SXSW 2012 - ARGs and Women: Moving Beyond the Hot Brunette

ARGs and Women: Moving Beyond the Hot Brunette
Event	Interactive 2010
Format	Solo
Organizer	Andrea Phillips – Deus Ex Machinatio
Description	ARGs are often trotted out as a shining example of woman-friendly games. They boast unusually high rates of female developers and players, and a slew of kick-ass female leads. But if you dig a little deeper, are they just the post-Buffy version of Princess Peach, always needing to be saved?
Questions Answered	Do women play games? Do women make games? How are player and developer demographics different for ARGs and video games? How are women portrayed in traditional video games? How are women portrayed in ARGs? Why do gender roles in games matter, anyway? Why do the same few archetypes keep showing up in games? How do you come up with non-problematic female roles? How do these techniques extend to people of varying ethnicities, sexuality, body size, etc.? Are there games that do a great job of portraying women and other minorities?
Level	Beginner
Category	ARGs, Content, Social Issues, Video Games, Writing / Technical Writing

ARGs and Women: Moving Beyond the Hot Brunette