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 contributors to From Barbie® to Mortal Kombatexplore 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.

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).

Acknowledgments
About the Authors
The Girls' Games Movement
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
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
Girl Games and Technological Desire
Gender and Technological Desire
Implications for the Design of Girl Games
References
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
Interviews
An Interview
An Interview
An Interview
Interviews
An Interview
An Interview
Rethinking the Girls' Games Movement
Retooling Play: Dystopia, Dysphoria, and Difference
Playing with Gender: What Does a Woman Want?
Dysphoria
Conclusion
Dystopia
Differences
Notes
References
"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
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
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
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.