Jimquisition: Booth Babes

[undeadexistentialist]

So, here's my thought (I apologise if it's been brought up already, I read through three pages and nobody had mentioned it in quite these terms or quoted it from somebody else). Lots of people have said that maybe cosplayers would be a better idea, hire models with some knowledge about the subject. MY issue with that (which is, I admit, a purely personal one) is that whenever stuff like this happens and people are involved in it for a job, I can't help ascribing to them a certain level of dislike for being forced by contract to pretend to be enthusiastic about it.

The answer? Hire fans. Hold applications or something when you want to start a booth so that gamers themselves can apply for one day of promotion. In return, give them a days' wages and free tickets to the whole thing, as well as costumes of the character they'll be promoting (whether male or female). That way, you get people there who actually want to be there, falling within the bounds of cosplaying and actually KNOWING about and being truly INTERESTED in the feild, some game fans get free tickets and some pay for the day, a mix of men and women (depending on characters, as I said) and everybody's happy. The professional models would lose their jobs, but as people have said it's not more than a few days work in fairly large time gaps, they can't be losing THAT much (I hope).

Personally, I've never attended a gamecon coz I'm too poor, but I reckon I could totally rock a Corvo Attano outfit, and for the chance to attend a con and earn a bit of money on the side, I would so damn there.

Just my two cents

 

[MrBoBo]

What the cartoon at 4:19? It just gave me a major flashback as a child but I cant for the love of Christ remember the name of it.

 

[ThunderCavalier]

Booth babes are really a nasty issue that surrounds most gaming conventions, and while I used to be fairly anti-booth babe since it kinda represents the industry in a negative light, I do have to admit that blasting them as such does kind of do the people that do the job injustice, and taking out the practice basically puts a bunch of people out of a job. While I should be saying that they should try and find some other kind of modelling career... the economy's tough, and you have to make do with what you get.

Though yeah, I do have to agree that this argument might have been improved if we had some actual booth babe commentary. Maybe some journalists should get off their ass and interview them like *gasp* actual people.

 

[NightmareWarden]

I had always thought the issue which people who want to end or at the very least decrease the amount of booth babes had was that they thought it made the gaming industry immature. Using sexiness pointlessly in games is looked down upon and I believe that it should be.

Is it wrong to have attractive male and female characters in video games? Of course not. Is the fact that the majority of female teenage and adult characters in video games these days have supermodel/pornstar level body types a problem with the industry? I certainly think so. This is purely my opinion, but I think that the gaming industry is saturated with the idea of "sex sells"; I find it immature and I think that "booth babes" are an extension of this problem.

No hate for booth babes, more power to cosplayers of any costume, and hope for good things on the horizon.

 

[TAdamson]

Tricky subject.

I'm opposed to booth girls because in general. These are women that for the most part have taken a generic modelling contract from an agency and have turned up for a week of wearing skimpy outfits to attract male attention. They distract from the games themselves and add little to nothing to the information that Exhibitions are supposed to convey.

I do though value cos-players including paid cos-players such a Jessica Nigri.

The problem is how you distinguish between the two situations. Does every event need to have some, probably quite prudish, arbitrator of what is appropriate? I thought that Gabe's treatment of Nigri at PAX was heavy-handed, even for a family event. But then it is his event and he makes the rules (And apparently change them at a whim.

 

[Elf Defiler Korgan]

I am also a monster.

2-2:40, nicely done Jim.

 

[Elf Defiler Korgan]

It's immature and demeans gaming as a hobby.

Just about as much as cheerleaders do for the dignity of their respective sports.

Wise wolf!

 

[kburns10]

"Hell, I'm a white man at a gaming convention. It doesn't get more comfortable than that".

Quote of the day right there lol

 

[daxterx2005]

That was Jessica Nigry not Juliet Starling....
Unless she goes by two names.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

With you on this one. The fact that booth organisers feel compelled to do this makes me feel dirty, but if some women want to do this I don't think we should be stopping them.

 

[Bayushi_Kouya]

First half pretty much neatly summarizes my feelings. My opinion of a convention goes down as a function of how many booth babes are there.

As someone who works with gaming, I can understand the fear mentioned in the RE6 video about how consumers' brains will be distracted for even six hundreths of a second if you don't present them with a cornupcopia of everything they want, but at the same time, can I get at least a little credit for not being a perverted troll with magpie tendencies?

I feel kind of like the disgruntled television watcher. The two things studios know will sell are sex and violence, because they always herald great change, and change is how a story happens. Shows that are JUST sex or violence or both tend to be viewed as the very worst kind of pandering. I feel like that's what happened here -- someone in the industry figured out however long ago that convention goers can and do notice booth babes as an attraction besides the actual product, and that we, the viewing public, might make a decision about which booth to go to based on quantity/quality of the sexy ladies there. So in order to have a successful booth, babes are necessary, regardless of the quality of the product.

My favorite TV show has very little sex or violence, and neither is gratuitous when it does arrive. I kinda feel like my opinions on booths would be the same.

 

[disgruntledgamer]

Booth Babes really what people decide to complain about is getting ridiculous, is there really any different than a Booth Babe at E3 and the girls at a Car Show or the UFC girl's that hold up the ROUND signs?

No there isn't in fact those girls are actually less dressed and it's not like they're giving lap dances. If you're going to shut down E3 Booth Babes, than to be fair you have to shut down Boxing and UFC girls, Car show girls really anything with a girl standing next to it.

In fact lets follow this to its logical conclusion and just do what they do in the middle east and make all women cover from head to toe even in the dead of heat because they might cause impure thoughts.......

 

[Sonic Doctor]

Booth Babes

The punditry of the videogame community have been chatting an awful lot about booth babes this past year or so.

Watch Video

Great video. Both sides were explained quite well. When I saw the story on here about the Eurogamer Expo shenanigans a couple weeks ago, I found myself on the side that thinks getting rid of the booth babes is rather extreme.

I admit as well that I'd of course look at booth babes if I passed by them. I would find it rather odd if a straight guy like me said anything other than that. Looking at them though is far from the reason I say that we shouldn't get rid of them outright. I argued in the area of your point that they are people, not random things/aliens dancing about, and that they are working a job to make money for whatever reason.

It would be like if I found fast food workers morally offensive and said "well there could be other ways that I could get my order given to me and I impart my money for the goods. Why don't we get rid of the workers and do those things because they are cooler and don't make me feel annoyed/uncomfortable?" The problem is that as much as a problem I have with fast food workers, they are just that, workers, people with jobs that need them to make money.

Booth babes are workers too. You looked at the remove them and keep them sides, but I think there is one more side to be looked at....the worker side.

I think before expo's, cons, and whatever start doing away with booth babes, I think some kind of study should be done on how it would actually effect the people that do such jobs.

What would these girls be doing if they weren't jumping around for the game companies? Are they people with other skills? Could they be in some other line of work? Is there even any other kind of work out there for them? If so, what kind of work would that be?

It could be that some of them are doing it to make extra money until they can find the job they really want to do. Maybe some like the whole booth babe thing; they like games and like getting dressed up to show off the games for the companies that hire them.

Who knows, working as a booth babe seems like it would be a nice clean and cushy gig, for girls that really don't have any other skills and only know that they have a body that they can use. What would they be doing if they couldn't get the nice clean booth babe gig? They could end up working at some sleazy strip club or maybe doing some questionable video and photography gigs for the internet.

So, if we are going to even consider what we are going to do about this situation, I say we should ask the people that are at the heart of this matter and would truly be effected by the outcome.

What would the booth babes say?

 

[orangeapples]

I'd rather have people who actually know what is going on than pretty faces that are there for the sake of being a pretty face.

One of my friends is a model for car shows, and she doesn't know a thing about maintaining a car, but hey, she's pretty and she has a job, though she wished she was doing something else. She isn't there for her advice, she's there for people to take pictures with her.

The thing about her gigs is that they are pretty infrequent but they pay a lot. It is just a compromise that girls have to do. She makes in 2 days what many people our age make in a month (think minimum wage, 25-30 hours a week. So still not a lot). Problem is, she only gets calls like every other month because sometimes there just isn't a gig and she'll only have those 2 days in that month. Model at a Car Show isn't exactly something she can put on most resumes.

I personally think there is work every month, but the modeling agencies rotate the girls so they stay desperate. She thinks I'm right.

 

[theultimateend]

The short answer is western religions. I'd extrapolate but that's the answer.

No, the answer is what Susan said above; people treat them like shit. The idea that there is, in the end, nothing wrong is incorrect. It perpetuates the idea that a womans body is something that only has blanket material value, but the idea of stopping them from doing it because you feel "uncomfortable" seems ridiculous in my book. As much as I hate using this cop-out, let capitalism take care of it. If the booth babes make enough people uncomfortable that they stop going and stop paying, then time to get rid of them. If not, well, obviously that many people aren't uncomfortable, are they?

I'm fairly sure you supported my point by saying that the job itself is inherently negative.

If they were dressed to express violence or some other approved medium it would be acceptable, sexuality itself is stigmatized and it is that stigma that creates the atmosphere you speak of.

In all countries sexuality has a stigma be it religious or militaristic, it is as old as humanity but so are most of our failings.

In general if someone is treating others like shit they should have their balls stomped in, there is no justification and I don't think that 'booth babes' incite that kind of response, it is an underlying societal failure related to sexuality (among other issues).

Edit: We continually try to hide problems instead of actually addressing them, I find that unfortunate.

Double Edit: It's late, so I may have missed my point somewhere. But basically the problem isn't the women, it is people thinking the women are a problem or anyone that is making them a problem. Those folks are the instigators and the folks that should be addressed, and no I don't go to expos nor do I check out booth babes online so this isn't me trying to save the boobies or whatever.

This is me trying to point out that hiding women just so we don't have to address stigmas towards their sexuality (and sexuality in general) is pretty dark age bullshit.

 

[shadowstriker86]

compared to past videos, this seems like a really really minor issue, but ya, they need something more interesting than a set of tits and short skirts at booths

 

[Nurb]

I agree, gaming conventions would be basically the same without them, but the issues I'd take would be with the ideas:
A) The job the woman is paid for is negative or sexist.
B) Other women being "uncomfortable" around them is a valid reason to end the practice.

I think both points are rooted in the idea that an attractive woman making a job out of her physical beauty is a "bad thing". However, the people who complain about both don't consider women in the fashion and magazine industries as negative or sexist. What is different? In the case of booth babes, those women are ment to get men's attention and be appealing as a way to get people over to the game booth. A woman paid to look good in a magazine selling hair or makeup products is ok, but paid to look good on the floor of a game convention is "bad". I think there's a bit of a double-standard for them there.

As for B, well... let's put it this way; if any guy said they felt uncomfortable because they weren't as attractive when around some buff dude dressed as Kratos in his barely dressed state of battle outside a game booth, they would be told to stop being a pussy and deal with it.

I personally don't care one way or another, but I think people are giving the wrong reasons to stop using them

 

[blackrave]

It's immature and demeans gaming as a hobby.

Just about as much as cheerleaders do for the dignity of their respective sports.

True.

If only we could talk to booth-babes and knew their opinion on this issue
Oh, wait, they are people too and they can speak.
So why not to ask them? You know, wew fell known names, few barely known ones and few fresh ones.
I know it would complicated for her further booth-babe carrier if she would start bashing being booth-babe, so interview should stay anonymous.
Ask them how they feel about booth-babe concept, what are their thoughts about this issue, etc.
It can't be that hard.

 

[EclipseoftheDarkSun]

How about not have booth babes, but have members of the public dressing up in costumes provided by those publishers of games (of characters in those games - which is particularly easy for the mountain of sequel games out there) that are just coming out. People who don't just come from the top 1% or so of women in terms of "beauty" (which is at least partially subjective anyway), but who represent a broader cross section of appearance and are more defined by their enthusiasm for the genre? There's plenty of people willing to dress up as established anime and game characters out there. And there's employment for the dressmakers etc.

You can have competitions where the prize is to basically have the character costume and makeup 'makeover' and the standards for winning are to act (in front of one or more judges) in a way that best exemplifies the character being depicted or shows off your acting ability coupled with your enthusiasm..