# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Gender stereotypes 'begin in childhood' | ITV News

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Work - it's not for girls: Most Britons still believe men make better plumbers and pilots and think women shouldn't be soldiers or electricians

Two-fifths believe there are some jobs which women should never do

3% of people would refuse to fly on a plane with a female pilot

And a fifth of Britons do not trust men working in 'feminine' jobs

Gender stereotypes are not yet a thing of the past as a new survey reveals that many people still have strong opinions on which jobs are suitable for men and women.

Two-fifths of Britons believe there are some jobs which women should never do, including soldier, mechanic and surgeon.

A similar proportion think that men are unable to do some jobs properly, such as beautician, florist and nurse.

The survey of 2,000 British adults carried out by mobile payment service WorldPay Zinc revealed that two-thirds of people think men make better plumbers, mechanics and electricians than women.

Just three per cent think that women are better pilots and surgeons than men, even though there is no evidence for this.

And women are just as likely to stereotype their own sex as men are - only two per cent think they are better at technical jobs than men, with 21 per cent saying men are better.

Conversely, men are assumed to be worse at traditionally 'feminine' jobs such as primary school teaching.

Some 64 per cent of Britons say women are better florists, 76 per cent say women are better nannies, and only three per cent believe that men make better nurses.

Charlotte Keene, 25, from Egham, Surrey, who has been a gas engineer for six years and has now started her own company, Gas Girl, said: 'There has been a lot of gender discrimination in my career so far.

'Training was tough and people assume I won't be as good as a male engineer. I've been so stressed about this at times that I nearly threw the towel in.

'But instead of giving into the stereotypes, I saw a gap in the market - lots of women feel safer letting me into their home than they would a man.

The study was carried out on November 4 by research agency Vision Critical which conducted an online survey of 2,026 British adults from consumer panel Springboard UK.

It found that many people said they would not trust a professional because of their gender, with 19 per cent insisting they would not trust a male nanny, 18 per cent would not trust a male beautician and 16 per cent would not trust a man working as a midwife.

Meanwhile, while five out of six Britons would be happy being treated by a male nurse, 11 per cent would feel uncomfortable and five per cent would demand to be seen by a female nurse instead.

17 per cent of people said they would be annoyed to see a female mechanic working on their car - and two per cent would leave the garage in this situation.

Shockingly, three per cent of Britons said that if they found out that they were about to fly on a plane piloted by a woman, they would refuse to board, get off the plane or make an official complaint.

Geraldine Wilson, managing director of WorldPay Zinc, said: 'We're disappointed to see that their lives may still be blighted by these outdated stereotypes.

'Our service is designed to help businesses of every sector, whether they are run by men or women.

'And while our study suggests there is still a way to go before we are able to achieve equality in the workplace, attitudes are changing for the better.'

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Most Britons still believe men make better plumbers and pilots

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Two-fifths believe there are some jobs which women should never do 3% of people would refuse to fly on a plane with a female pilot And a fifth of Britons do not trust men working in 'feminine' jobs Gender stereotypes are not yet a thing of the past as a new survey reveals that many people still have strong opinions on which jobs are suitable for men and women.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Alesha Dixon - The Boy Does Nothing (Official Music Video)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Clothes worn by rape victims have been displayed at an exhibition. Picture courtesy: Facebook/CCM - Centre Communautaire Maritime

More often than not, women are blamed for having provoked men to sexually harass them, either with their ''over-friendly'' demeanour or more importantly, through their ''seductive'' clothing.

Victims of sexual abuse and rape are often asked what they were wearing at the time of the mishap, thus accusing them of being at fault.

If ''provocative'' clothing was indeed the problem, we wouldn't have had repeated cases of infants or old women being brutally raped. Did they entice men with their ''revealing'' clothes too?

To dismiss such understanding of sexual abuse and the idea of "victim-blaming", the Centre Communautaire Maritime in Brussels has put up an exhibition that features clothing items worn by victims of rape, to drive home the fact that one's choice of attire is not responsible for the assault perpetrated on a woman.
Also Read:8 years after being brutally raped in India, this survivor is healing with yoga and theatre
The exhibition features items such as pyjamas, tracksuits and even a child's My Little Pony shirt, hoping to prove that "a person's outfit can never be seen as a mitigating circumstance or provocation by a rapist," quoted Independent.

The clothes worn by the victims have been procured on loan from the victim support group called CAW East Brabant.

''What you immediately notice when you walk around here is they are all very normal pieces that everyone would wear,'' Lieshbeth Kennes, a training and counselling employee of CAW, said.

The exhibition began on January 8 and will continue till January 20.
IndiaToday.in has plenty of useful resources that can help you better understand the coronavirus pandemic and protect yourself. Read our comprehensive guide (with information on how the virus spreads, precautions and symptoms), watch an expert debunk myths, and access our dedicated coronavirus page.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
This exhibition has put up clothes worn by rape victims to prove it wasn't 'their fault'

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Clothes worn by rape victims have been displayed at an exhibition. Picture courtesy: Facebook/CCM - Centre Communautaire Maritime More often than not, women are blamed for having provoked men to sexually harass them, either with their ''over-friendly'' demeanour or more importantly, through their ''seductive'' clothing.

# data[].attributes.body
https://tinyurl.com/yyvnk45t pour la version numérique interactive.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Equal Rights Amendment is back on Capitol Hill - 36 years since its last hearing and nearly a century since the amendment to guarantee equal rights to women was first introduced in Congress.

On Tuesday lawmakers in the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties heard from witnesses - including actor and women's rights advocate Patricia Arquette - about why, years on, the amendment is still worth considering.

Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney of New York in January again sponsored a resolution to restart the ratification process needed to add the amendment to the US constitution.

The provision would not change any laws, but seeks to formally give women the same citizenship status as men.

While 76% of constitutions around the world in some way guarantee women's equality, the US constitution, technically, does not.

Last June, the state of Illinois voted in favour of the amendment, becoming the 37th state to do so.

In theory, only one more state must ratify the amendment to obtain the majority needed to amend America's founding charter.

"With issues of equality at the forefront of today's conversations; with the #MeToo and Time's Up movements, with the Women's Marches and more women than ever before running for and being elected to office - we have an extraordinary responsibility and opportunity to seize this moment," Ms Maloney said when the hearing was announced earlier this month.

It's easy to see why the ERA is back on legislators' agenda in this political climate, but why has it taken so long?

What is the Equal Rights Amendment?

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) states: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."

Congress first introduced the ERA in 1923, but the campaign for ratification took off in the 1960s during the civil rights movement.

In 1972, Congress passed the amendment and sent it to the states for approval. Thirty-eight states must ratify an amendment before it is added to the Constitution.

According to Gallup Polls from 1975-81, the majority of Americans - men and women - were in favour of the amendment. In the 1970s, only an average of 27% of those polled opposed it.

Senators who opposed the ERA persuaded Congress to set a seven-year deadline for states to pass the amendment. Congress even extended that deadline an additional three years in 1978.

By 1977, 35 states had ratified the ERA - and then the movement stalled until 2017.

So why did it fail?

Many historians attribute the failure to one conservative woman: Phyllis Schlafly.

Mrs Schlafly was a lawyer and housewife from Illinois who founded the Stop ERA group.

Her campaigning became one of the first grassroots conservative movements in the US.

"Women's libbers are promoting free sex instead of the 'slavery of marriage'," Mrs Schlafly wrote in a 1974 issue of Society Magazine.

"They are promoting Federal 'day-care centres' for babies instead of homes... abortions instead of families.

"Let's not permit this tiny minority to degrade the role that most women prefer."

Mrs Schlafly capitalised on many of the same fears that plagued the suffrage movement: that the ERA would promote abortions and homosexuality, send women into military combat and deny a woman's right to be supported by her husband.

"Those fears at the time were greatly exaggerated or untrue," Jane Mansbridge, political science professor at Harvard University, told the BBC.

"The controversies were all spurred by what I and many lawyers believe to be misinterpretations of the ERA."

Mrs Schlafly motivated conservative women across the country to rally behind "the rights of the wife".

Marjorie Spruill, professor emerita of history at the University of South Carolina, said Mrs Schlafly's campaign used religion to form "an effective coalition" against the ERA.

"Traditionally Catholics, evangelical and fundamentalist Protestants, and Mormons distrusted and were hostile to one another, but they shared a mutual fear and disdain regarding feminism," Prof Spruill told the BBC.

"Conservatives pointed to the many successes of the feminist movement to say that women can achieve equal rights without a questionable, potentially dangerous constitutional amendment."

Why are we talking about it now?

The ERA has been before every session of Congress since 1982, but the 2016 presidential election and the #MeToo movement has moved the ERA back into the public eye.

After Illinois' vote, the National Organization for Women president, Toni Van Pelt, told NPR: "The #MeToo movement has underscored the importance of strong legal protections for women's rights."

And #MeToo advocate Alyssa Milano is also present at Tuesday's hearing, highlighting the movement's impact.

Image Copyright @Alyssa_Milano @Alyssa_Milano Report

Image Copyright @Alyssa_Milano @Alyssa_MilanoReport

Did Illinois' ratification last year actually mean anything?

"Given that Illinois was Schlafly's home state, it is a big symbolic victory," Prof Spruill said.

It was also the only non-Southern, non-Mormon state not to ratify in the first round.

Only 13 states have not ratified the ERA as of April 2019 - and only one more must do so to approve the measure, in theory.

But the 1982 deadline from Congress has long since passed.

So could the ERA make it on to the constitution?

Susan Bloch, professor of constitutional law at Georgetown University, said it will all come down to timing.

"That'll be the question - when they added the time limit, was that legitimate? If it was, then these are clearly too late," she told the BBC.

Those opposing the ERA maintain that the deadline has passed, so the entire ratification process will need to start over for the amendment to be legitimately added.

Supporters of the amendment point to the fact that the 27th amendment - which governs Congress members' salaries - passed after more than 100 years, so time should not be an issue.

They also say that since the constitution does not mandate time limits for amendments, the ERA is still valid.

"When the constitution was written, they didn't contemplate these [amendment proposals] dragging on for hundreds of years," Prof Bloch said.

"I don't think anyone contemplated this crazy scenario. The fact that this amendment has been hanging around so long, and some of the ratifications are new and some are old and some are rescinded or modified weakens the argument that this is a contemporaneous expression of what the people want the constitution to say."

The states who rescinded their ratifications pose another problem. The legality of the recessions has yet to be debated in court.

But do we still need an ERA?

To Prof Spruill, the answer is a resounding yes.

"Having the ERA would make it far more difficult for conservatives to roll back the gains of the women's rights movement," she said.

"It would give women's rights more protection [and] raise the level of scrutiny to gender issues to the level of racial and religious issues."

Prof Spruill acknowledged that much of what conservatives in the 1970s feared has already come to pass, including women joining the military in combat roles, gender neutral bathrooms, the legalisation of gay marriage and abortion protections.

Constitutional lawyer Prof Bloch told the BBC she didn't feel the amendment was entirely necessary given current legal protections for equality.

"It wouldn't hurt if it were legitimately ratified," Prof Bloch added. "If it gets ratified, it is just another arrow in the quiver of legal arguments."

For Prof Mansbridge, the US constitution needs the ERA - not to alter laws, but to maintain principles.

"A good analogy is the first amendment to the US constitution.

"The framers did not have in mind a specific way that this amendment would change the existing law.

"They just thought it was a good idea to have that principle in the constitution."

The equality of women, she argued, is just as important.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
US women's equality back on Capitol Hill

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Equal Rights Amendment is back on Capitol Hill - 36 years since its last hearing and nearly a century since the amendment to guarantee equal rights to women was first introduced in Congress.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Statue celebrating life of Emmeline Pankhurst erected in Manchester - 5 News

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The image of a perfect woman in the 1950s is familiar to all of us - a diligent wife, slaving around the house all day, preparing delicious meals for her hardworking husband, taking care of the children, and all that with a smile, of course. This image was reflected a lot in the ads of that era too. Inspired by them, photographer and video editor from Beirut, Lebanon, Eli Rezkallah created a series called "In A Parallel Universe" where he switched up the gender roles portrayed in those ads to reveal the absurdity of such stereotypes with humor.

"Last Thanksgiving, I overheard my uncles talk about how women are better off cooking, taking care of the kitchen, and fulfilling "their womanly duties," Rezkallah writes on his website. "Although I know that not all men are like my uncles and think that way, I was surprised to learn that some still do, so I went on to imagine a parallel universe, where roles are inverted and men are given a taste of their own sexist poison."

Scroll down to see the recreations of old-school ads for yourself!

artFido's videos and content are viewed more than 2.5 billion times a month. This makes the network the seventh most viewed media company in the online sphere, behind the Walt Disney company in sixth place, and in front of US media giant Comcast in eighth place.*

* Statistics provided by research group Tubular Labs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Male Photographer Reverses Gender Roles In Sexist Vintage Ads, And Some Men Don't Like Them

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The image of a perfect woman in the 1950s is familiar to all of us - a diligent wife, slaving around the house all day, preparing delicious meals for her hardworking husband, taking care of the children, and all that with a smile, of course.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The pink tax is a phenomenon often attributed as a form of gender-based price discrimination, with the name stemming from the observation that many of the affected products are pink. This is sometimes but not always a literal tax. Regardless of whether tax policies of state or federal governments are involved, there is a broad tendency for products marketed specifically toward women to be more expensive than those marketed for men, despite either gender's choice to purchase either product. The NYC Department of Consumer Affairs conducted a study that concludes that women's products are typically more expensive than men's (in New York city) without reasonable cause. There are many causes of this discrepancy, including the tampon tax, product differentiation, and the belief that women are less price elastic than men.

Products marketed specifically toward women cost on average 7% more than products marketed toward men, according to a New York City Department of Consumer Affairs study. This discrepancy applies to apparel, toys, and healthcare products, among other things. In the toy sector, girls' toys cost on average 7% more than boys' toys. The study talked about a side-by-side comparison of a Radio Flyer scooter where the red scooter costs $24.99 and a pink scooter, identical in all ways but color, costs $49. In children's apparel, girls' clothes were 4% more expensive than boys'. Men's clothing was 8% less expensive than women's clothes. The largest discrepancy came to personal care/hygiene products, where women's products cost 13% more than men's.

There are many reasons why the pink tax exists, including tariffs, product discrimination, and product differentiation. Certain types of clothing, footwear, and gloves made for women and men are taxed at different levels when first entering the United States. While some tariffs are higher for men's clothing, others are higher for women's.

Some people argue that product differentiation can account for a portion of the difference between the prices of men's goods and women's goods. Products like the Radio Flyer scooter may cost more due to the cost of slightly changing the product. For example, a pink scooter may cost more than a red scooter because it is more expensive to paint a scooter pink than red, assuming such a large difference for this reason of production would be because the red scooters are the larger production, and pink scooters are in the minority. They may also be seen as more of a "special edition", like camo-print trampolines. However, there has never been any evidence presented, for example, that pink paint costs more than red paint or blue paint, thereby creating cost differentials in color-coded items geared toward different genders. The Pink Tax also arises in services like haircuts or dry cleaning. Some people argue that women's haircuts are often priced higher than men's because women's haircuts naturally involve more over time and are more labor-intensive than men's; they need to price haircuts for women higher than for men. Likewise, in dry cleaning, some people argue that men's clothing tends to be more uniform while women's clothing tends to have a lot of variabilities which can make it harder to clean. They also argue that pressing machines, normally made for men's clothing, are more difficult to use on women's clothes, which results in the dry-cleaners resorting to hand-pressing the clothing.

The reason those who campaign against the pink tax claim it to be so problematic is alleged higher prices for goods and services marketed to females arising from gender alone, with no underlying economic justification such as higher costs of production in goods. For example, Pink Tax critics say women's and men's razors are essentially the same and distinguishing between them is simply a marketing strategy. While the physical difference between a men's razor and a women's razor is minimal, the difference in marketing those products is large. Marketers have found that women are less price sensitive than men, meaning that they are generally willing to pay higher prices for goods than men. Other examples of marketers acting on price discrimination are student or senior discounts, allowing people who are more sensitive to price to pay less in order to gain their business. Airline ticket prices in advance compared to last-minute prices are another example. People who have a greater need to buy a product are often willing to pay much more, leading to price discrimination. Women are often subjected to this in the tampon and sanitary napkin market. These are products that women absolutely must buy, so they can be priced as high as a marketer would want and they would still sell their entire product.[dubious ] To marketers, women are less price elastic, meaning they care less about the price of a product or service.

In the United States, there is no specialized tax on tampons. In states where sales taxes are collected, tampons are taxed in much the same way as most other non-exempt items (such as toilet paper and toothpaste). There has been a recent push to carve out a special tax-exempt status for tampons. As of 2018, 36 states collect sales tax from tampons. Women leading the movement against the tampon tax are calling the tax a form of "regulatory discrimination", saying that menstruation is out of their control and that the government should not tax something that is imminent for approximately half the population. Unlike condoms, tampons are a necessity, with no male equivalent, so the two items cannot be compared. Some schools, colleges, doctors offices, and clinics offer free condoms for use by the public, while the same is not done for menstrual products. Similarly, this puts an even greater strain onto poverty-stricken households and results in a large percentage of women and young girls being unable to afford them. For instance, in a Scotland study, it was discovered that " 45% of girls" had used "toilet paper, socks and newspaper to replace menstrual products" because they were unable to afford them.

Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom have voted on legislation to create special tax exemptions for tampons, but none have become law. India has recently scrapped their tampon tax. Kenya has removed the tampon tax and is now providing menstrual products to school-aged girls.

The economic impact of the pink tax is that women have less purchasing power, especially paired with the gender-based pay gap. The wage gap already puts women at a disadvantage when it comes to purchasing power. Women currently make a statistical average 89 cents for every $1 a man earns in the United States, meaning women statistically, on average, have less income to spend on goods and services. This alone gives men more money and, ultimately, more buying power. The pink tax further contributes to the economic inequality between men and women. Paying more for goods and services marketed to women while women earn less than men means men hold the majority of the purchasing power in the economy. Taxes on feminine hygiene products that men don't need further contributes to this discrepancy.

Congresswoman Jackie Speier

Representative Jackie Speier was a member of the California State Senate from 1998-2006. In 2008, she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing California's 14th Electoral District, and is still the incumbent. Speier, a Democrat, is a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Pink Tax Repeal Act

On July 8, 2016, Speier introduced H.R. 5686, Pink Tax Repeal Act, to the House floor. The overall intention of the Pink Tax Repeal Act is to end gender-based price discrimination. She was the bill's primary sponsor. This was widely considered an early version of the bill.

On April 10, 2018, Speier introduced a revised version of the Pink Tax Repeal Act, H.R.5464. The 115th Congress (2017-2019) was expected to review the 2018 version. Skopos Labs, a technology company that predicts risks and opportunities, gave the bill a 1% chance of being enacted. The Pink Tax Repeal Act would mandate that any comparable products that are marketed toward men and women must be priced equally. Although Speier said she did not expect the bill to pass, she tried to push forward the conversation about gender-based price discrimination.

Gender Tax Repeal Act

While in the California State Assembly, Speier introduced Assembly Bill No. 1088, also known as the Gender Tax Repeal Act, in 1995. It was similar to the Pink Tax Repeal Act, except it focused on gender-based price discrimination in services. The bill stated that businesses such as tailors, barbers, hair stylists, dry cleaners and laundries would not be permitted to discriminate for "standard services" due to a person's gender or the gender the clothing is intended for, without a valid, prominently placed written justification. The bill passed and remains in effect. A similar bill was proposed soon after aimed at consumer goods, however it gained large opposition from manufacturing companies. The main opposition argument was that a bill proposed on goods would lead to litigation and price increases.

Senator Ben Hueso (D-San Diego)

Democratic California State Sen. Ben Hueso of San Diego proposed a new version of the Gender Tax Repeal Act, SB-899, in 2016, but withdrew the bill after pushback from industry lobbyists. It would have banned businesses in California from charging customers different prices for similar goods on the basis of gender.

Delegate Jennifer Boysko, (D-Fairfax)

Jennifer Boysko, a Democrat of the Virginia House of Delegates, in 2018 submitted HB 24, which would exempt menstrual supplies from sales and use taxes, in response to the Tampon Tax in Virginia.

In the UK, women and girls were being charged on average 37 per cent more for toys, cosmetics and clothes than their male counterparts.

Criticism of the pink tax includes the principle that the idea robs women of agency and choice by suggesting that women are so easily brainwashed by marketing that they are prevented from choosing the lesser priced but otherwise "identical" male-marketed alternative. Instead, critics have attributed the pricing disparity to market forces, and stated that if women continue to buy a more expensive pink razor, it is because they see some utility or additional aesthetic that they are willing to pay for. Substantive differences in price indicates differences in the marketability of different products.

Opposition to the Pink Tax Repeal Act came from retailers and manufacturers of women's products and clothing. The main argument is that the Pink Tax Repeal Act would be difficult to enforce and lawsuits would follow. The difference between men's and women's products is not always easy to see, they argue, so removing the pink tax would be subjective. They also alleged that the bill was unfriendly to domestic manufacturing jobs and that lowering the prices for women's products could lead to employee layoffs.

Republican opposition for a recall of the tampon tax in Virginia argued that tax discrimination against products for women needed to be sorted out by changing the general tax code. They added that they supported the elimination of sales taxes overall.

The satirical card game Cards Against Humanity released a "For Her" edition of its base set (which is exactly the same as the original except with pink-colored packaging and a higher price) in 2017 as a satire of the pink tax, and in support of EMILY's List-a U.S. political action committee supporting female pro-choice Democratic candidates.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The pink tax is a phenomenon often attributed as a form of gender-based price discrimination, with the name stemming from the observation that many of the affected products are pink. This is sometimes but not always a literal tax.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Pour la première fois, il sera possible de jouer une femme, nommée Kassandra, dans le prochain épisode d'" Assassin's Creed ". UBISOFT

Qu'il semble loin, le temps où les décideurs de l'industrie du jeu vidéo tremblaient devant une frange de consommateurs menaçant de boycotter les œuvres un peu trop ouvertement progressistes. Quatre ans après les débuts de la polémique du GamerGate, qui avait vu émerger un groupe masculiniste constitué sur Internet, les grands groupes du secteur ne se sont jamais autant intéressés à la parité hommes-femmes.

C'est simple : lors des annonces qui ont précédé l'E3, le Salon mondial du jeu vidéo qui se tient de mardi 12 à jeudi 14 juin à Los Angeles, les héroïnes de pixels ont semblé être partout, ou presque. Il y a d'abord le retour des quelques rares héroïnes bien installées, comme l'inépuisable Lara Croft dans Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Mais aussi celui de Jade, une des premières figures féminines non stéréotypées, dans Beyond Good & Evil 2, ou d'Ellie, jeune fille de The Last of Us, devenue majeure et autonome dans sa suite.

Il y a également ces jeux traditionnellement masculins qui opèrent un rééquilibrage soudain. Pour la première fois dans la série, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, situé dans la Grèce antique, donnera le choix entre un ou une hoplite - des soldats de l'époque. Gears of War 5, prochain épisode d'une saga réputée pour son taux de testostérone, s'intéresse désormais à Kait, mercenaire de l'espace tout aussi badass - dure à cuire - que ses prédécesseurs. Quant à l'extension Wolfenstein : Youngblood, elle laisse le choix entre... deux femmes uniquement, les filles du héros habituel. Du côté de For Honor, jeu de combats médiévaux lourds et puissants, il met aussi une femme dans la bande-annonce de sa dernière extension, Marching Fire. Control, premier thriller futuriste des Finlandais de Remedy (Max Payne, Alan Wake) à mettre en scène un protagoniste féminin, ferait presque office de petit joueur, tant il bouscule moins de conventions.

Kait sera l'héroïne du prochain " Gears of War ".

Heurts

Interrogé par Le Monde, Phil Spencer, dirigeant mondial de la division Xbox de Microsoft, y voit une progression générale de l'industrie, liée à une sensibilisation accrue ces dernières années.

" Ce que je vois évoluer, et je m'en félicite, c'est l'industrie qui prend davantage en compte son rôle au sein de la société. A ses débuts, ce n'était que du divertissement, mais maintenant certains jeux ont une dimension artistique, d'autres permettent d'aborder des sujets de discussion importants, et je pense que l'interactivité et la coopération qui sont au cœur de notre industrie rendent cette forme d'art unique, et qu'elle va continuer à prendre de l'importance. "

Cette évolution a eu ses avant-gardistes et ses convertis de la deuxième heure. L'éditeur français Ubisoft et l'américain Electronic Arts figurent parmi les premiers grands groupes du secteur à avoir prôné une politique volontariste. Le premier a introduit en 2015 un personnage féminin par défaut dans son jeu de tir The Division, le second a intégré les équipes féminines dans FIFA 15 la même année.

Cette évolution ne s'est faite sans heurt, ni toujours spontanément. En 2014, Ubisoft était vilipendé pour sa décision d' écarter le personnage féminin jouable initialement prévu dans Assassin's Creed Unity, un sous-épisode situé en France au temps de la Révolution. Le motif invoqué a fait grincer des dents : intégrer une héroïne aurait été trop coûteux en termes de production. La polémique a laissé des traces. Dès l'année suivante, Assassin's Creed Syndicate permettait de jouer désormais une femme, même si celle-ci n'a pas les même caractéristiques qu'un homme. Puis Ubisoft Québec se lança dans le développement d 'Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Trois ans plus tard, l'éditeur français révèle le résultat : une aventure aux héros jouables mixtes, et pour la première fois égaux dans le combat.

" Nous voulons parler à tout le monde "

" For Honor ", jeu de combats médiévaux lourds et puissants, met aussi une femme dans la bande-annonce de sa dernière extention, " Marching Fire ".

Si le jeu vidéo prend en compte ces problématiques, c'est également que plusieurs de ses studios de production les plus influents sont situés dans des pays avant-gardistes sur la question, comme le Canada, où Ubisoft a de nombreuses forces vives, et la Suède, où Electronic Arts a son entreprise de création la plus stratégique, DICE ( Star Wars Battlefront, Battlefield), et dont vient aujourd'hui son directeur de développement. C'est ainsi à DICE qu'a été conçu Battlefield V, un des autres jeux phares de cet E3. Ce jeu de tir en pleine seconde guerre mondiale a suscité l'énervement de certains joueurs au mois de mai en raison de la présence d'une soldate dans sa bande-annonce et sur sa jaquette, obligeant à revisiter la place souvent occultée des femmes en temps de conflit.

Lire aussi Polémique " Battlefield V " : " Le rôle des femmes durant la seconde guerre a été essentiel "

" En tant que Suédois, on peut dire que oui, je suis surpris que le monde ne fonctionne pas comme nous en Suède ", se désespère Andreas Morell, senior producer sur le jeu, interrogé par Pixels.
" On voulait être sûrs que vous puissiez choisir non seulement la façon dont vous voulez jouer sur le champ de bataille, mais également qui vous souhaitez incarner, un homme comme une femme, que ce soit vêtu d'un uniforme historique ou personnalisé. Nous voulons parler à tout le monde. "
Pas téméraires, les grands groupes de jeu vidéo ont d'abord tâtonné le terrain avant de se convertir aux héroïnes de pixels. Dans un contexte de tensions entre développeurs progressistes et franges masculinistes des consommateurs, c'est par l'entremise de DLC, des chapitres additionnels facultatifs, que les éditeurs ont d'abord évalué les risques. Avant d'installer une femme à l'affiche de Battlefield V, Electronic Arts avait ainsi glissé une résistante saoudienne dans la dernière mission de Battlefield I en 2016, puis introduit des snipeuses de l'armée russe dans l'extension Au nom du tsar en 2017. Ubisoft avait également inséré une héroïne en 2012 dans Assassin's Creed III : Liberation, épisode secondaire de sa série de jeux d'aventure historiques initialement sorti sur consoles portables. Wolfenstein II : Youngblood laisse imaginer que son éditeur, Bethesda, en est encore à cette phase, quand d'autres, comme Activision et ses Call of Duty, n'ont jamais dérogé à leur casting majoritairement masculin.

Naughty Dog, le studio derrière Uncharted 4 : A Thief's End et prochainement The Last of Us : Part II, est allé encore plus loin, en présentant dans une bande-annonce diffusée dans la nuit de lundi 11 à mardi 12 juin une héroïne homosexuelle. Une étape supplémentaire dans la remise en question de nombreux stéréotypes, saluée par des observateurs, et vilipendée par une frange opiniâtre de joueurs. Ceux à qui de plus en plus de grands groupes de l'industrie du jeu vidéo ont décidé de ne plus accorder d'importance.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Au Salon du jeu vidéo de l'E3, la grande année des femmes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Qu'il semble loin, le temps où les décideurs de l'industrie du jeu vidéo tremblaient devant une frange de consommateurs menaçant de boycotter les œuvres un peu trop ouvertement progressistes. Quatre ans après les débuts de la polémique du GamerGate, qui avait vu émerger un groupe masculiniste constitué sur Internet, les grands groupes du secteur ne se sont jamais autant intéressés à la parité hommes-femmes.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zkb-zg4JCLk

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Emma Watson at the HeForShe Campaign 2014 - Official UN Video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Jennifer Lopez - Ain't Your Mama (Official Video)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Women’s March on Washington: Historic Protest Three Times Larger Than Trump’s Inaugural Crowd

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Suffragette Official Trailer #1 (2015) - Carey Mulligan, Meryl Streep Drama HD

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Made in Dagenham | Official Trailer HD (2010)

# data[].attributes.headline
The traditional vision of the dutiful wife

# data[].attributes.subject
The traditional vision of the dutiful wife