Career choices for girls according to videogames

Also: ice champion, ballet star, teacher, family doctor, and boutique owner.

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Comments

Crys says:

Oh gads it's dire. I can't bear it.

Imagine: Firefighterz
Imagine: Lawyerz & Judgez
Imagine: Scientistz
Imagine: Architectz
Imagine: CEOz
Imagine: Curatorz

... no? It's not like they wouldn't make awesome games.

Sodding Ubisoft.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

blech says:

I've got a similar photo from HMV in Islington. Terrible, isn't it?
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

allisonallison says:

Imagine: Statisticianz

Well, ok-- that game might be a little dull.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

nectarinemango says:

Ewww
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

Zoonie says:

Aaargh aaargh my eyes, they're bleeding!!!

I'm sitting here thinking - what's the solution?
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

vladcole says:

Really awful. This sort of brainwashing/indoctrination needs to stop.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

poormojo says:

These days we need a "Imagine: Unemployed"
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

The McRaneys says:

You've got it backwards. Companies don't make games and wait to see if they will sell; they do research and sell what is most likely to get bought.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

Dean Putney says:

I think I'd make a pretty good Peggle. Why is it only girls get the cool jobs?
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

allisonallison says:

@The McRaneys: Who's got it backwards?

My title says "Career choices for girls according to videogames." It's a observation: those are the career choices according to the games' titles. My post --till now-- offers no comment or explanation.

None of the comments preceding yours seem to put blame on the marketing department of Imagine. Everyone just seems rightly disgusted with the status quo. So I'm not really sure who has it 'backwards' other than, you know, this society as a whole.

Marketers know this crap will sell. Kids want to buy flashy new toys. Toys reinforce gender roles, so those games sell well. Gender stereotyping is an endless feedback loop, and games like this are ugly reminders.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

schmutzie says:

Cripes, that is depressing. It is the 2000s, isn't it?
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

Sebastian Anthony says:

Damn, Dean stole my joke about being a Peggle.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

_saturnine says:

You've got it backwards. Companies don't make games and wait to see if they will sell; they do research and sell what is most likely to get bought.

Then they need to fire their researchers, because these are all over the Target clearance racks in great quantities and the same copies of the game have been there week after week.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

Tateru Nino says:

And while all these games are sitting in the clearance bins, not moving, the girls are off playing Ace Attorney or Majesty 1/2 (in my experience)
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

The McRaneys says:

I apologize if my comment came off as an insult.

I'm not suggesting this is a good thing. I'm suggesting this is the way it is, and it's not the fault of marketing. We separate ourselves into gender roles and marketers prey on this behavior. One visit to Toys R Us will convince you of this.

You're right, it is an infinite feedback loop.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

MrMutha[redacted] says:

Imagine: Outraged Internet Commentator
Imagine: Gender Role Policeperson

Now, here are some other real games in the Imagine Series:
Imagine: Rock Star
Imagine: Master Chef
Imagine: Champion Rider
Imagine: Movie Star
Imagine: Family Doctor
Imagine: Soccer Captain
Imagine: Detective
Imagine: Artist
Imagine: Teacher

But you'd never know it from your tastefully outraged framing of the shot.

My 12 year old niece has these imagination games and games like Phoenix Wright and New Super Mario Bros. in equal measure. Her friends are pretty much the same. Sometimes, just sometimes, young girls *do* imagine being a fashion designer, makeup artist, or cheerleader. They don't seem to much imagine getting their panties, or tasteful gender appropriate undergarments, in a bunch over perceived gender inequality in the mobile video gaming market segment, however.

Could be an opportunity for you.

Also, get out of Wal-Mart, they are doing far more to ruin our society than gender biased video game designers.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

allisonallison says:

Here's a pretty interesting article I saw on Boingboing last week. It's about a group of school children who studied gender discrimination, and then criticized ToysRUs over their catalog.

ToysRUs scolded for gender discrimination
the Boingboing article
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

mrrix32 says:

Die Ubisoft die! Stop development on Nintendo consoles immediately.... actually you can make the Red Steel series, just nothing else!
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

KPsl0v3r007! says:

Imagine: Nursez
Imagine: Doctorz
Imagine: CEOz
Imagine: Artistz
Imagine: Teacherz

What happened to those?
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

GreenTeaMartini says:

Wow, this is the grossest think I've ever seen on the internet.

And there's some pretty gross stuff on the internet.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

matthiaswerner says:

ridicoulus.. we are in 21st century!
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

nertzy says:

Do male-targeted videogames offer these career choices?

* Murderer
* Car Thief
* Knight
* Magician
* God

Seems to me that games are a form of escapist literature, so it's difficult to make the connection that the activity they portray is encouraging someone to change their career choices.

However, I do understand the point that the games in the photo are attempting to more closely model real life and thus have a subliminal message hidden beneath.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

scoodotcom says:

Make your own games gang!

There is no reason not to do indy game development, even as a hobbyist. A variety of game making tools have become simple and inexpensive enough for any individual with the drive to do so to knock out a playable game. With persistence, you really can do the whole "Be the change you want to see in the world" thing in this space.

Shrink wrapped $30 game carts are dinosaurs anyways. On an iPhone or iPod touch you can buy games anywhere you are that are just as good and ten times cheaper than the shovelware you typically find at a Target or Walmart. Any one reading this can do it.

Make the great games you'd want to buy for your girls.
Posted 2 months ago. ( permalink )

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Career choices for girls according to videogames

Comments

Crys says:

blech​ says:

allisonallison says:

nectarinemango says:

Zoonie says:

vladcole says:

poormojo says:

The McRaneys says:

Dean Putney says:

allisonallison says:

schmutzie says:

Sebastian Anthony says:

_saturnine says:

Tateru Nino says:

The McRaneys says:

MrMutha[redacted] says:

allisonallison says:

mrrix32 says:

KPsl0v3r007! says:

GreenTeaMartini says:

matthiaswerner says:

nertzy says:

scoodotcom says:

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