Booth Babes and PAX
As some may already know, PAX (a gaming convention) has a ban on booth babes. Recently, the men running it held a survey asking if they should consider repealing the ban. The majority of responses indicated people either liked or loved that booth babes were not part of the PAX experience; another 20% reported that they were indifferent to the ban.
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I agree. That's one of my main issues with pandering to male heterosexual desire when it comes to gaming - it's incredibly exclusionary. And a lot of the stuff I've seen decrying the absence of booth babes does not consider the fact that the gaming community is not composed exclusively of heterosexual men (that furthermore expect "t&a"). Despite the ever increasing number of women who attend all sorts of conventions, including things like PAX, there's still this persistence that booth babes are necessary. And it probably has something to do with tradition, not really seeing women as equals in the gaming community, and an inability to see how the widespread objectification of the female sex makes events seem unwelcoming. And as you mentioned, younger gamers are being exposed to the idea that "sex sells" with regards to games, so... it just becomes expected. Even from other women. I mean, how many people on girl_gamers have said something to the effect of, "I don't care, it's just what happens."
And as for your last paragraph, I agree entirely. I've been a lot happier about buying a product when I can tell the person has played the game before and can talk to me with some genuine interest/passion. But I guess there are a lot of men out there who do not want to talk to women as equals - they just like being creepy neckbeards and want (at least some) women to function as an affirmation of their masculinity and virility. I suppose at that point it's no longer about customer service, but rather about... I don't even know.
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