Here's What's Wrong With Nintendo's 'Girls Channel'
Female gamers are often cast as outsiders in a boys' world, but Nintendo UK is trying to combat gender stereotypes with its weekend debut of Nintendo Girls Club, a YouTube channel for girls, which has already sparked controversy online for promoting sexism.
The weekly video series offers a community for news and trends geared toward female gamers. One of the first episodes features bubbly blond British actress Jorgie Porter sitting in a pastel bedroom, talking about the game “Animal Crossing: New Leaf,” in which players decorate their homes, then embark on a shopping spree at a fashion boutique before visiting the “makeover magician” for a new look “perfect for a night on the town.”
Unsurprisingly, the pink-washed channel has already experienced a social media backlash. “What's ... the point of that? It's just gonna be a Nintendo news channel but with more pink? Is this really necessary? I understand and appreciate Nintendo trying to appeal more to female gamers lately but this is just pointless,” wrote Nightowl58 on Reddit. And Chloi R tweeted, “I felt a real sense of embarrassment watching this Nintendo Girls Club thing.” Others called the channel “stereotypical and close-minded.”
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According to a recent report compiled by the Entertainment Software Association, 45 percent of all game players and 46 percent of the most frequent purchasers of games are female. Adult women make up 31 percent of the game-playing population. Even so, the gaming culture, historically male, has bred a sexist attitude directed at women, who often feel mocked, humiliated, and sexually harassed when entering the gaming realm. There’s even a term for men who defend female players (“white knight”). In that regard, it makes sense that a female gaming community such as Nintendo Girls Club would serve as a safe haven for women to gain confidence as players.
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Yet, attempts to integrate women have only emphasized female stereotypes. Example: In 2012, Nintendo launched its “Play As You Are” campaign to encourage women to explore the portable Nintendo 3DS. In the campaign, "Modern Family's" Sarah Hyland hawks Style Savvy: Trendsetters — a game in which players become virtual stylists who manage a fashion boutique.
“Many video game companies want to cater to women, but they don’t know how,” Jenny Haniver, founder of Not In the Kitchen Anymore, a female gaming community, tells Yahoo Shine. “You can’t just color everything pink and add horses and a mall and expect girls to get excited.”
According to Haniver, the gaming world has become a boy’s club in part because women aren’t encouraged at a young age to gravitate toward tech and computer-related fields. As a result, companies have floundered when it comes to their marketing efforts geared toward women. “Male gamers are divided into various pockets — role players, shooters, and so on. Female gamers are just seen as women,” she says. "There's nothing wrong with being a female gamer who enjoys shopping and makeovers — but those things don't define women."
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