As a woman and, yes, a woman in games, I don't think about my gender any more than you probably do yours, unless someone brings it to my attention. In my case, that happens once or twice a month, and it's only when a reporter emails me to ask if I have any contributions to a particular piece. There are other non-stereotypical things about me that are more interesting, including that I love fast cars (but drive them slow), can change my own oil, and have rebuilt two engines (a 383 and a 350 big block) and am developing a rather absurd collection of German tabletop games.

Before you draw any additional assumptions, I also love great jewelry, own at least 50 pairs of shoes, and have had regular discussions about cool clutches and Jimmy Choos with Suzanne Meiler at Destineer Studios. Someday, she and I will go shopping together, and it will be dangerous.

When it comes to game development, though, being a woman has never really been an issue, nor has it affected my career in any negative way. I have spent 27 years in this industry and cannot imagine a place I'd rather call home. I have even scheduled the birth of my children around development schedules, and in both cases, the children shipped first. If anything, being a woman has been a benefit. I am writing this article because I am a "woman in games." I have benefitted from the small but tight knit community of women in the industry. Most of us know each other, especially those of us who have been in the industry for years. We've got each other's back, so to speak.

In saying all this, I am not dismissing the very real issues that some women in games have faced. People have the freedom to be assholes, and sometimes, that freedom strikes pretty close to home. When people take a low shot at someone for their gender, their race, their sexuality, or anything else that defines them, it's the asshole that's the problem, not the gender or the industry or anything else. I have heard racist comments within company walls directed at white and black developers. I have witnessed discrimination based on national origin and on age. My single greatest pet peeve today remains the dismissive comment, "That's so gay." I actually have a PowerPoint lecture that I bring out just for the occasion. It begins with the late great Dani Berry, a transgendered game designer, and rolls on through other gay artists of influence including Shakespeare, Mapplethorpe, Truman Capote, David Bowie, and literally dozens more. If you're going to say, "That's so gay to critique art," I tell the students, "that's fine, but use it as a compliment, not a criticism."

For me, there is a greater issue here, and it is a simple one: Who cares? Who cares that I am a woman? Who cares that he is gay? Who cares that she is black? Who cares that he has three kids and is nearly 55?

We make games. Who cares.

Brenda Brathwaite is a game designer, game consultant, professor of game design at Savannah College of Art and Design, and chair of the Interactive Game Design and Game Development department there. She also holds a seat on the IGDA board of directors. She just happens to be female.

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