Hello my gametes--It's been a while since I've posted, and the last time I posted I was all ranty and mad. I figured there wasn't much out there to be angry at anymore but then gamestop.com goes ahead and proves me wrong.
Again, I have to thank Amy from Thwomp Factory for bringing this appalling... idea to my attention.
If ever there was a time where I would have liked to be a fly on a wall in a board meeting, THIS IS PROBABLY IT. Not that I believe people are immune for whatever reason to directed marketing and the possible exploitation that ensues, but because this seems so forced, it becomes ridiculous. I actually asked Amy if this was real, or some kind of prank or spoof. "No," she said, "it's all real."
But I paused: was getting girls into football games such a harmful prospect? After all, no stereotype is without its grain of truth (however small it may be) and I can count on one hand the number of girls I know into football*. Clicking around the links from the homepage, I was soon proven wrong:
Yes, that's right. This really IS Football 101. As in, under the assumption girls know NOTHING about football--its terminology is crazy moon language that must be decoded into very simplistic terms. If I were a girl who wanted to understand football a little more, I'd probably ask my football-loving guy friends to explain it to me. I'm sure they'd be happy to share what they know and it would bring attention to the fact that I'm making a concerted effort to like the things typically only men like. If only it went the other way, and I could teach my guy friends all I know about fine dining and etiquette."Oh LT," you say, "surely giving the ladiez a brush-up on football terms isn't TOTALLY BAD. I mean if when the student is ready, etc." Fine, so let's move on.
Oh no, RECIPES. Because women love to COOK, right? Well, having a party with no food IS pretty sad. Let's have a look at the vittles one might make for a GIRLS NIGHT IN:
I don't know about you, but associating Brett Favre with "hot" and crabs makes me kind of giggle. Is Brett Favre famous for liking crabs? Having crabs? How could they be a favorite? Did some reporter ask him 'BRETT ONE QUESTION: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DIP?' Perhaps it was an interview sponsored by Kraft.I also would like you to notice everything is 'low-fat'. As Amy said, 'Gotta keep it slim and healthy for the ladies!' How true. God forbid we enjoy "man food" such as chicken wings and potato skins loaded with curdly death. Honestly, if we're already sitting on our asses playing football video games, would we care about fat and calories in the first place? Actually, I don't know how to answer that.
I think what bothered me most about this entire site was the Party Supplies page...moreso the concept. Putting women together in a room with healthy, low-fat foods and a football video game doesn't necessarily result in a great, girl-bonding time had by all. I'm not sure if that's what Nice Pete from Achewood would call "a man's thinking", ill-applied in this case but just to show you what skeeves me, have a look.
So basically, this is a party for a kid who really likes football. The inclusion of the "cutest quarterback" just kind of makes me ralph. I don't think I need to explain it.As an aside about "locker room" dance music: You know that song that doesn't have any words except for yelling? It goes 'NER NERRRRR NERNER [HEYYYY] NERNER NERNER.' It's by a guy named Gary Glitter. He is a pedophile. I can't listen to the song anymore without thinking about him swatting 11 year-old Asian child prostitutes and getting thrown in jail. But I digress.
I wonder how many women will skip the 'eye black' because they think it might clog their pores, or clash with their makeup. A BETTER QUESTION: Why didn't the folks who collaborated on this think to write a condescending, faker-than-Cosmo-complimenting-different-body-sizes, unintentionally sexist blurb about how 'eye black' is non-comedogenic and actually is better for you than your boyfriend's facial? Give me a break.
So is gamestop's "heart" in the right place? Is this the best way to get girls into football games? Is playing Madden or any EA sports game like some gateway to other male-dominated games such as Halo or Dead or Alive? I'd hardly this a "pioneering" effort. Let's try to do a little more market research on women and games before another one of these "YOU LOVE SHOPPING...AND NHL 09!" monstrosities appears.
Li'l T out.
*By "into" I mean, she has a bunch of friends over for the Superbowl and they get rip-roaring drunk. And by "she" I mean my sister.
3 comments:
You know the flip-side to this is that guys are supposed to know everything there is about football by virtue of being a guy. I don't know much about football and I certainly don't like watching football. So either I'm not really a man... or guys don't necessarily know everything about football. And last time I checked, I was definitely a guy.
Gamestop should have made this event gender-neutral and instead spun it as an intro to football gaming.
@ methylparoben- that definitely is the other side of this sexist coin: women don't know anything about football but all men, by virtue of owning a certain set of genitalia, know all about it. And if you are a man who doesn't like sports, then you aren't really a "man", right? This comes from the same list of stupid social standards that tells me that I'm not womanly enough.
The whole ad for this Girls Night is rather condescending. I find it really hard to believe that there are a huge amount of American women out there who know nothing about how football is played. Even I know how football is played (thank you television and gym class) and I don't even like football. Even if there are women who don't understand football, there are many men who don't either.
"Gamestop should have made this event gender-neutral and instead spun it as an intro to football gaming."
That would have been the best idea but by making it a "Girls Night" thing Gamestop has alienated women and men who are turned off by the sexist notions Gamestop is using.
Also, I noticed that "Girls Night" in the ad is pastel colored. Because, you know, women all like pastels and men all like strong, solid colors.
So the more I think about this, the more I wish they (and advertisers in general) would just be sincere.
Like "Hey, women, statistics show you don't buy very many copies of Madden, but maybe you should give it a try!"
Trying to put reasons for playing, or not playing in the mouths of women will only result in a lot of angry when someone who doesn't share that reason reads it. Who cares if one's reason for not playing is that you've seen it as a "man's video game" or that you don't like football, or you don't own a wii, or whatever the hell else. The point is they want new people to try it out (going gender neutral also may have worked) and all newcomers have different reasons for not trying it out.
My least favorite part were the implications all over that were telling me I was only doing this out of my love for the dudes. Whether it be I think football players are "cute" or that I would have to borrow my husband's wii (haha, that sounds dirty), or that I wanted to get into a big ol' wankfest with men over who knew more football lingo, it was all saying "women only doing things for men."
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