Comics, women and games
Yesterday on Journalista, Dirk Deppey pointed to several commentaries regarding a current controversy about the treatment of women in gaming and finished by asking, "Apparently, there’s an entertainment industry even less receptive to women than comics. Who knew?"
Well, actually, I knew. In fact, it's one of the reasons I don't chime in about misogyny in the comic book world more often. It's a shitty reason, I know, but there it is. Whenever I get down about attitudes towards women in comics, I know I can always say to myself, "At least it's not as bad as gaming." The culture of gaming reminds me of the title of one of Ernest Hemingway's short story collections: Men Without Women.
I don't want to sound like I'm whining. I'm not easily dissuaded from what are often thought of as men's entertainments. I am also grateful for the many excellent gaming blogs run by individuals who hold more advanced views on women and gender than those found in the mainstream gaming media; several are listed on my blogroll.
New gaming communities are being created online that promise to be more open to women. I'm ecstatic over the recently launched Lesbian Gamers and the newly expanded GayGamer. One of the best things about the internet is that if what's out there isn't working for you, it's not too hard to roll your own.

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Continuing with my
And also my Wiisword and Wiistaff. Shortly before the 2007 Xena convention, there was a discussion on one of the forums about Xena and gaming. Someone suggested that it would be a great idea to set up a LAN at the convention for attendees to play a Xena video game. That would be great, if only there was a multiplayer game for one of the current generation of networked consoles or the computer.
Women, including lesbians, are embracing video games more. On the L Word, we've seen scenes of Shane and Alice playing video games together. In the illustration shown here from the Outsiders current issue (#44), a lesbian superhero couple can be seen enjoying some quality time with their PS2.
Over the last week or so, I've been closely documenting an individual who, despite good intentions, appears to be headed down a dangerous road. I'm now releasing these notes so that you may grasp the tiny, seemingly inconsequential steps that nonethless lead one directly into fiery temptation.
I'm in that brief window of the year between my October birthday and Christmas where I actually get to enjoy first-run games. I'm too cheap to pay for them myself, but I always ask my family for them as gifts. Because this time period coincides with some of the best game releases, I get to choose from a great crop.
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