Strong Museum launches Women in Games exhibit

The Strong Museum's National Museum of Play has opened a Women in Games exhibit at its home in Rochester, New York. The exhibit aims both to celebrate the accomplishments of women in the gaming industry over the years, as well as highlight representations of women over time.

The exhibit was opened with a celebratory event where a number of leading and pioneering women in the industry came to speak. Speakers included Megan Gaiser, Bonnie Ross, Jen MacClean, Dona Bailey, Brenda Laurel, Susan Jaekel, Sheri Graner Ray, Victoria Van Voorhis, and Amy Hennig.

Reporting from the event, VentureBeat shared a snippet of Gaiser's talk.

"While the many systems designed with only half the population in mind are ripe for redesign, it's really not possible to create an inclusive reality on top of such a toxic one," she said. "It must be reimagined. Imagine a game industry where men and women feel safe enough to bring their entire selves to truly collaborate.

"We are the technology we've been waiting for. We upgrade computers when they're not operating at their maximum capacity. Why wouldn't we upgrade our own, human operating system."

The exhibit will run through spring of 2019 and will include celebrations of pioneering women game designers, programmers, writers, artists, audio designers, and executives. It also shows representations of women game characters throughout gaming history, and a section of non-electronic games designed by women.