author: Matteo Bittanti (concept, execution)
title: girl you will be a woman... soon
year: 2009
format: digital video, 3 minutes
soundtrack: Looped sampling of Neil Diamond, "You Will Be a Woman Soon" (1969)
Description: The video is a montage of cover art for several Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii games, specifically created by companies such as Ubisoft and 505 Games to appeal to a young, female audience.
"A little girl wants to do what her mother does, and she wants the real thing too" (AMSCO slogan, quoted in Gary Cross, 1997: 157)
"Toy stores today sell dolls that promote self-fulfillment for girls through superficial, sweet maternity and very earnest materialism" (Miriam Formanek-Brunell, 1994: 1)
Growing up digital/Performing gender/Downloading stereotypes
Imagine. Live your dreams(tm) is Ubisoft's prescriptive game ideology for girls.
In Italy, these games are sold under the "Giulia Passione" brand:
According to Ubisoft, today game girls can only dream of becoming:
Fashion Designers
Wildlife Keepers
Salon Stylists
Party Planners
Detectives
Elementary School Teachers
Boutique Owners
Boutique Clerks
Champion Riders
Movie Stars
Doctors
Restaurant Owners
Ballet Dancers
Fashion Idols
Wedding Designers
Fashion Designers (in NY!)
Fashion Party Organizers
Babysitters
Make Up Artists
Fashion Models
Interior Designers
Figure Skaters
Modern Dancers
Baby Club Managers
Girl Band Members
According to 505 Games, girl gamers's career are limited to:
Hair Stylists
Cooks
Fashion Designers
Ice Skaters
Cheerleaders
In short, according to game manufacturers, girls can only aspire to fulfill their manifest destiny as postmodern Stepford Wives:
Girl, you'll be a woman... soon
...Please come take my handheld
References
Cross, Gary (1997) Kids' Stuff: Toys and the Changing World of American Childhood, Cambridge: Harvard University Press
Formanek-Brunell, Miriam (1994) Made to Play House: Dolls and the Commercialization of American Girlhood, 1830-1930. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University
Influences
Career for women according to videogames, 2009
