a passion I’ve had since I was five. (more…)