Iris Gaming Network

Cerise, the Gaming Magazine for Women, is open for submissions for the April 2008 Issue!

Submission deadline: March 20th, 2008

Theme: Do You Game With Dorothy?

Any group whose members commonly use the word “gay” as a synonym for “foolish” or “undesirable” undoubtedly has some pretty serious heterosexist biases. Queer gamers face challenges ranging from lack of representation in many games to objectification or outright hostility from some corners of gaming culture.

What’s it like to be a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender gamer? Which communities, game designers and companies are serving queer gamers well, and which are failing to consider them at all? What can be done to improve representation for queer gamers? While we here at Cerise welcome discussion of queer concerns in gaming at any time, our April 2008 issue will be specifically devoted to giving the spotlight to marginalized sexualities – if the preceding questions are important to you, don’t miss this issue!

 As always, submission guidelines and categories can be found here.

Check out the blog of Cerise magazine editor Robyn Fleming right here on the Iris Network! Robyn Can’t Jump follows the fun and foibles of video game playing from the point of view of a woman who loves gaming, but really can’t play video games:

 Once, when I was in college, a guy I had a serious crush on invited me to join him at his apartment one evening to “play some video games or something.” Believing that this must be code for “fool around together,” I put on a cute skirt and a fitted t-shirt and prepared myself for an evening of semi-reclining fun.

To my surprise, he actually did want to play video games – specifically, ports of classic arcade games that would run on an emulator for his desktop computer. I did my best for a miserable half hour while he encouraged me by shouting things like: “Jump! Jump, damn it! HIT THE B BUTTON.”

I can’t believe I shaved my legs for this, I thought. But at least it will make for a funny story later. Once it stops being mortifying.