The Melbourne Freeplay 2011 games festival did what it does every year: encouraged gamers, developers and writers to think deeper about the medium they love and the issues that surround it. So when a panel titled “The Words We Use”–originally intended to be a forum to discuss games criticism and writing–was derailed to the subject of gender in games writing, it drew attention to an important and contentious issue.

Here, two female game journalists weigh in on some of the ideas raised in an email correspondence about the role of female writers and critics in the games industry.