ENGL 680M: New Media

I loved Turkle's article, but did anyone else notice the sexist examples she used for her discussion of open-ended role playing on page 50? Turkle argues that "there are no rules" in children's open-ended role play, but in all these examples she gives there are definite rules regarding which gender plays which role. So I don't get how she can state that real life or fantasy play has rules that are less clear with more negotiation. I bet most of the time it's the boy that gets to play Superman to the little girl's Lois Lane, even today. Now a lot of the sample roles she gives are incredibly dated: Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans - maybe these are from her childhood. There are more strong women heroes now. At least a girl who plays Princess Leia gets a blaster.
Her examples of open-ended role play are primarily for younger children. Rule-based games like D&D are certainly complex and are normally played by adolescents and teens - and adults (I have a friend who plays D&D games every Sunday but he tells his co-workers that he's playing poker, which is more socially acceptable at his office). Yet these rule-based games don't enforce the gender stereotypes; you can have a female mage or thief or warrior. What we ought to be thinking about is ways for younger children to play without having to stick to traditional gender roles.