Hawken CEO embraces equal sexual representation

Ruby Underboob and Bro-sie the Riveter now sit side by side in the lobby of Hawken publisher Meteor Entertainment, thanks to a brilliantly intuitive way of addressing sexual representation in not only the office environment, but in games too.

Initially, CEO Mark Long, had a comic art inspired poster of Ruby Underboob, placed in the company lobby. It features a scantily clad female, standing in-front of a Hawken mech, holding aloft a flame spouting blow torch. Her name is self explanatory.

While some no doubt enjoyed the image, one female employee at the studio did not and resolved to do something about it. She didn't complain to HR though, she didn't file a lawsuit of sexual discrimination  instead she fought fire with fire: and had her own poster made, of Bro-sie the Riveter. A man, so unperturbed by the hot oil, grease and live ammunition surrounding the mechs, that he's happy to go to work wearing nothing but a hard hat and a pair of tight fitting, slimline boxers.

All the best mechanics work in the near-nude.

According to RPS report, the boss took it in good faith, despite the female employee and her anonymous helper being slightly worried after replacing Ruby with Bro-Sie in the lobby. However, instead of threatening the future of her career, it helped it. When Long eventually confronted her on it, he said:

“That was a brilliant prank. You called me on exactly the bulls**t I need to be called on. I put up pictures of half-naked girls around the office all the time and I never think about it. I’m taking you and [the artist who made the poster] to lunch. And after that, we’re going to hang both prints, side by side.”

KitGuru Says: All's well that ends well. This is a great way to highlight a bit of sexual inequality in the office and in gaming in general, without making it combative. Too often feminism comes across as anti-men, which is just the pot calling the kettle black. 

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