Morgan Webb talks gaming's double standards
by Kyle Orland 
{ Dec 10th 2007 at 8:50PM }
As the start of a week-long series on women in the game industry, MTV Multiplayer has a revealing Q&A with Morgan Webb, the curvier half of the hosting duo behind G4's X-Play. While the interview covers a lot of topics, perhaps the most persistent running theme is Webb's ambivalence about her status as a successful, visible female game journalist.On the one hand, Webb says, "it used to really bother me that men ... would assume that I don't really know what I'm talking about or would know less than a man on the topic." On the other hand, though, Webb acknowledges "I wouldn't be where I am if I were a man, to be honest. I wouldn't be on the show. I wouldn't be writing columns for FHM. I wouldn't be considered just like a rare and interesting... specimen or whatever, if I weren't a woman. So I am where I am because I'm a woman and that's just the way it is."
While Webb is a big booster for the game industry, she says she doesn't necessarily see herself as a spokesperson for 'girl gaming.' "I don't think the world will necessarily be a better place if I get lots of young woman to play video games," she said. "If a woman wants to play video games, more power to her ... but I have a lot of girlfriends who couldn't care less about video games ... and I don't think their lives are missing anything for that."
The lengthy full interview is packed with more of Webb's thoughts on forum trolls, posing for Maxim and the effects of being both one of gaming's most prominent women and a minor TV celebrity. Take a few minutes and give it a read.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Rob Accomando @ Dec 10th 2007 8:57PM
I love her manly jawline.
Obie @ Dec 10th 2007 9:13PM
lol Morgan Manjaw...she's a Maxim hottie!
Ed @ Dec 10th 2007 10:17PM
I don't get it. What's so weird about her jaw? You people are always mentioning it but I don't see it.
Dan @ Dec 10th 2007 11:00PM
"it used to really bother me that men ... would assume that I don't really know what I'm talking about or would know less than a man on the topic."
Yeah assuming things about someone like that is wrong... however, looking at the facts and deducing that she really doesn't know what she's talking about is fair imo.
ThornedVenom @ Dec 11th 2007 12:52AM
I'll quote something I heard from another website:
"Morgan Webb makes manjaws look sexy."
Todd @ Dec 11th 2007 10:18AM
:::shudder:::
I think she has good cheek bones and a decent body, and that's about it. I want a woman who is more womanly.
Mark @ Dec 10th 2007 8:59PM
I'd do her....
David Hildreth @ Dec 10th 2007 9:21PM
You should read this article you're even mentioned...
Something about a horny 14 year old or something.
plyx @ Dec 10th 2007 8:59PM
Attractive photo of Ms. Webb, there.
samfish @ Dec 10th 2007 9:00PM
Blah blah blah! Why is your top still on, WOMAN?!
Zorink @ Dec 10th 2007 9:51PM
Nice Santa hat.
Speddy @ Dec 10th 2007 11:26PM
She has a hat on? I didn't notice.
kilodelta @ Dec 10th 2007 9:04PM
she gets a +1 for correct usage of "couldn't care less"
Joop @ Dec 10th 2007 9:06PM
I disagree that she wouldn't be where she is now were she male. Sesler found his way to that show and he's a complete tool.
Anticrawl @ Dec 10th 2007 9:51PM
But Sessler didn't get where he was because of his gaming knowledge and talent as a journalist. Not only that but he isn't much of a gamer, but he does make Morgan "Shemale" Webb look better by comparison. Morgan Webb got where she was because she likes games, is a woman and a half-competitant journalist. You remove the woman aspect and you have your average joystiq blog poster(heh like me here).
psn: ummfada @ Dec 11th 2007 9:45AM
Morgan Webb is not a shemale, but then again My name is Idiot Face :-(
ThornedVenom @ Dec 10th 2007 9:11PM
The funny part is that she's right. A gamer has always been portrayed as a dude. Therefore, when a female gamer comes onto the scene, we cut them way too much slack.
And why exactly do we have female competitive gaming leagues?
I hate this bullshit. =_=
DP @ Dec 11th 2007 12:34PM
What you said.
GoldenS1104 @ Dec 10th 2007 9:13PM
"It used to really bother me that men ... would assume that I don't really know what I'm talking about or would know less than a man on the topic."
I always assumed she knew nothing about video games, not because she's a woman, but because she's on G4.
Fullmetal Salchemist @ Dec 10th 2007 11:00PM
"I always assumed she knew nothing about video games, not because she's a woman, but because she's on G4."
You have won yourself one "internets" for the day.
GoldenS1104 @ Dec 10th 2007 9:16PM
I know how you feel. I dread running into girls on Xbox Live for two reasons. Either the guys make obscene comments or the girl acts smugly superior because she's one of few girl gamers. The guys are a bunch of asswipes and the girls need to get over themselves.
GoldenS1104 @ Dec 10th 2007 9:17PM
Dam this reply system. That was ment for ThornedVenom.
Joop @ Dec 10th 2007 9:19PM
Men acting crass towards female gamers, and them in turn using it as some sort of bragging right, is the LEAST of the problems with XBL's userbase.
GoldenS1104 @ Dec 10th 2007 9:21PM
Yeah, but it's the only problem relevant to this article. Believe me, I know that it's the least of the worries...
eugene @ Dec 10th 2007 9:21PM
the girls act that way to deal with all the misognistic guys that they have to play with. If the idiot men online could put their dicks back in their pants, shut up and play, I don't think we'd see women being so overly aggressive and caustic.
GoldenS1104 @ Dec 10th 2007 9:28PM
It's not even that the girls are being caustic. Even when the guys leave them alone they always seem to find the need to brag because they're a girl and they play games. They always seem to want attention. They need to just shut up and play. This is the problem with all of the idiots online, male and female. Girl's just have a different way of going about it.
gonk @ Dec 10th 2007 9:36PM
^^ i agree with all that
but nowadays i just assume any high-pitched player on voice is a 12 year old boy, because they play like girls anyway, starved for attention
ThornedVenom @ Dec 11th 2007 1:02AM
Reply feature sucks, huh?
Anyways, that point is valid for all online play. I have this friend (young teenager, female) who had to give up playing an MMO because she really couldn't stand the attitude guys had towards her, just because she was a chick (who was underage).
Still don't understand how guys can be such dicks, even without knowing if a chick is hot or not.
gonk @ Dec 11th 2007 2:41AM
she shouldn't tell people she's a girl then
don't bring up the subject and most gamers won't care
ThornedVenom @ Dec 11th 2007 4:29AM
But why shouldn't she be able to without discrimination?
Dunno, it's like suggesting to a gay dude that he should "stay in the closet".
Anyways, that's ancient history now.
riggs @ Dec 11th 2007 9:11AM
thats y i love playing with my girl in halo, headshots to every dude trying to get with her (plus shes an elite noobpwner in it as well)
ALH @ Dec 10th 2007 9:18PM
"If a woman wants to play video games, more power to her ... but I have a lot of girlfriends who couldn't care less about video games ... and I don't think their lives are missing anything for that."
TRANSLATION:
If a girl wants to play games to show that she is better than the boys YO GO FOR IT GIRL POWER YEAH but games arent actually interesting enough for people to play them, none of my friends play them and i dont tell them that playing something like silent hill will scare them twice as much as any horror, or that something like shadow of the colossus will wow them in sheer scale and beauty because games arent art, they arent anything worth reccomending, theyre just 4 da boys TEEHEE!
Chris @ Dec 10th 2007 9:19PM
I'd think anyone who's passionate about games as a media would want people they care about to play them. Games aren't just for nerds anymore, as many tell thought provoking, emotion driven stories with compelling characters and solid narrative. They're just as valid of a form of entertainment now as movies have been considered since their conception. I think of them as a form of entertainment in the same light as movies, books and television. If I like a tv show, or a book or a movie, I'm going to tell a bunch of people "hey I loved thus-and-so movie" or whatever, and I would feel that they were missing out if they didn't see it. Games now offer experiences far beyond just your basic button mashing and jumping on goomba's. I got my dad to play Kotor's 1 and 2 and he loved them because of how much he cared about the characters, even though he's not a gamer at all. My mom played portal and really grew to enjoy both the critical thinking and the interesting character of GladOS. My parents are in their late fifty's and up until recently had never touched or considered touching a videogame. Even my grandmother at age 97 (bless her soul) played some Wii tennis last year and loved it! And she would have missed out on that enjoyment and bonding we had, had she been unwilling to try.
Saying you don't think people are missing out if they don't play games sounds just as absurd to me as saying "people aren't missing out if they don't read books"
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Dec 10th 2007 9:33PM
ummm what? I'm sorry but Video games don't even come close to the experience found in books. Books contain a vast knowledge of our history as people on this planet, detailing the ideas and feelings of the authors, causing people to rethink about the way they live their lives. What exactly are people missing out if they don't play video games? The newest way to shoot someone in the face?
I know I know, there are few exceptions to this, but really non-gamers aren't missing out on anything.
gonk @ Dec 10th 2007 9:55PM
i think games are equal to movies. whether you think movies are as (important, cool, insert adjective here) as books is an opinion
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Dec 11th 2007 12:00AM
if we were about entertainment, then yeah I would agree. But to say that missing out on gaming is the same on missing out on books is completely absurd.
Anticrawl @ Dec 11th 2007 12:14AM
Well put Chris and it erked me a bit to hear a gamer say that. She really can't seem to get her story straight either. If she doesn't feel it neccisary to get her fellow "females" into gaming or atleast aware of it then how can she expect anyone to take said "female gamers" seriously. Earning respect is a give and take thing, not "take and take" like many feminism activists think.
gonk @ Dec 11th 2007 12:35AM
well there aren't game equivalents of encyclopedias or poetry collections or various nonfiction books, obviously. but for all fiction books (and movies), games can be equal. it all depends on production value, story, editing, etc (same with books and movies)
Chris @ Dec 11th 2007 1:15AM
haha, oh boy. My intention was not to say that books and videogames were of equal value, though to some this may be true. If this is how it is coming across to some, I do apologize, as my message was perhaps unclear. I did not wish to comment on the individual value of any media; merely I wished to point out that one cannot say of any media as a whole "you're not missing out on anything", as this denies any potential value contained in a given piece of content of said media. While many games, books, movies, and television are utter rubbish worthy of no man's time, there will be many titles of all branches of entertainment, that can enrich and delight a person's life. My life has been affected forever and enriched by some books, (the bible, the speed of dark, the Berenstain Bears) some movies, (Schindler's list, life is beautiful, k-pax, Agent Cody Banks) and a few games, (Psychonauts, n-game, beyond good and evil, Ocarina of Time, chrono-trigger) and even a few songs that stay with me to this day. I would never wish to deny or belittle the hurculean effort put in by many of the people behind these phenominal titles, by reducing the fruits of their blood sweat and tears to 'not missing anything.'
I ask you, why do you play videogames (I assume you do since you comment on comments on blogs) if you do not feel you would miss out on the experiences they offer were you to stop?
NoHitHair @ Dec 10th 2007 9:26PM
1,000,000 points to Webb for such honesty.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Dec 10th 2007 9:28PM
I actually do agree with what she's saying. And I think it's wise that she isn't trying to be a spokesperson for women or anything.
Shockgamer @ Dec 10th 2007 9:28PM
Wow, some people are taking it pretty hard that Morgan isn't pushing videogames on her friends like a religious missionary.
I imagine its hard enough trying to gain credibility in the all boys club that is videogaming. Would you really want to add to that by alienating your friends and being that annoying nerd who talks about stuff your buddies have no interest in?
Society /= Joystiq.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Dec 10th 2007 9:34PM
I agree.
Noshino @ Dec 10th 2007 10:17PM
Shockgamer,
Its not about pushing it like a religion, but well, she contradicts herself a lot...
"On the other hand, games are supposed to be fun and like a time-waster. And I don’t think the world will necessarily be a better place if I get lots of young woman to play video games. Does that make sense? But if a woman wants to play video games, more power to her. They’re fun, and I enjoy it. It makes me feel like a happier person, but I have a lot of girlfriends who couldn’t care less about video games… and I don’t think their lives are missing anything for that. But on the other hand, I would be happy if there were more women in the video game industry. I think there would be more video games for women. So it would sort of be perpetuating, but I don’t think it’s a noble mission to… there are bigger problems in the world than women not playing video games."
so she....supports it or not?
hey, I don't know if this is her case, but by personal experience, I have had 3 girlfriends that were gamers, and well, just like her, even though they were hardcore gamers (10+ hrs per day...) they looked NOTHING like it (friends were surprised they played even more than them..)
For some reason, many of them just don't like to be seen as gamers, hell, they feel ashamed to tell others that they play videogames...
Society my ass, so I like something like videogames, which isnt accepted by society, and so Im to be seen as a nerd, queer, or w/e other name there is? seriously, when did respect for our own likes was lost?
That's what I find stupid, that is what is keeping the videogame industry on a basement and seen as something only geeks do, games are played by people, nerd or not, if you enjoy videogames why freaking keep it a secret?...
For the record, broke up with them for something along those lines...
Shockgamer @ Dec 10th 2007 11:47PM
Well I'm not saying you have to be ashamed of liking videogames. It's just that you don't to wear it on your sleeve either.
To the friends and acquaintances I have who like games, I can go on forever about them. To the ones that don't, that's okay; there's plenty of movie, sports and general water cooler chit chat that can be had.
eialba @ Dec 10th 2007 9:44PM
It sounds like Ms. Webb is either naive or so nice she chooses to ignore the truth. One, it is NOT .01% that ruin interactions with fans (as evidenced by this very comment thread). Two, they did not choose you as anchor because you are "cute." Three, just because they locked onto your "cute"-ness, that does not mean you don't face challenges that men don't every day. Most of your talk is about those very challenges you face as a woman, but then you say, oh i have a TV show, so it balances out. A) It's not your show. Men still own the company, make the rules, and pay your check. B) What about the women who are as talented as you are but don't have your "cute" factor? Does it balance out for them? Four, "99.9 percent of people are cool and .01 percent are morons who ruin it for everybody"... I think you need to re-examine your data. Because most men and most gamers will reduce you to a sexual object instantly and without remorse.
Ed @ Dec 10th 2007 11:14PM
Touch a nerve, did she?
Realize that Joystiq is not the voice of the world. All these assholes ARE the .01 percent that she's talking about. I don't know about you but if I keep getting mail that insults me written, by a kid who doesn't know who I am, what would I gain from reading it?
Ratings, kid. It's all about the ratings. Anything that can get more viewers will be put into anything that needs ratings. If they think getting a cute girl will bring in more people, they'll get a cute girl.
I don't understand where you're getting at with your third point, but it is her show, she writes in it, she's part of it's face. It doesn't matter who writes the checks because people won't care.
Just because you and anyone else on the internet are assholes and wank way too much doesn't mean that the rest of the world does the same thing.
Use the damn enter key. It's there for a reason. Also, don't make anymore of these stupid lists of things that make you think you're a smart ass. They're annoying and are a waste of time, my time.
eialba @ Dec 10th 2007 11:47PM
Her statements touch a big nerve - gender discrimination. She uses the fact that she is an important part of X-Play to entirely vitiate gender discrimination. Yet, she does not mention that most people in the industry, including her superiors, are men. Her view of gender equality is very, very myopic. Essentially, if she doesn't feel it - nobody else feels it or it doesn't exist. And the saddest part is that even her own statements contradict her. Like I said, naive or willingly ignorant.
Antonio @ Dec 11th 2007 10:45AM
"Yet, she does not mention that most people in the industry, including her superiors, are men. "
She mentions that several times.
eialba @ Dec 11th 2007 2:18PM
That's my whole point. She gives all of this evidence of gender discrimination, and then she says, "But I don't it's happening."
In particular, to the question "Do you feel as if you are treated differently because of your gender?" she responds, "I don't really think so." EVEN though she just said, "People assume you don't know anything [because of your gender]."