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Kotaku: Why were there no women presenters at Ps4 event?

P

params7

Banned
Today we got a healthy dose of next-gen information, delivered to us by a bevy of excited, breathless developers and publishers. Here's the thing: not a single one of the presenters at the PlayStation 4 event were women, and people noticed.

It's not something folks are happy about, either.

Getting women in games development is a noted problem in the industry, but the last year has seen a rise in conversation when it comes to gender and sexism in this industry. People will notice if, like today, there are no women presenters at your event.

The question is whether or not that will change. I admittedly didn't even notice there weren't women presenters until someone else mentioned it, which probably says something about how used to situations like this we all are. Some won't even bat an eyelash.

As a side note: the picture above shows some guys from Bungie, who you might remember because they looked super uncomfortable as they refused to raise their hands during their presentation (or because of Destiny, sure!)
Click to expand...

http://kotaku.com/5985822/why-were-there-no-women-presenters-at-the-playstation-4-event


well gaf?
 
W

walking fiend

Member
Because unlike Nintendo, their target demographic is mostly made of men; also because, most people in game industry happen to be men?

Also, it was definitely better than showing cheerleaders; now THAT is sexism.
 
I

iMax

Member
Isn't the very definition of sexism where you try and quantify equality to appease all parties concerned to avoid causing offence for a section of society that should be considered equally to everyone else?
 
D

Dibbz

Member
What is with the need to push certain people into certain positions. If they are good enough they will rise. No need to get up in arms at every turn.
 
H

Hot Coldman

Banned
edit: damn it beaten to an obvious joke

Anyway I saw people complaining this on Twitter, but I don't really get it. Complain about fucking lunatics like the guy introducing Second Son, or the utterly pointless appearance of Bungie's Most Awkward. I don't care what's between their legs so long as they're presenting the information well and aren't embarrassing themselves.
 
B

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Good point.

Probably because there are fewer female developers in general. No women were making these particular PS4 flagship games.

At least a woman presenter might have been wise.
 
E

erpg

GAF parliamentarian
So they should've arbitrarily brought out someone new for gamers to pen as their waifus/champions of diversity? The next generation Jade Raymond? Affirmative action press conferences?

Hilarious twitter posts, by the way.
 
K

Knoxcore

Member
I only noticed there were no women when the Bungie guys came out. Lets face it, the majority of the industry is men.
 
M

MrDaravon

Member
I...guess? For any of the companies that presented was their a woman executive or someone at the same level in that company even? If not it would have been even more disingenuous to have one present as a "token" one.
 
N

Napalm_Frank

Member
Did this really bother anyone? I'd rather have no women presenters than have some token presenter just because. He/She should be presenting who makes the most sense putting on the stage to present whatever product or game they are showing.
 
V

vocab

Member
Wario64 said:
Where was Grace Chen?
Click to expand...

istock_rm_photo_of_asian_woman_sleeping.jpg
 
A

antitrop

Member
Let it never be said that I would like less women anywhere.

I would have been fine with a whole press conference ran by women. Or bring Jade Raymond out instead of Yves, he's not particularly entertaining.

Or maybe all women and Mark Cercy, because he was the highlight of the show. Certainly wouldn't get rid of him.
 
R

Ravensmash

Member
iMax said:
Isn't the very definition of sexism where you try and quantify equality to appease all parties concerned to avoid causing offence for a section of society that should be considered equally to everyone else?
Click to expand...

Was just about to say this.

The sensible answer would be that all of the people Sony wanted in terms of studio heads were men - simple.

Unfortunately the head of Blizzard, Square Enix and Ubisoft are all male, shame on them!
 
E

Eljay

Neo Member
Which high level female Sony employee or developer should have been part of the presentation?

I'm all for equality and such, but I need examples of who they should have put up there. Had they sent up "random developer #35" from a studio just because she was female Kotaku would probably be saying "Oh look, a token female, just like they put the token black guy with a military squad."

This is an industry problem, not a Sony problem.
 
M

MightyHedgehog

Member
Core video game fanbase is mostly male? It's rare to see female presenters (that aren't just used for eye candy, anyway), so I guess it just didn't seem any different than most events.
 
B

bedlamite

Member
With the exception of the Media Molecule and Blow's games, I can't see any female nongamer having any interest at all in the games shown at the conference.

Why even bother putting female presenters up on stage when the games on show obviously cater to the male demographic?
 
A

ArkkAngel007

Member
Just making an issue out of nothing. Once more women make their way into top development positions, we'll see more on stage presenting their team's work.

Also, wasn't there a woman in the media molecule presentation?

Is it a possibility there's a sexist attitude in the industry? Yes. It comes from the primary consumers that buy the products and go to join said industry. But it doesn't need to be the focus of every single showing from the industry, especially one so business focused as Sony's conference.

I just don't see the point of making an issue over this particular occasion.
 
P

Pineconn

Member
To be fair, Nintendo tried with Cammie Dunaway, and, well.........

Perrin Kaplan was great, minus the Wii "Ferrari under the hood" spin. :p
 
ibun

ibun

Member
why is it even important if there was a woman present on stage or rather the absence of said creature? actually what is a woman? o_O"
 
B

Bowdz

Member
How anyone can fault Sony for this is beyond me. Sony had their internal leadership and studio heads talking about their projects and they all happened to be men (in an industry that has historically been dominated by males). Rest assured, if thatgamecompany were announcing their next title, Kellee Santiago would be up their with Chen.
 
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