Women of the Century

[jhkimrpg]

So there was some recent controversy over Spirit of the Century, starting I think with peaseblossom's post on Friday about SotC entitled Pulp, gender, genre, which has garnered well over a hundred comments.

drivingblind responded in comments, then had his own summary That thread, where he "So at the heart of all the hullaballoo portion of things was how the art was done

Comments

[itsmrwilson]

Hi John. Thanks for the thoughtful post.

It's really cool that there's so much discussion about the topic. I agree with what you're saying about dealing with retro genres. Since the effects of racism and sexism are active like a continuous power in HERO (what a nerdy analogy), it's really a situation where you can't be neutral. If you don't do anything, then you're allowing it to continue.

People are talking about it and thinking about it. That's great.

[drivingblind]

I'm kinda motivated to do some sort of "The Claire Holloway Chronicles" as a female-centric SOTC supplement take on all of the hullaballoo -- but I don't know if I'll find the time for it. :P

[drivingblind]

I figured. I might want to siphon some of your grey matter on that subject at some point.

[jhkimrpg]

I was mystified for a bit on who "Claire Holloway" was, then realized that she's a one-line NPC in the SotC book described as a Psychic Detective, and used as the example for the stunt "A Peak Inside" on page 76. OK, so that gives me some idea what you're talking about.

While I might have some interest in the Claire Holloway thing, I don't think a female-centric supplement is an effective response to critique of the main game -- unless perhaps it is the sole or primary supplement line. At least, there's a strong danger of it just being a token ghetto, which is the usual result of segregated material. (Like how Macho Women With Guns and Best Friends don't balance out bias in other RPGs.) The more important response is making sure that whatever supplements you were otherwise planning had equal attention to women.

Speaking of which, are you planning other supplements?

[badgerbag]

The emphasis on "hullabaloo" raises my hackles a bit here.

[jhkimrpg]

A note that these posts were also cited in a post on the Feminist SF Blog, as Gaming and Feminism.