Women in Games Conference Canceled Due to Lack of Delegates

[Dr. Paine]

'Women in Games' is Facebook group at best. Why not just be a fucking GAMER, rather than attempting to divide the two halves of the species even further?

Lack of delegates has brought this year's Women in Games conference to its knees.

oh, you.... i certainly lol'd on that one

I did too. We're doomed, aren't we?

Wanna play Left 4 Dead with me when we get to hell? I laughed too, and I'm a girl x3

 

[Sonofadiddly]

Seriously, women need to stop pulling shit like this. What are they trying to accomplish by holding conferences like these?
You never see guys starting male video game conferences.

Few things in this world fill me with seething, incoherent rage. The news about the cancelled conference didn't even quite get me there. This comment does.

Special conferences for women wouldn't be necessary if sexism didn't exist. But it still does. As made obvious by the comments on this article, it's still rampant. And anyone who thinks differently is probably a white male with little education on the subject. And those particular people can take their opinions and perform some miscellaneous sex act with them.

First off, I award you with a double facepalm for the comment on white males.

Second of all, sexism is a two way street.
Sure, it's no major shock that video game related events consist mainly of men. But I ask you again, have you ever seen a video game conference that was restricted to males only? Do you even know how hard the media would come down on their ass if something like was set up? Why should it be any different for females?

I have the same amount of respect for females as I do for males, but I think things like these are rather silly. It's pretty ironic how something like this is set up and excludes males by females who have felt excluded at male dominated events.

Personally, I think everyone (regardless of gender or race) needs to chill the fuck out about about feeling excluded and just go have fun at these events. Feeling excluded because you're minority is much different than actually being excluded.

I don't have the energy to argue with another person on the subject. I saw you saying something about women's efforts to do whatever being shit, got offended, and was sexist back. Hypocritical? Yep. Thought it was kind of funny when I wrote it. But it's not.

By the way, that picture? SAVED.

 

[Criquefreak]

Plenty of good points on the theme of: segregation is not a cure for segregation. There is certainly a lot of legitimate research on the topic of women getting a worse bid in employment, but I doubt that a separate video games conference is going to help raise awareness, particularly if part of the community isn't invited.
Something that might help is trying to improve the depiction of women IN games, which could actually help more women to want to play them and maybe even become a part of developing games in the future. Of course, raising awareness of this issue and pressing it into the minds of developers would mean becoming part of a larger conference rather than staging a separate one.
As far as the idea that 90% of the gamer market is men/boys, I severely doubt that. Perhaps the most vocal element of the market and the one most likely to condemn a game for not catering to T&A fanservice. I'm also quite certain that most anyone here can name a few games that were incredible successes without catering to the male libido.

 

[Sonofadiddly]

I don't have the energy to argue with another person on the subject. I saw you saying something about women's efforts to do whatever being shit, got offended, and was sexist back. Hypocritical? Yep. Thought it was kind of funny when I wrote it. But it's not.

By the way, that picture? SAVED.

Although I still stand by the point I was trying to make, I do feel that I may have chosen a poor choice of words which may have lead to my statement being interpeted the wrong way. And as I stated above, I'm sorry if it came off as rude or offensive.

Spoiler: P.S. if you are humored by facepalms, you'll enjoy this.

Saw that one on Halolz. Hilarious!

By the way, is this conference really for girls only? That seems to be what people are saying, but I got curious and looked at their blog thing, and the pictures, which I assume are from past events, have men in them. And one of the committee members is a dude! If this thing isn't actually segregated, there has been some massive time wasting going on here by people that include me.

 

[walmartius]

*snicker* Group X and group Y *snicker*

I'd like to state a better opinion on this, but I never even heard of it til now... Who are these people?

Just generic place holder terms I used to represent a generic situation that could apply to many groups.


Edit: I went on their website and it looks like sonofadiddly is right and it is for both men and women. Disregard my previous post.

 

[jamesworkshop]

Snip

Here's one saying that women get paid less for the same work:

http://www.financialpost.com/working/story.html?id=360347

Here's one saying that qualifications are not a factor, it is actually the employer's fault:

http://www.couriermail.com.au/business/jobs/employers-think-they-can-pay-women-less-study-finds/story-e6freqo6-1225840646203?from=public_rss

Here's one saying the pay gap is worse in higher positions:

http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/the-real-reason-women-are-paid-less-than-men.aspx

That second article blames the problem on babies as well. Because of course all women have babies and men never take paternity leave. That was sarcastic.

Now let's see here. You're talking about lawsuits out of nowhere. You really think that every instance of discrimination leads to a lawsuit? That's just impossible. It only happens when it can be proven, so probably 95% of the time people get away with it. And don't tell me to find you an article proving that number.

And now you're ripping me because I used the word job instead of career? You knew what I fucking meant.

And finally, you're telling me you think a celebration or study of a single culture, race, gender, etc, is segregation. That is where I draw the line. You are officially too insane to argue with. Have a nice life. Maybe do some research yourself once in awhile. Seriously.

"This is explained in part by the low participation of women in the workforce, but those women that do work are more likely to be highly educated, highly skilled and in higher-paid jobs,"

"This report reveals in detail the extent of discrimination women face in being paid equal to men for performing the same work around the globe,"

http://www.financialpost.com/working/story.html?id=360347

might want to read your research a bit more closely

 

[Nemu]

Seriously, women need to stop pulling shit like this. What are they trying to accomplish by holding conferences like these?
You never see guys starting male video game conferences.

You mean pretty much every other vg conference there is?

There's always plenty of female gamers at vg conferences and conventions. Or least from what I've seen.
But giving you benefit of the doubt, how is that a good reason to hold a conference exclusive only to women? It's almost like holding a vg convention exclusive to a certain race of people.

Edited my previous comment.

You know, after initially posting, I looked at the profile of this person and all see is a white, 20-year-old male student.

So, I'm going to be as generalizing and he is and just laugh at his lack of life experience because of his aformentioned age, gender and race.

Not that that's a bad thing, really, it's just typical for kids to see the world through their rose-tinted glasses. One day he might see how the world really is for folks who aren't male and white. =/

Back OT: it is rather sad that such a conference had to be canceled (as are the neanderthal reactions). Perhaps, if such a thing can't be held by itself, a delegation of women could have a panel/lecture/program at an existing gaming con or two. Not only would they, realistically, get a larger audience, but they'd likely be able to "lure in" more women who might not otherwise be able to make it to that particular show, but perhaps E3 or TGS. *shrug*

But let's face it, with such a small community of women developers, it would have been difficult to organize anyway.

 

[Ajna]

Seriously, women need to stop pulling shit like this. What are they trying to accomplish by holding conferences like these?
You never see guys starting male video game conferences.

Well duh. >_>

They don't need to.

If you want something comparable, it'd be like a male knitting conference...
Or something like that.

Whenever a group is under-represented, if you want to discuss any issues about it, you tend to have to make a special effort.
The majority group doesn't need to do that, because it's issues are already being discussed. (usually as if they are the only viewpoint that exists.)

I've heard people's arguments against Wiezzen's statement before, but they always fell flat for me, and I would agree with the initial statement. But the way you phrased it there changed my mind.

You changed somebody's mind over the internet.

Now if you'll excuse me, I hear some horses outside, and I think the dude on fire wants to have a chat with me.

 

[crotalidian]

There is a very good reason that not enough people want to go to this conference. It's in BRADFORD, that is the north of England to any non-UK residents. cold, wet and not very cool. (stick -er (than the rest of the UK) on the end if you want to feel superior)

they could be offering Free hookers and Blow with simultaneous online game marathons and Michael atkinson Stonings and I still wouldnt want to go there

 

[DoctorDisaster]

Note for morons: a "women in gaming" conference would not only be open to women. Women in gaming would be the theme of the conference. If you can't figure that out, please do not expect me to take your opinion seriously.

And one other thing...

Just as segregating as black history month.

You should look up the word "segregation" immediately. It does not mean what you think it means. If you're allowed in the room, it isn't segregation. Not knowing really basic stuff about discrimination does not help your argument that your opinion on discrimination is as valuable as anyone else's. (And I'm middle-class and white.)

 

[craddoke]

You don't suppose that the desire for a separate female conference might have something to do with things like the headline for this article do you? I know my wife thinks it's a hoot whenever I suggest that a woman's proper place is on her knees.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

*snicker* Group X and group Y *snicker*

I'd like to state a better opinion on this, but I never even heard of it til now... Who are these people?

Just generic place holder terms I used to represent a generic situation that could apply to many groups.


Edit: I went on their website and it looks like sonofadiddly is right and it is for both men and women. Disregard my previous post.

Yeah, but it's puntastic. I couldn't help but to laugh.

 

[freiheit]

What's with the tasteless headline?

 

[aegios187]

Why undertake the expense of having a separate conference? Why not just have special break out sessions or discussion tracks at GDC or SXSW that could accomplish the same thing? It's obvious there isn't ENOUGH of a willing (i.e. paying) audience to support a independent conference. There's no reason to make it a all or nothing decision.

Thought is in the right place, but I'd imagine that could be just as much work as throwing your own event if you have to cooperate with a whole other organization to host your own mini-event or panel within someone else's conference.

I don't think the issue is the effort involved, I believe the issue at hand is a separate conference isn't sustainable under its own weight. It's still far too niche apparently to be broken out into its own effort. At least having a track or some representation is better than nothing, which is what's happened here.

 

[Chipperz]

Special conferences for women wouldn't be necessary if sexism didn't exist. But it still does. As made obvious by the comments on this article, it's still rampant. And anyone who thinks differently is probably a white male with little education on the subject. And those particular people can take their opinions and perform some miscellaneous sex act with them.

So the opinions of white males don't matter? A sexist AND racist statement. That's amazingly bigoted, I hope you're proud.

I stand by my sexist/racist remark. I'm sorry, but I really do believe that as a white person, my opinions on racial issues hold very little weight, as I have not experienced much discrimination based on my race. And since white males experience the least discrimination, and you really, really, do, I don't take their opinions on discrimination seriously. And I get mad when they say that women are pulling shit by trying to have a conference.

Wow, you have clearly never worked in an office. It's a known fact that in an office, only men can be sexist and when a woman tells you to your face that you're useless because you're a man, they're just being playful and/or standing up for equality in the workplace. These will be the same people who can't do heavy lifting "because they're girls".

I'd just like to contrast that with the course I'm currently on. It's a Games Design course and in England, so it may not have much to do with games design in the UK, but roll with it. We just under a quater of the course are women, but that doesn't matter, because all we give a shit about is playing and making games. If we got split due to gender differences, that highlights a problem that simply isn't there and takes away from the very real (and far more pressing) issue that the members of the course who play [insert game here] are twats.

If all games designers see are games designers, then highlighting that some games designers are women just does that - makes problems where there are none and takes away from making games. More importantly, do you want games designers that don't give a shit about designing games, just so there are more female games designers, or would you rather a load of male designers who give a shit get fired?

 

[Furrama]

Seriously, women need to stop pulling shit like this. What are they trying to accomplish by holding conferences like these?
You never see guys starting male video game conferences.

You mean pretty much every other vg conference there is?

Nope, no dice. All other VG Conferences are open to both genders. This is excluding male designers and making a statement that female designers are somehow different to male ones and should therefore be treated differently.

Not exactly the best way of encouraging equality. I'm glad it tanked and hope it stays dead so we can focus on having the successful mixed gender conferences instead.

For what it's worth, I'm also disgusted that my country has a "Resource Center for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology", because like it or not, that is not equality in action.

Conferences like this or other meetings involving women on the development end or the game playing end NEED to exist at this point because:

1. The obvious. Women don't stand toe to toe with men in the gaming community at the moment and it's nice to find support and motivation among others of your own kind so that you can continue what you're doing and feel good about it. That's why conferences exist in the first place, to be around other people like you.

And 2. Thar is money to be made! Women are the fastest growing consumers in the video game market today and if women in the business aren't encouraged or included a lot of money stands to be lost by companies. Conferences like this make sense because when you gather a group of people together it's easier to discover what makes them tick, how they work, and it makes it easier to keep someone employed when they don't feel alone. Woman have a huge turnover rate in the business, and it helps to keep your women if they are to provide insight on the growing market.

Women and men AREN'T equal. I'm a woman, and in many regards I'm different from a guy in what I like or want to buy. If game companies are going to take advantage of the growing market they need to understand and employ women. Conferences like this help facilitate good will and confidence among women in the industry. It's hard to work in a boy's club when you feel alone.