1 Copyright © 2014, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Chapter 1 DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-6142-4.ch001 From the “Damsel in Distress” to Girls’ Games and Beyond: Gender and Children’s Gaming ABSTRACT In this chapter, the authors critically assess the gendered nature of the products developed by the computer gaming industry. The chapter takes a historiographical approach to examining the nature of children’s video and computer games as a type of toy that immerses children into current gender stereotypes even as they hold the potential for social change. New ways of bridging the gap between stereotypes and change is explored through a virtual world for children. In addition to an introductory section, the chapter is organized in three main sections: First, the authors place existing computer and video games into a broad and historical context. Second, the chapter takes into consideration feminist critiques of video games for adults. Third, the authors analyze the case of WebkinzWorld, a toy-based social-networking portal ofering less gendered video game environments for kids. The authors argue that this mixed method analysis is important not only for computer game designers and marketers who aim to appeal to broad demographics, but also for educators, parents, and caregivers who need to understand the underlying or hidden messages of games for children. INTRODUCTION: CHILDREN’S GAMES IN CONTEXT Since the early 1980s with the advent of home computers, video and computer games, and information and communication technologies in general, researchers have sounded the alarm about the gender divide – not enough women employed in the field, technologies designed for men, few women studying in technology-related fields (in spite of increasing numbers of women enrolled in universities generally), hypersexual- ized and stereotyped female characters in video games, and so on. This lack of appropriate and fair representation of women in technological fields generally has been well-documented (Cassell & Jenkins, 1998; Dietz, 1998; Harvey 2011). In this chapter, we ask the question: how has the nature Alyson E. King University of Ontario, Canada Aziz Douai University of Ontario, Canada