MTU Library Catalogue

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From Barbie to Mortal Kombat : gender and computer games / edited by Justine Cassell and Henry Jenkins.

Contributor(s): Cassell, Justine, 1960- | Jenkins, Henry, 1958-.
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookPublisher: Cambridge, Massachusetts : MIT Press, [1998]Copyright date: ©1998Description: xviii, 360 pages : illustrations (some colour) ; 24 cm.Content type: text Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volumeISBN: 0262531682 (hardback) ; 0262032589 (hardback) .Subject(s): Computer games -- Social aspects -- Congresses | Games for girls -- CongressesDDC classification: 306.4870285
Contents:
Part one: The girls' games movement -- Chess for girls? feminism and computer games / Justine Cassell and Henry Jenkins -- Computer games for girls : what makes them play? / Kaveri Subrahmanyam and Patricia M. Greenfield -- Girl games and technological desire / Cornelia Brunner, Dorothy Bennett, and Margaret Honey -- Video game designs by girls and boys : variability and consistency of gender differences / Yasmin B. Kafai -- Part two: Interviews -- Interview with Brenda Laurel (Purple Moon) ; Interview with Nancie S. Martin (Mattel) ; Interview with Heather Kelley (Girl Games) ; Interviews with Theresa Duncan and Monica Gesue (Chop Suey) ; Interview with Lee McEnany Caraher (Sega) ; Interview with Marsha Kinder (Intertexts Multimedia) / Interviews conducted by Jennifer Glos and Shari Goldin -- Part three: Rethinking the girls' games movement -- Retooling play : dystopia, dysphoria, and difference / Suzanne de Castell and Mary Bryson -- "Complete freedom of movement" : video games as gendered play spaces / Henry Jenkins -- Storytelling as a nexus of change in the relationship between gender and technology : a feminist approach to software design / Justine Cassell -- Voices from the combat zone : game grrlz talk back.
Summary: "Many parents worry about the influence of video games on their children's lives. The game console may help to prepare children for participation in the digital world, but at the same time it socializes boys into misogyny and excludes girls from all but the most objectified positions. The new "girls' games" movement has addressed these concerns. Although many people associate video games mainly with boys, the girls' games movement has emerged from an unusual alliance between feminists activists (who want to change the "gendering" of digital technology) and industry leader (who want to create a girls' market for their games). Contributors explore how assumptions about gender, games, and technology shape the design, development, and marketing of games as industry seeks to build the girl market. They describe and analyze the games currently on the market and propose tactical approaches for avoiding the steroetypes that dominate most toy store aisles. The lively mix of perspective and voices includes those of media and technology, educators, psychologists, industry insiders, and girl gamers." -- Inside cover.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Girls and computer games--and the movement to overcome the stereotyping that dominates the toy aisles.

Many parents worry about the influence of video games on their children's lives. The game console may help to prepare children for participation in the digital world, but at the same time it socializes boys into misogyny and excludes girls from all but the most objectified positions. The new "girls' games" movement has addressed these concerns. Although many people associate video games mainly with boys, the girls games' movement has emerged from an unusual alliance between feminist activists (who want to change the "gendering" of digital technology) and industry leaders (who want to create a girls' market for their games).

The contributors to From Barbie® to Mortal Kombat explore how assumptions about gender, games, and technology shape the design, development, and marketing of games as industry seeks to build the girl market. They describe and analyze the games currently on the market and propose tactical approaches for avoiding the stereotypes that dominate most toy store aisles. The lively mix of perspectives and voices includes those of media and technology scholars, educators, psychologists, developers of today's leading games, industry insiders, and girl gamers.

Contributors
Aurora, Dorothy Bennett, Stephanie Bergman, Cornelia Brunner, Mary Bryson, Lee McEnany Caraher, Justine Cassell, Suzanne de Castell, Nikki Douglas, Theresa Duncan, Monica Gesue, Michelle Goulet, Patricia Greenfield, Margaret Honey, Henry Jenkins, Cal Jones, Yasmin Kafai, Heather Kelley, Marsha Kinder, Brenda Laurel, Nancie Martin, Aliza Sherman, Kaveri Subrahmanyam

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part one: The girls' games movement -- Chess for girls? feminism and computer games / Justine Cassell and Henry Jenkins -- Computer games for girls : what makes them play? / Kaveri Subrahmanyam and Patricia M. Greenfield -- Girl games and technological desire / Cornelia Brunner, Dorothy Bennett, and Margaret Honey -- Video game designs by girls and boys : variability and consistency of gender differences / Yasmin B. Kafai -- Part two: Interviews -- Interview with Brenda Laurel (Purple Moon) ; Interview with Nancie S. Martin (Mattel) ; Interview with Heather Kelley (Girl Games) ; Interviews with Theresa Duncan and Monica Gesue (Chop Suey) ; Interview with Lee McEnany Caraher (Sega) ; Interview with Marsha Kinder (Intertexts Multimedia) / Interviews conducted by Jennifer Glos and Shari Goldin -- Part three: Rethinking the girls' games movement -- Retooling play : dystopia, dysphoria, and difference / Suzanne de Castell and Mary Bryson -- "Complete freedom of movement" : video games as gendered play spaces / Henry Jenkins -- Storytelling as a nexus of change in the relationship between gender and technology : a feminist approach to software design / Justine Cassell -- Voices from the combat zone : game grrlz talk back.

"Many parents worry about the influence of video games on their children's lives. The game console may help to prepare children for participation in the digital world, but at the same time it socializes boys into misogyny and excludes girls from all but the most objectified positions. The new "girls' games" movement has addressed these concerns. Although many people associate video games mainly with boys, the girls' games movement has emerged from an unusual alliance between feminists activists (who want to change the "gendering" of digital technology) and industry leader (who want to create a girls' market for their games). Contributors explore how assumptions about gender, games, and technology shape the design, development, and marketing of games as industry seeks to build the girl market. They describe and analyze the games currently on the market and propose tactical approaches for avoiding the steroetypes that dominate most toy store aisles. The lively mix of perspective and voices includes those of media and technology, educators, psychologists, industry insiders, and girl gamers." -- Inside cover.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

  • Acknowledgments
  • About the Authors
  • Part 1 The Girls' Games Movement
  • Chapter 1 Chess For Girls? Feminism and Computer Games
  • Chess for Girls: A Parable for Our Times
  • What Do We Mean by Gender?
  • What Do We Mean by Computer Games?
  • The Facts (and Ramifications) of Girls Differential Use of Computer Games
  • Why Are Things Changing Now? A New Market, A New Entrepreneurial Feminism
  • Computer Games to Change Gender Relations, or to Satisfy the Girls Market?
  • Computer Games for Girls (Whatever Girls Are)
  • New Computer Games for Girls, or a New Look at the Old Games
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
  • Chapter 2 Computer Games for Girls: What Makes Them Play?
  • Background
  • Why Did Barbie Fashion Designer Succeed?: Features That Attract Girls
  • Barbie Fashion Designer and Other Barbie Software Titles
  • Violent Action: A Barrier for Girls
  • Violent Action in Computer Games
  • Violent Action in Play and Television
  • How Has the Software/Game Industry Responded to Concerns That Aggressive Content Is Not Appealing to...
  • Application to Barbie Fashion Designer
  • Game Genres and Game Themes
  • Genres and Themes in Computer Games
  • Genres and Themes in Girls Other Activities
  • Application to Software for Girls
  • Application to Barbie Fashion Designer
  • Microworlds
  • Computer Game Worlds
  • Microworlds in Other Domains
  • Application to Computer Software for Girls
  • Application to Barbie Fashion Designer
  • Barbie Fashion Designer as a Tool Program
  • Characters
  • Characters in Computer Games
  • Characters in Other Kinds of Play
  • Application to Software Design for Girls and Barbie Fashion Designer
  • Barbie Fashion Designer Goes One Step Further
  • Modes of Interaction
  • Interacting With Computers
  • Application to Barbie Fashion Designer
  • Gender Stereotypes
  • Is Barbie Fashion Designer a Game?
  • What Works?
  • Girls Games versus Androgynous Games
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
  • Chapter 3 Girl Games and Technological Desire
  • Gender and Technological Desire
  • Implications for the Design of Girl Games
  • References
  • Chapter 4 Video Game Designs by Girls and Boys: Variability and Consistency of Gender Differences
  • Introduction
  • Review of Research
  • Research Context and Methodology
  • Results
  • Game Genres
  • Game Worlds
  • Development of Game Characters
  • Design of Game Feedback
  • Design of Game Narrative
  • Discussion
  • Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
  • Part 2 Interviews
  • Chapter 5 An Interview
  • Chapter 6 An Interview
  • Chapter 7 An Interview
  • Chapter 8 Interviews
  • Chapter 9 An Interview
  • Chapter 10 An Interview
  • Part 3 Rethinking the Girls' Games Movement
  • Chapter 11 Retooling Play: Dystopia, Dysphoria, and Difference
  • Playing with Gender: What Does a Woman Want?
  • Dysphoria
  • Conclusion
  • Dystopia
  • Differences
  • Notes
  • References
  • Chapter 12 "Complete Freedom of Movement": Video Games as Gendered Play Spaces
  • A Tale of Two Childhoods
  • Moving Beyond Home Base: Why Physical Spaces Matter
  • Putting Boy Culture Back in the Home
  • Gendered Games/Gendered Books: Toward a Cultural Geography of Imaginary Spaces
  • Adventure Islands: Boy Space
  • Secret Gardens: Girl Space
  • The Play Town: Another Space for Girls?
  • Conclusion: Toward a Gender-Neutral Play Space?
  • References
  • Chapter 13 Storytelling as a Nexus of Change in the Relationship between Gender and Technology: A Feminist Approach
  • What Girls Really Want and Who They Really Are
  • What Is a Feminist Approach?
  • What Is Feminist Pedagogy?
  • What Is Feminist Software Design?
  • What Is Storytelling and What Function Does it Serve?
  • Raising Ones Voice
  • What Has Computer Storytelling Been?
  • What Could Interactive Storytelling Be: Storytelling Systems Built on Feminist Principles
  • Renga
  • Rosebud
  • SAGE
  • Possible Objections
  • Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
  • Chapter 14 Voices from the Combat Zone: Game Grrlz Talk Back
  • But . . . Girls Dont Do THAT!
  • Grrls & Gaming on ABC News
  • This Girl Wants Games
  • Why GameGirlz?
  • The Image of a Female Gamer
  • Lara Croft, Female Enemy Number One?
  • Where Do Girls Fit in the Gaming Scene?
  • Index

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Justine Cassell is Associate Dean of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University.

Henry Jenkins is Provost's Professor of Communication, Journalism and Cinematic Arts at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California. He is the coeditor of From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games (MIT Press, 1998).