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61 Frames Per Second

Gender Equality Fail: Kombo For Women

Posted by Cole Stryker
Kombo launched a new microsite for female gamers today, called 'For Women'. At first glance, you might think this is a real step forward for the fairer gender in the world of interactive entertainment, but then you dig deeper.

 

Booth babes? Really?

Kombo has contracted the relatively lovely ladies at C+2, a modeling agency that caters to gaming conventions. 

Of course, how naïve would we be if we powered this new section with the existing Kombo team… which, as you guessed, are mostly all guys. As talented and intelligent as they are, we followed the rules of common sense and decided to keep male influence out of our new For Women section on Kombo. With that said, allow me to introduce you to the very talented Kombo.com 'For Women' editorial team!

A noble effort, to be sure, but was this the best way to achieve that end? I don't doubt that several of these gals could put the hurt on me in whatever games in which they specialize, but would Kombo bring in any traffic if they weren't glamour models? If their profiles are to believed, these girls actually do play video games. Lotsa video games. But editorial experience? Not so much.

The first article unabashedly takes an insider's look into the world of booth babery.

We were treated like absolute princesses and it made standing in heels for 12 hours a day totally worth it!

Cute. It's essentially a thinly veiled advertisement for C+2 modeling, gussied up as an editorial feature. Kombo gets boobies for their readers and C+2 gets exposure. Everyone wins. Upcoming features include "Distracted While Buying Bras" and "CAT FIGHT With Madden on the Fifty Yard Line". Not joking.

The new site's only been up for a few hours, and it's been met with nearly universal disdain, as it should be. C+2 'President' Yvonne has been furiously batting away naysayers with sad face emoticons and eyelash flutters. Nadia and Amber, I fully expect your thoughts in the comments. And C+2 girls, feel free to justify your existence as well.

Related Links:

Men Are From Hyrule, Women Are From Simville: If Gender Defines the Games We Play, Why Does Everyone Play By the Same Rules?
She’s a La-day, Whoa Whoa Whoa: The Top Twenty Women in Games
A Letter to the Industry: How to Destroy the Female Gender Barricade

Comments

Amber Ahlborn said:

Maybe if they posted they were looking for female writers for a game site and hired people based on their writing resumes (you know, like they supposedly would for any other job) instead of importing a six pack from a modeling agency they wouldn't be catching flak here.  This looks like a shallow, token effort that completely misses the point.  If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

October 1, 2008 2:44 PM

Bob Mackey said:

I think 61FPS has some of the handsomest writers on the Internet; maybe we can make those little pics to the right of the screen much larger, and they can also depict us doing manly things like lifting weights and eating large sandwiches.  IT'S WHAT OTHER GUYS WANT TO SEE OKAY

October 1, 2008 3:01 PM

Nadia Oxford said:

I appreciate the facade. People are saying, "This is a joke, it's not for girls!" and they're being told, "You're the one judging by looks! We just hired these talented writers/gamers who happened to be beautiful! What a coincidence!"

Let's all eat some sandwiches.

October 1, 2008 3:50 PM

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  • about the blogger

    John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

    Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

    Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

    Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia's prized possession is a certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

    Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

    Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

    Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.


    CONTRIBUTORS

    Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

    Send tips to 61fps@nerve.com