It's one of those two steps forward, one step back situations. On the one hand, you have video game manufacturers finally paying attention to the scads of girl gamers out there. It's a long overdue realization that can largely be chalked up to the recent Pew Internet and Life report findings that a) "playing is universal" and b) girls prefer “social and collaborative games with less competition and more opportunity for personalization and nurturing.” Okay, so maybe all girls aren't into that, but still it's definitely progress, right?

But then the industry goes and come out with something like a girly Guitar Hero and you just want to throw up your hands in exasperation. Presumably, the heart shape and pink color are simply an uncreative marketing ploy to get tween girls into Guitar Hero, but it's just… wrong. It turns an inclusive gender-neutral experience into one that's exclusively male by implying that the regular version of the game somehow isn't feminine.

Incidentally, earlier this week parents in the U.K. also were getting up in arms over products being given the girly treatment. British moms complained that the huge influx of toys designated for girls by color aka "the pink plague" was not only reinforcing gender stereotypes and widening the gap between boys and girls, but also effectively brainwashing their daughters . According to a recent Telegraph article:

[The fear] comes after one study on young girls' speech patterns found that, although they can identify colours such as blue and yellow, some said simply "Barbie" when shown something pink.

A little scary, no? Of course, the "Barbie" thing brings up a few additional issues. But for now let's just focus on putting the heart-shaped pink guitars away and letting girls play like anyone else.

For more coverage of marketing and media aimed towards tweens, check out the Ypulse Tweens Channel

Categorized under: Tweens

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