Frag Dolls are a group of professional female video gamers. Sponsored by UbiSoft, established to act as role models to promote more female gamers.
The video gaming industry is work $30 billion so it makes sense to start aiming at drawing in the female market more. Although there was criticism levelled at the group, calling them as ‘Boost Girls’ – good looking girls hired to look pretty and stand next to game stands at expos – but co-founding Frag Doll, Morgan “Rhoulette” Romine, categorically denies such assumptions:
There were a lot people who didn’t think we were serious gamers, but it was mostly people who didn’t do their research. There was the unflattering ‘Boost Babe’ reference, which we’ve had to fight a lot since the beginning. We’re not Boost Babes, we play the games!
They even have member blogs on their site.
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The term is Booth babe, not Boost babe. “Booth babe” is a slang term referring to attractive women hired specifically to draw attendees into the booths of commercial exhibitions. These ladies are not regular employees of the company, but are typically freelance models.
A classic example is the scantily-clad models employed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, a conference for video game developers, publishers, and journalists. Booth babes typically dress either as popular female video game characters (such as BloodRayne or Lara Croft) or in garb that is themed to match the games they are promoting. The purpose of a booth babe is to attract the attention of E3 attendees (who might otherwise be distracted by the loud music, giant screens, and flashing lights that characterize the conference) and direct them to booths, where game developers and publishers hawk their upcoming game titles. Booth babes are often sought out to pose for a picture with the E3 attendees.
As a tradition, booth babes have received mixed reactions from gaming enthusiasts. Some regard them as male chauvinistic, and cite them as evidence that the video game industry is promoting itself exclusively to teenage boys, a practice which could limit its ability to expand and appeal to a broader audience. Others see booth babes as a harmless, entertaining diversion. Some attendees have even created web sites with vast collections of booth babe photos from past E3 events. Still other critics condemn the practice of using booth babes or challenge the objectifying of industry models.
October 25th, 2006 at 6:13 pm
Yes, we (DMW) had a typo in the original article. It has been corrected to “Booth Babe”. We apologize for the confusion.
October 26th, 2006 at 5:30 pm
All corrections duly noted although I’m still sticking with ‘boost babe’ – a little more visceral ;-)
DK
October 26th, 2006 at 5:56 pm