Maybe We Can Do Something About That Culture

I’ve witnessed a few conversations about the possible identity of Surfer Girl by a group of men. This is how they play out:

1. Surfer Girl probably isn’t actually a woman.

2. If Surfer Girl is a woman, she’s probably some kind of secretary or an assistant to a powerful and well-connected executive.

3. Yeah. Surfer Girl must be, like, this receptionist who sleeps around everywhere to get all her information... well, she may also get messages from tipsters from time to time.

The conversation usually diverts from there into some stories of promiscuous women that the people in the group have heard about.

Comments

[Rayna]

that just makes me sad. it's a shame to see that guys in the industry just can't fathom knowledgeable women in their midst. When I see/hear comments like that, my test to see if I'm over-reacting to the attitude, is whether I think their mothers would be ashamed to hear them talk like that. I know I would be if I had son who believed those sorts of things.

[JC Barnett]

A sad state of affairs indeed, and an enduring one. In Japan there are far more women in the industry but then again they've a lower glass ceiling in their career opportunities. But wih so many females that attitude is far less prevalent, which is odd as the while culture here is pretty pervy. Once more women take their inevitable (and righful) places in video games culture and industry things should improve, I hope.



(on the subject of Surfergirl's identity, in one Kotaku interview she states she is on the "inside" and repeats the word "inside" with emphasis, which makes me believe she is on the peripheral of the industry as only those people (journalists, recruiters, etc.) seem intent on claiming they're on the "inside", whatever that means. Still, a little mystery is good fun, as long as it doesn't turn into a witch hunt.)

[UGA]

Saw the same thread at TCE and had the same response. Pretty disheartening. But as JC suggests as more women enter the industry the less this kind of subconscious (or subtle?) sexism will exist. It is, as cliched as it sounds, only a matter of time.