Friday, October 3 2014, 12:20pm Miller Learning Center 250 Special Information: FREE, open to the public, First-Year Odyssey event Friday Speaker Series The market for video games is rapidly changing. For a long time, digital games were primarily designed for male audiences, but for the last decade there has been a steady increase in women and girl gamers. While the number of female gamers has grown in recent years – to roughly 48% – the video game industry is still dominated by men. At last survey, only 11% of video game industry workers are women. Thus, intended or unintended, the video game industry presents a disparity, wherein primarily men are creating games for the growing female audiences. This presentation analyzes several categories and themes of video games that specifically target women audiences, many reinforcing stereotypical women’s roles and behaviors both inside and outside of gaming contexts. In particular, the presentation focuses on themes of domestic labor, emotional labor, body management, and time management in games designed for women audiences.
