New Republic: Why Are Video Games so Sexist?

The chauvinistic gaming world has always been hostile to women. A new book (Ready Player Two by Shira Chess) looks at how it got that way.

Ready Player Two (Shira Chess)From the outset, Shira Chess is clear that while women do play hardcore games, they are “considered outliers, marginalized, pushing their way into a space not originally intended for them,” And those women who play hardcore games aren’t really Chess’ concern. Rather, Ready Player Two looks at games that are designed for women— and because video games are a male-dominated industry, games created for women are often designed by men. Games’ gender binary, Chess argues, is itself a product of design, “often at odds with actual players.”

Read the full review.

Published in: New Republic
By: Deirdre Coyle