| Aside from Elizabeth Fulda, I am the only woman working closely with the company, and I bring a perspective that the others could not understand unless they have lived a day in the shoes of a woman. I am very fortunate that every male member of Guardians of Order is extremely respectful of women and their work. They understand and agree with my vision of equality for men and women in the gaming industry and the world in general. Anime deals with a great deal of nudity that is largely targeted at women. While we do not believe in censoring the nudity that is depicted in anime, there are certain things that will never appear in a Guardians of Order publication and this is largely due to respect for women. In our Big Eyes Small Mouth line, if a picture of a sexily clad woman is used, an equivalent depiction of a man can be found. Jeff Mackintosh has done a great job of hiring artists that can draw either male or female characters who have sex appeal (which keeps our books true to anime) without gratuitous nudity and sexual exploitation. |
All of our books have examples of play that use female names as well as male names and the females are not only restricted to roles as players but are also portrayed as GMs as well. We have also used names that are popular in diverse ethnic cultures, such as Isaac, Devinder, and Thea, to name a few. Mark insists that text referring to characters or players directly must have "him or her" as the pronoun and not the more popular word "them" or "they". For example, a sentence would read, "A character can run at ten times his or her normal speed." instead of "A character can run at ten times their normal speed." Everyone recognizes that although not the majority, people other than white, male Americans role-play and we try to be inclusive of them in our products.
My biggest challenges usually involve people outside of the company who do not value the work and role of women. Some people automatically assume that simply because I am a woman, I could not have had a larger role than play-tester with our products. They do not take me seriously or find it hard to believe when I tell them my title and role in the company. Some men have made inappropriate remarks about my gender as well as my body or looked at me inappropriately. This is not surprising, considering the average portrayal of women in the industry, but it signals to me that although many products are justified as "intended to be fun" or "not taken seriously", many people do indeed take them seriously, cannot separate reality from fantasy, and believe that it is an appropriate manner in which to relate to females in the real world.
Another obstacle that I face happens during the con season when I have to walk into the dealer's room, and I am confronted with rows upon rows of images of women of unparalleled beauty, disproportionately endowed with perfect bodies. I have found myself feeling unattractive and inadequate next to these icons and there are times that I have to remind myself that this is not true and that the women portrayed in these images are not real and are anatomically impossible.
Despite all of this, overall I am happy to be working in this industry, especially with the people at Guardians of Order. I believe that women can be successful and influential in the male-dominated world of gaming. There is still a long way to go before the image of the scantily-clad female will be balanced with an equally revealing image of a male, but with every female we draw into this market signals the tides are changing.
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