From BarbieŽ to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games

Front Cover
Justine Cassell, Henry Jenkins
MIT Press, Feb 28, 2000 - Social Science - 380 pages
Girls and computer games—and the movement to overcome the stereotyping that dominates the toy aisles.

Many parents worry about the influence of video games on their children's lives. The game console may help to prepare children for participation in the digital world, but at the same time it socializes boys into misogyny and excludes girls from all but the most objectified positions. The new "girls' games" movement has addressed these concerns. Although many people associate video games mainly with boys, the girls games' movement has emerged from an unusual alliance between feminist activists (who want to change the "gendering" of digital technology) and industry leaders (who want to create a girls' market for their games).

The contributors to From BarbieŽ to Mortal Kombat explore how assumptions about gender, games, and technology shape the design, development, and marketing of games as industry seeks to build the girl market. They describe and analyze the games currently on the market and propose tactical approaches for avoiding the stereotypes that dominate most toy store aisles. The lively mix of perspectives and voices includes those of media and technology scholars, educators, psychologists, developers of today's leading games, industry insiders, and girl gamers.

Contributors
Aurora, Dorothy Bennett, Stephanie Bergman, Cornelia Brunner, Mary Bryson, Lee McEnany Caraher, Justine Cassell, Suzanne de Castell, Nikki Douglas, Theresa Duncan, Monica Gesue, Michelle Goulet, Patricia Greenfield, Margaret Honey, Henry Jenkins, Cal Jones, Yasmin Kafai, Heather Kelley, Marsha Kinder, Brenda Laurel, Nancie Martin, Aliza Sherman, Kaveri Subrahmanyam

 

Contents

Chess For Girls? Feminism and Computer Games
2
Computer Games for Girls What Makes Them Play?
46
Girl Games and Technological Desire
72
Video Game Designs by Girls and Boys Variability and Consistency of Gender Differences
90
Interviews
117
An Interview with Brenda Laurel Purple Moon
118
An Interview with Nancie
136
An Interview with Heather Kelley Girl Games
152
An Interview with Lee McEnany Caraher Sega
192
An Interview with Marsha Kinder intertexts Multimedia
214
Rethinking the Girls Games movement
231
Retooling Play Dystopia Dysphoria and Difference Suzanne de Castell and Mary Bryson
232
Complete Freedom of Movement Video Games as Gendered Play Spaces
262
Storytelling as a Nexus of Change In the Relationship between Gender and Technology A Feminist Approach to Software Design
298
Voices from the Combat Zone Game Grrlz Talk Back Compiled by Henry Jenkins
328
Index
342

Interviews with Theresa Duncan and Monica Gesue Chop Suey
172

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About the author (2000)

Justine Cassell is Associate Dean of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University.

Henry Jenkins is Provost's Professor of Communication, Journalism and Cinematic Arts at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California. He is the coeditor of From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games (MIT Press, 1998).

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