Frag Dolls: Friend or Foe?
I make no secret of the fact that I’m a gamer. I’ve been playing video games for as long as I can remember. My father loved video games and bought a 2600 when they came out. My parents picked up a computer back when they were using cassette tapes as data storage. Given how much I love video gaming, it should come as no surprise that I’m very interested in the intersection between my hobby and my socio-political beliefs. I’ve been really interested in how gaming and feminism intersect and overlap… if they do.
Women have really gotten a raw deal when it comes to gaming. Historically, games have been made by men for men. When most people think of a gamer, they probably think of either a child, or the stereotypical fan-boy living in a basement eating Cheetos and drinking Mountain Dew (Sorry, Jimmycav). There may have even been a time when that was true, but now? No way. Gaming is a multi-billion dollar industry. It’s huge. It’s time for the industry to recognize the fact that roughly 43% of gamers are women, and quit churning out the typical sexist fanboy bullshit.
It’s time for women to be recognized as real gamers.
It’s as impossible to talk about women in gaming without mentioning the Frag Dolls as it is to talk about women in games and not mention Lara Croft, I suspect. When you talk about women gamers with other gamers, the Frag Dolls are almost always going to come up. And why not? They’re very visable women gamers who make a living through their gaming. They’re like the poster-children for the women in gaming movement.
And yet…
And yet…
I can’t help but have reservations about the Frag Dolls.
At least, I have reservations about thinking of the Frag Dolls as particularly feminist. Obviously, they’re women. From what I can tell, they’re solid gamers, too. They’ve won a number of tournies, which is great. As for being good for women gamers in general, though? As for sending a positive message about women and gaming? As for being feminist?
Some background, perhaps?
The Frag Dolls are a corporate gaming team put together by Ubisoft, through a craigslist ad, back in 2004. They serve multiple functions: They compete in tournaments, push Upisoft products, and attend industry events. Their main goal, they claim, is to encourage women to play games. They are, they say, trying to change the image of women gamers, and increase awareness of the female market. That’s not a bad goal, I think.
And yet…
And yet…
What is it about the Frag Dolls that scratches the back of my brain? What is it about them that makes it so hard for me to say “Hey, great work”? The more I think about it, the less convinced I become that they’re really doing that much good for women, the industry, or feminism. Maybe I’m wrong, though. Maybe they’re great? Maybe they’re really just what we need? Women gamers who make a name for themselves and show that women are every bit the gamers that men are?
And yet…
And yet…
It took me a little while to really start to figure out what my problem is, but I’m getting there. Let’s start with the obvious, shall we? I’m hardly the first person to point this out, but I think it’s worth noting. It really bothers me that all of the Frag Dolls are pretty stereotypically attractive. There’s a reason that they’re accused of being glorified “Booth Babes” by critics- Ubisoft has selected a bunch of women who largely conform to acceptable beauty standards. They’re all thin, mostly white, and young. Conversations about the Frag Dolls on any given gaming site are at least as likely to be about how hot X member is as they are to be about how talanted they are.
That’s troubling.
Of course, Ubisoft is quick to argue that the Frag Dolls are not booth babes. They’re not just models, they say.
And yet…
And yet…
When the casting call went out that the Frag Dolls were looking for two more members, they got dozens of responses. They selected only eight for consideration.
Should I be surprised that all eight are… drum roll… thin and attractive? Should I be shocked that the winners were 21 and 19?I suspect not.
Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with being attractive. As I mentioned in my other post, I don’t think that one’s looks should have anything to do with how talanted one is, or how one’s accomplishments are viewed. But, when we’re talking about a team put together by a business, I think that it’s worth noting. Maybe it’s a big coincidence that all of their Frag Dolls are thin and attractive? Maybe it’s just chance that they’re mostly white? Maybe that’s all unintentional?
Of course… it’s interesting that, according to a former member of the Frag Dolls’ Uk team, applicants were required to submit 15 pictures of themselves before being told what the project was all about. The article is interesting, in that it shows how much focus Ubisoft wanted on the women and not on their gaming. From wanting photographs prior to disclosing the project, to making sure that the camera stays on the women and not the games they’re playing, to The implication seems obvious to me: While Ubisoft may claim that the Frag Dolls are a way to get more women involved in gaming, the focus is at least as much about getting attention from men, too. The Frag Dolls may not be booth babes, but Ubisoft definately treats them like pin-ups or poster girls.
Or, despite their claims to the contrary… as booth babes. When they make public appearences at conventions or launch parties, they’re dressed up, standing in front of the demo, handing out t-shirts and getting their pictures taken standing with male attendees. They play Ubisoft games, and endorse Ubisoft products, and are paid by Ubisoft. That’s their job. They’re there to shill and promote Ubisoft products to the public. Despite the fact that Ubisoft originally tried to push the Frag Dolls as an Ubisoft sponsored clan, the group rarely do competitions (the UK group hasn’t done a single competition since they were formed over a year ago).
So, the Frag Dolls are a group of thin, attractive women who are paid to promote Ubisoft products and spend most of their time in public handing out t-shirts and creating buzz for Ubisoft?
Now… that sounds familiar… Isn’t there a name for someone that does that?
Maybe I’m being unfairly harsh?
And yet…
And yet…
Even the name bothers me, to be honest. It’s a personal thing, but I’m not comfortable with the whole “women as plaything” terminology. Women aren’t dolls. They’re not toys. They’re not a plaything. Dolls are passive… they’re played with and acted upon.
I think that the Frag Dolls have probably been great for Ubisoft. They’ve got a bunch of attractive women that they’re using for sex appeal to draw attention to Ubisoft products. When they go to conventions and tournaments, men line up just for a chance to have pictures taken with them. They hand out promotional photographs of themselves. It’s great publicity for Ubisoft.
Is it good for women, though?
Is it good for gaming?
That’s what I keep coming back to. Are the Frag Dolls good for anyone but Ubisoft? I just can’t get to “yes” on that one. I just can’t see how the Frag Dolls are anything but another attempt by a business to use women’s bodies to sell products. The Frag Dolls might like playing games, but it’s not their talants that are being marketed- it’s their bodies.
I can’t help but feel like the Frag Dolls just reinforce a lot of harmful imagery. Ubisoft is marketing them as sex, and it seems to me that they’re just reinforcing traditional beauty standards. Their value as “dolls” is directly related to how attractive they are. They’re there as eye-candy for the men gamers. Sure, they play games, too, but, as I said above, that’s not the primary focus of the marketing behind them. They’re mostly there to look pretty and draw in men to the Ubisoft products. And that’s harmful. They’ve created a very public face for women gamers, and that face is thin, young, white, and stereotypically attractive.
I also think they’re bad for gaming, in some ways. Groups like the Frag Dolls keep reinforcing the message that sexism sells and sells well. It keeps gaming trapped in this area where they give lip-service to the idea that women should be involved, but only if they appeal to men. I don’t see that they’re breaking new ground or doing anything to help the industry grow and branch out and show that games can be great for men and women. The gaming industry is already plagued by sexism, and I just don’t see that the Frag Dolls do anything to challange that. If anything, they reinforce it.
That’s not to say that they don’t do any good. There are certainly women gamers who’ve come out because of the Frag Dolls. Any time an article is published about them, there are women who comment too, and who show support for women gamers. There are women who’ve started their own gaming guilds in opposition to or because of the Frag Dolls. I think that’s great. The Frag Dolls, in some ways, brought more attention to women in gaming.
So, consider me torn. My gut feeling is that the Frag Dolls are just one more example of a company exploiting women’s bodies to push products, but maybe that’s me being cynical? Maybe I’m missing something deeper? Maybe they’re really good for the industry and good for women?
Thoughts?
June 8th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Be cynical. It’s alright.
Sure there’s some grey to this issue but by and large, it’s what you said: the Frag Dolls aren’t really meant to make women gamers more visible but to sell Ubisoft products. Of course if they manage this on their own time then Ubisoft won’t be complaining. But that’s not the point.
I’m actually a bit saddened by this because I regard Ubisoft as an otherwise pretty decent example of a big games producer that “gets it” and innovates slightly more than it has to. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel but it makes nice games that try out slight variations on tried formulas.
June 12th, 2007 at 8:38 am
Firstly you went on about theyre race which seems slightly odd as Im sure theyre European and thats hardly a disproportinate race ratio for Northern Europe. And as Ubisoft have clearly attempted to get a group of girls who are generally attractive Im sure theyve had little or no bias towards race.
But as to the real point, making Games less sexist. Essentially, I think its sort of up to women to come up with some suggestions as to what they want. I mean obviously not making every characters a sex object might be nice. A female Mario, if you will. But is there anything else, is a game where you do nothing but shoot things male oriented or is it just oriented to people who like to do nothing but shoot things.
If you’re saying that 46% of gamers are women then clearly the current market is providing entertainment for women, how do we do better. Are more lifestyle games an idea, Sims, Wii-minigames, DDR, etc. Or is that condescending.
The game industury is dominated by male programmers, so as a woman, your first job is to say, I want this, make demands, throw out ideas, sure the Frag dolls arent doing much, so present the alternative.
June 12th, 2007 at 8:53 am
Firstly you went on about theyre race which seems slightly odd as Im sure theyre European and thats hardly a disproportinate race ratio for Northern Europe. And as Ubisoft have clearly attempted to get a group of girls who are generally attractive Im sure theyve had little or no bias towards race.
Actually, no- they’re not. There are European Frag Dolls, but that first photograph is of the US Frag Dolls. And why would you think that because Ubisoft are concerned about them being attractive that they’re less likely to be concerned about race? Beauty standards here are strongly influenced by race.
Essentially, I think its sort of up to women to come up with some suggestions as to what they want.
Women area already doing that. I’ve got several sites listed in my blogroll that have women talking about what they’d like to see in games, or what kinds of things are likely to turn them off of games. I’ve mentioned in other posts of mine what I, as a man, think would help make games less sexist, too. Our voices, alone, aren’t going to change things, though. The manufacturers of games need to be willing to listen, and need to be willing to make changes.
June 17th, 2007 at 11:46 am
[…] Frag Dolls: Friend or Foe? […]
June 24th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Ping…
One of the tortures of jealousy is that it can never turn its eyes away from the thing that pains it…
June 25th, 2007 at 11:52 am
Actually a great read and I understand your concerns. I can’t speak for all the frag dolls, but I know I specifically took this JOB from Ubisoft for not only a career move, but more importantly to do what I think is best for female gaming at the time: to push aside stereotypes about female gaming and bring about more awareness in the hopes that more girl gamers will come over and play. As bad as this sounds, when girl gamers aren’t a minority, I will quit shoving my sex in the face of those that continue to make my life a living hell when I am gaming online. While I don’t consider myself a feminst in most parts, when it comes to gaming you would probably be shocked to know I very much am.
Now, working for Ubisoft do I agree with everything they do with our brand and our team? Of course not, I am a gamer and as with typical gamers I fight many things about corporate ownership and dictation of my beliefs about gaming and the industry. But working for Ubisoft also allows me to have a voice for things I believe in and we do indeed have an impact to what they do with us and utilize us for.
Now of course I think I am decent looking, but I am also a 31 year old, married, slightly overweight Frag Doll. There are other married Frag Dolls as well, and I wasn’t even the oldest frag doll until Katscratch left to follow her gaming career. Is this an excuse for the perception people have against the frag dolls that we are all young, single, hotties? By all means no, I am simply saying if their only motive was to sell sex, the could do a much better job then myself. Did looks count when Ubisoft picked us? Of course I think they factored in, they put us together to help market and promote their products, and it is safe to say that that any company that is going to put a face to their products would want one that is appealing and can present their company well. But it isnt like they went after models, and it most certainly was not the most important factor to say the least. In fact most of the frag dolls are simply cute or normal looking with a couple of exceptions, dont let professional photography or makeup fool you all that much.
Point of fact is if Ubisoft based their picks on looks we would not be able to carry the wins and placements of all the tournaments that we have competed in, period. No way in hell, becuase gaming with, and beating, the male gamers out there takes a natural love, skill and dedication and you can’t make people have this on a whim. When they picked us, it was for the package in all things, but most important was true love and skill for the games themselves.
I like to think of it as baby steps to help change this industry and bring attention that hardcore gaming consumers arent only 13yr old males, and unfortunatly the only way the female voice seems to be heard is if we are in a group instead of lets say, a co-ed team (which is hopefully where the future will end). This is why I only play for female teams and the reason I helped found my clan and my heart, the PMS Clan as well. One day there will be no need for all-female teams, but until that day comes consider me a feminist for gaming to the extreme. And this is how I push my feminism-by showing that girls don’t need guys to carry a win for them and can do it all on their own, and do it well.
I know this mentality usually riles some guys up, but it breaks my heart when I see female gamers out there think we don’t do a good thing for all of us. If you look at the big picture of things, I know in my heart we are doing a GREAT thing for female gamers out there and as long as Ubisoft doesn’t go against my morals or better judgement, I will continute to promote THEM to promote US.
Anyway, as I said I did enjoy your article and appreciate your interest and questioning. I hope I was able to clarify somethings but if you have any more questions, indeed let me know.
August 16th, 2007 at 1:14 am
I have an old Google alert that sends new Frag Doll news to my inbox, and tonight this showed up. I am the 33 year old Frag Doll, Katscratch who left the team in 2006. There were two things here that I need to add a correction to this post.
1) The fans on the Frag Doll website are not only discouraged to mention, “X girl is hot”, if it does happen, the community self-polices and makes it clear that is not acceptable and the thread is locked or deleted.
2) Not a single person has played against the US Dolls at a any Ubi event and walked away saying they were glorified booth babes. They walked away wondering how the hell that bullet got in their head so fast.
August 16th, 2007 at 9:19 am
Kat, thanks for commenting (your google alert must be a little behind though! I wrote this two months ago!):
I appreciate the corrections, but I think I should point out that I wasn’t claiming that fans on the Frag Doll website were as likely to talk about how hot so-and-so is, but rather “Conversations about the Frag Dolls on any given gaming site are at least as likely to be about how hot X member is as they are to be about how talanted they are.”
I certainly don’t doubt that the US Frag Dolls are serious gamers- they’ve won a number of events, and I’ve seen them on the television before, beating the pants of off of people. That doesn’t change that on most websites, conversations about the group are at least as likely to focus on how they look as they are to focus on how they game. I’ll grant that a lot of people don’t see that as problematic. I do. When I played clan matches on Counterstrike, nobody cared how hot I was. Nobody cares how hot the men in any clan are. It bugs me that Ubi makes a concentrated effort to push the Frag Dolls “hot factor” in addition to their gaming skills. It’s not incidental or secondary- the two are sold as a package. In the case of the Frag Dolls European branches, they don’t even push the skill aspect, it’s all about how hot the women are.
As far as point 2 goes: That’s simply untrue. There are any number of events where the FDs are signing autographs and handing out photos while they’re not playing games. You don’t think that the men who get their picture taken and never get a chance to play the Frag Dolls walk away with the impression that they’re just another bunch of booth babes? Booth babes who play video games, but booth babes none-the-less?
I don’t doubt for a minute the joy and dedication that the women who are in the Frag Dolls have towards gaming. I don’t doubt for a second that they love gaming and are damn good at it. My issues are with the way that they’re marketed. The representation of the Frag Dolls troubles me, and the way that US promotes them and uses them.
August 21st, 2007 at 3:10 am
I understand point 2 for sure. I would add that, to my knowledge, the USFDs have never signed autographs at any event where they were not competing in 4v4s or FFAs. However I could be wrong. Things have changes and I have been gone a while now. I do know while I was part of the squad that never happened.