Nintendo Girls Club

[Dizzi Paradise]

Oh dear. I really had hoped we had moved past the whole "girls play with dolls, boys play with guns" rubbish that I grew up with. It doesn't matter what games Nintendo promotes on this Girls Club channel, the fact that there is a separate Girls Club at all is sexist. Because as soon as you start to segregate like this you end up with Nintendo UK as a whole = boys, Girls Club = girls. And then boys who play games specifically marketed as "for girls" face peer pressure, and girls who might want to play games not marketed as for girls either don't find out about them at all or also face peer pressure. For me, Girls Club = back of the bus, or separate water fountain (for anyone out there who either remembers or has been taught about racial segregation).

And why should "gentler" games be marketed for girls? One of hubby's favourite recent games was Attack of the Friday Monsters, which is extremely gentle. He loves AC:NL to bits and still plays every day. He's just finished Bravely Default. And he also loves GTA, Need for Speed, MGS, House of the Dead, Zelda... Of course, hubby is 43 and doesn't give a stuff about peer pressure anymore, but I can't see your average 13 year old boy wanting to be seen to play a game that's been marketed as "for girls". Nintendo have really shot themselves in the foot with this imo.

We don't need a Girls Club. We don't want a Girls Club. What we want is a company that produces a wide variety of games covering many different subjects and markets them without prejudice.

 

[Dizzi Paradise]

*sigh* Guys most gamers are GUYS,

No, they're not. In this house, the gender split is exactly 50/50. Outside my immediate family (and also going by the Streetpasses I get) the split may be closer to 60/40 boys/girls, but still nowhere near "most gamers are guys". I would guess that a much higher percentage of XBox/Playstation owners are male than female, but in my own experience the gender split for Nintendo players is now roughly even, certainly much more so than when I first started playing Pokemon in the 90s. Gamers as a whole are more evenly split gender-wise, and on average much older, than when I started playing video games in the 80s. Back then I was an odd duck because I was a gamer and a girl - but not anymore.

 

[chillv]

You can't possibly be comparing this to the segregation of black people back in history since they are completely different.

Also, you can't deny that it is common to see a lot of dudes who play games than girls. Most of the time, when I find a girl who plays video games, they are usually just a casual.

 

[Dizzi Paradise]

No, I'm not comparing. It was an illustration of segregation out of prejudice, which is what this also is. If you're gonna have a Girls Club, let's also have a Games for Gays Club or a special area for people of colour (a phrase I hate, incidentally, cos as far as I'm concerned everyone on the planet is a shade of brown). Neither of those would be at all appropriate, would they? What this Girls Club does is have one little area aimed at girls, while the rest is de facto aimed at boys. Like golf clubs that only allow women to play on Thursday afternoons and still call themselves "open to all".

It is prejudiced to segregate based on gender, age, colour, sexuality, religion or age (or indeed anything else). Having a demographic in mind when designing or marketing a product is fine, but when you start marketing something as specifically for one group of people you are excluding all the other groups, which is prejudicial.

I'm female. I'm perfectly capable of looking for and buying games that appeal to me personally. I don't need Nintendo to tell me what games I might like based on the fact that I'm female. If they want to market their more casual games to a casual gamer demographic they could call their Girls Club "Casual Club" instead - that would be more accurate and less prejudiced.

 

[TheCreeperHugz]

I really can't see the point in this. If anything, Nintendo have just lost sales by doing this, as now boys won't want to play these 'girl' games due to peer pressure, and it it unlikely to attract many more girl gamers than thkse who already play games. These aren't even necessarily girly games, they are just casual games. Girls have free choice of what games they want to play just like boys do, what is to stop us from wanting to play something like COD? This Girls Club is telling us which games the girls should be playing, which is utter nonsense.

 

[unravel]

Lol most of you guys didn't observe that it is rare to see girls playing video games (well they only play in tablets and shiz). That channel is just recommend games for girls since not all girls are updated with games and plus girls are more into casual gaming than fighting and etc. Have you see girls playing counter-strike, dota or other games like FPS and shiz? Well obviously it is rare to see girls playing those kind of games.

I'm a gamer and I do observe things majority players are guys jeez. Did Nintendo say that they didn't allow girls to play CoD or whatever kind of games? Well no, we all have choices. There is nothing wrong with that actually

Hey! we all have personal opinions YOLO!

 

[cIementine]

It's a series of videos advertising games, not the end of the world.

If you want to play a game, play it.

Don't let that annoying woman on the video tell you that you can't.

 

[nekosync]

They should just make a "Nintendo Newcomers' Club" where they suggest games that'd be good for people who are just starting out with Nintendo.

 

[Dizzi Paradise]

Interesting, isn't it, that most of the people offended (even if only slightly) by this or at the very least see it as patronising or pointless are female, while most of the people who see nothing wrong with it are male. Check your privilege, guys.

Oh yeah, and btw, it's a total fallacy that most gamers are guys. This report from the Entertainment Software Association says 45% of all game players, and 46% of the most frequent purchasers of games, are female.

Edited yet again to add: If you don't know what male (straight, able, etc etc) privilege is, read this.

 

[Radagast]

*sigh* Guys most gamers are GUYS, They are just suggesting game titles..And the ones that would be most applying to girls. Yes of course it's not all true... But it's more of a marketing thing if you think about it, really. So they can sell more 2ds's 3d's wii U's. So you gotta be thinking like that,

Lol most of you guys didn't observe that it is rare to see girls playing video games (well they only play in tablets and shiz). That channel is just recommend games for girls since not all girls are updated with games and plus girls are more into casual gaming than fighting and etc. Have you see girls playing counter-strike, dota or other games like FPS and shiz? Well obviously it is rare to see girls playing those kind of games.

"I almost only see guys playing video games, therefore it's ok to have horribly sexist marketing"

On a side note, COD isn't something I think the average girl would enjoy, unless they are a bit rough (they aren't that girly, but aren't a tom boy either) or a tom boy.

This is exactly the kind of attitude that we should be fighting against!

If anything, Nintendo have just lost sales by doing this, as now boys won't want to play these 'girl' games due to peer pressure, and it it unlikely to attract many more girl gamers than thkse who already play games.

Good point, this really isn't helping anything...

 

[Sasabonsam]

Gender segregation is a big problem in the toy industry as a whole and it sucks to see nintendo adding to the crap.

I understand that advertising a single tech-based toy to girls might be tough, considering that the vast majority of tech-based toys (robots, trucks, etc) are marketed almost exclusively towards boys and it's a lot harder to draw in the audience who's routinely told that those kinds of things aren't for them. This girl's club might help a little in the short term but without an overhaul in sexist toy advertising across the board, they aren't going to see any significant increase in numbers.

To the boys (it's always the boys) in the thread: The reason you don't see many girls and women playing stuff like CoD is because many of them go to lengths to hide their identities. Women who play games, especially 'hardcore' games, are disproportionally targeted for some pretty vicious harassment. A big part of why most anyone gets into games is to play with other people and it's much less satisfying to play with other people when they irrationally hate you.

 

[keepitshay]

Girls make up about half of gamers so I don't see why they need to make special clubs.

 

[Blu Rose]

/me is scared to post this, but...

All Nintendo is doing is trying to get more girls to play video games.
At least, that's how I understand it.

If I were to take a public opinion poll, not just on TBT, but, say, my school, or, heck, the state of Michigan, then I know that the results would most likely come back as a higher percentage of the boy population playing video games, over a population of girls playing video games.
I'm not trying to be a sexist pig here, just stating what I personally think the truth is.

As I see it, they are just trying to get more girls into video gaming, so that they can relate more, I don't know.

Plz don't kill me for doing this...

 

[Sasabonsam]

The problem isn't that they're trying to bring more girls into gaming. The problem is that they're doing it in a way that may encourage the idea of certain games being for girls while the rest are normal.

"Things for girls" tends to be defined as its own genre/type, usually based on stereotypes, and it implicitly defines all the many varied things outside of that type as "Things not for girls".

 

[radical6]

dont get why people are saying most gamers are guys if girls make up a lot of the gaming population. dont have the source with me rn but i remember seeing quite a few surveys on it and girls were up there at around 48%.

the reason why you dont see girls playing like sasa said is that if they do say theyre a girl they will get hate or some unwelcoming comments. or girls are just turned away from these games - if i was a girl i would feel pretty unwelcomed to gaming if games have women as useless props for boobs and eyecandy.

really tho this club is useless and i dont understand the point of it.

 

[chillv]

Gender segregation is a big problem in the toy industry as a whole and it sucks to see nintendo adding to the crap.

Oh yes! Because it is totally okay to see boys playing with barbie, bratz and monster high dolls and writing in a pink journal.

There is stuff that is just not for boys and the things mentioned and many MANY other things are not for boys

Spoiler: Ahem!

Perfume
Dresses
Skirts
Lipstick
Mascera
Blush
Eyeshadow
Rouge
Nail polish
Hair flowers
Head bow ties
High heels
Pink (athough there are shades of pink that boys can wear, most shades aren't for boys)
Swaying hips side to side while walking (you know what I am talking about)
Fake eyelashes
Many many hairstyles including pig tail braids, fish tail braids, pony tails
etc. etc. etc...

 

[Sasabonsam]

Oh yes! Because it is totally okay to see boys playing with barbie, bratz and monster high dolls and writing in a pink journal.

Yes, it is. That some people think it's some crime against nature for boys to play with toys perceived as girly is extremely sexist. It's based on the view that to be a girl or to be like a girl is somehow awful. Toy segregation also means that little kids will bully or exclude others when they see they aren't acting 'normal'. The whole situation is crappy, and I'm pointing a finger at the toy industry for its share in the problem (hint: it isn't the index finger).

Your extra list is a good example of the girly genre. It's a long list, but all of it is appearance based, insinuating that being a girl is all about looking pretty. One of the most damaging stereotypes about women.

P.s. boys look gorgeous in mascara.

 

[shananza]

It's sad in a way... Women have been fighting to be equal outside of the gaming world, doing something like this doesn't help at all... Think about it, saying that certain games are for certain genders is silly, because guys like Animal crossing too (an example which has been used). They're saying that guys games are combat games with strategy and fighting, but girls can only either look after puppies (Nintendogs), water plants (ACNL), dress up (Style Boutique) and cook(cooking mama)... Then again gaming segregation has gone on way before this, such as Mrs. Pac Man and sexualising games intended for guys, such as Tomb Raider where they changed her design so that she has huge boobs. Maybe they'll rethink it through, but I highly doubt it. It's an extra channel, the more channels, the more money goes into their pockets. ._.
Man... I said all of that, and i'm not even a feminist 0.0

 

[oath2order]

Oh yes! Because it is totally okay to see boys playing with barbie, bratz and monster high dolls and writing in a pink journal.

There is stuff that is just not for boys and the things mentioned and many MANY other things are not for boys

Spoiler: Ahem!

Perfume
Dresses
Skirts
Lipstick
Mascera
Blush
Eyeshadow
Rouge
Nail polish
Hair flowers
Head bow ties
High heels
Pink (athough there are shades of pink that boys can wear, most shades aren't for boys)
Swaying hips side to side while walking (you know what I am talking about)
Fake eyelashes
Many many hairstyles including pig tail braids, fish tail braids, pony tails
etc. etc. etc...

Please stop talking.

 

[chillv]

Yes, it is. That some people think it's some crime against nature for boys to play with toys perceived as girly is extremely sexist. It's based on the view that to be a girl or to be like a girl is somehow awful. Toy segregation also means that little kids will bully or exclude others when they see they aren't acting 'normal'. The whole situation is crappy, and I'm pointing a finger at the toy industry for its share in the problem (hint: it isn't the index finger).

Your extra list is a good example of the girly genre. It's a long list, but all of it is appearance based, insinuating that being a girl is all about looking pretty. One of the most damaging stereotypes about women.

P.s. boys look gorgeous in mascara.

What I mean is that some stuff is not for males. I already know that not all women use make up and women are not all about looking pretty.

There is stuff that is not for women either

Spoiler: Ahem

Walking around with your shirt off (even if you are flat chested, it is wrong)
Cologne...

That's about it, women are capable of basically doing almost anything a male can do except *insert things here that has to do with the male side of the reproduction system*. But for men, it is vice versa. Men pretty much can't do many things that women do.

Also, I do not think it looks right for a boy to be playing with barbie dolls and such. However, it do think it does look alright to see a girl playing with something like G.I. Joe, Cars, and Trucks. That's just how I've been taught and how I've known everything growing up.

- - - Post Merge - - -

Please stop talking.

Why?!

- - - Post Merge - - -

It's sad in a way... Women have been fighting to be equal outside of the gaming world, doing something like this doesn't help at all... Think about it, saying that certain games are for certain genders is silly, because guys like Animal crossing too (an example which has been used). They're saying that guys games are combat games with strategy and fighting, but girls can only either look after puppies (Nintendogs), water plants (ACNL), dress up (Style Boutique) and cook(cooking mama)... Then again gaming segregation has gone on way before this, such as Mrs. Pac Man and sexualising games intended for guys, such as Tomb Raider where they changed her design so that she has huge boobs. Maybe they'll rethink it through, but I highly doubt it. It's an extra channel, the more channels, the more money goes into their pockets. ._.
Man... I said all of that, and i'm not even a feminist 0.0

You should see the women in DDR.

Well, Cooking Mama's target audience is actually boys and girls, same goes for Nintendogs and Animal Crossing New Leaf. However, Babysitting Mama and Style Savy Trendsetters (New Style Boutique) was geared towards a female audience, but with Style Savy Trendsetters, Reggie said that dudes may find it as a "guilty pleasure".

Also, you shouldn't assume that because a game is being marketed towards a female audience automatically means that boys will think it is a girls game. Boys have a certain way of justifying that other than ads.

They usually use this tactic (rules) to find if a game is a girls game

It is a girls game if it features at least two of the following:

1. Has a pink or girly background cover
2. Has a presumably pretty girl on the box
3. If the game has something to do with something girly such as makeup or babysitting.

I used to use this tactic when I was little.



Also, the thing that women fought for outside of gaming was for equal rights such as voting and equal pay. It wasn't like voting was advertised as something only men could do and they were at least able to do it. They weren't able to vote at all.

That's my main point as to why you can't compare the two. Just because they are advertising something to a certain gender does not mean the opposite gender does not have a right to play it. With segregation, you don't have the right to do something at all.