None of my female friends play games. None have even tried. They just all say no whenever they are asked. Is this because games genuinely don't appeal to the gentler sex or is it more of a social conditioning thing. Before i get people crying out to me "My g/f sister cousin soforth plays games, your an idiot" I'm talking about the general whole. Personally I think it comes from a society that still clings to the archaic ideas that it is bad for a female to be competitive. Any thoughts on the subject?
Girl Gamers
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In general, no. Females do not play games as much as males. Don't ask me why, I have no clue. There are some who do and some who don't. Perhaps, relating to one particular friend of mine, they think it is 'childish' or something. Social standings, I would imagine. Also, it would depend on the game.
My sister only plays Final Fantasy games, my ex only played WoW, and another ex was as much of a nerd as I was and knows as much as I do about Dungeons and Dragons rules.
People who don't play games .... well, their loss.
My sister only plays Final Fantasy games, my ex only played WoW, and another ex was as much of a nerd as I was and knows as much as I do about Dungeons and Dragons rules.
People who don't play games .... well, their loss.
My brother's girlfriend playes Wii.
But apart from that girls i know say "I don't watch halo"
And yes that is a quote.
But apart from that girls i know say "I don't watch halo"
And yes that is a quote.
Yeah dade seems to have a similar experience as me. My current girlfriend likes Half Life and Halo. That's it. It's like they find one thing they like and lock onto it, and it never turns into a hobby. Shooters seem to be the general ticket in. Many of the girls I know prefer games with an instant action feel to them rather than a totally immersive experience.
I'll third that: I found that most girls I know who game at all seem to cling onto a select few games, usually those that got them started in the first place. WoW, the Sims, Rock Band, Psychonauts and Warioware are the most common cases here.
From what i've experienced most girls see games as a boy thing, and childish on top of that, Which is unfortunate as i think either sex could enjoy games as long as they found the type right for them.
Chris, you lucky man. All I get is harasment for liking Halo off me lady, which is unfair because I keep my mouth shut about her and Mario/Zelda/Pokemon/Super Smash Brothers (Which she is unaturaly good at).ChrisP.Lettuce said:
AHH Its Fire with his random statistics to the rescue. Do you know that there are more female gamers then there are male gamers under 18? Did you know that? Well its true (I think) but even though many women are gamers you find that women gamers are rare to find. I dodn't find this suprising given the bad treatment some chicks get in Multiplayer games.
But the average gamer is still a 33 year old man. I hope that one day soon average wont be able to be taken but I think that day is a little bit off yet.
But the average gamer is still a 33 year old man. I hope that one day soon average wont be able to be taken but I think that day is a little bit off yet.
Personally, I feel it's a social conditioning thing. Most people are still into the "manly man" & "girly girl" way of raising their kids where if something is not girly enough, then they won't let their daughters play with it. It's easier to tell girls not to play video games than it is to tell boys, mainly because many parents can use the whole "video games are for boys" excuse. A friend of mine (a girl) who's into video games told me that her mom would tell her that all the time to discourage her from playing games.
Generally, girls are raised to believe certain things aren't "feminine" enough and that they shouldn't waste their time on such things. On the opposite spectrum, boys are raised to believe that certain things are for men only (video games included) and, as such, are usually prone to fits of sarcasm and taunting when they come face to face with a girl gamer, either a) choosing to believe that she is really a guy pretending to be a girl to mess with people's heads or b) questioning the girl's ability at the game BECAUSE she is a girl even if the girl can kick a lot of ass in whatever game is being played.
I have encountered a few girl gamers in my time...not a lot but a few. They're hard to find, especially since it's generally a no-no or turn-off for a girl to be handy with a joystick (unless you mean "joystick" in the double entendre way).
Generally, girls are raised to believe certain things aren't "feminine" enough and that they shouldn't waste their time on such things. On the opposite spectrum, boys are raised to believe that certain things are for men only (video games included) and, as such, are usually prone to fits of sarcasm and taunting when they come face to face with a girl gamer, either a) choosing to believe that she is really a guy pretending to be a girl to mess with people's heads or b) questioning the girl's ability at the game BECAUSE she is a girl even if the girl can kick a lot of ass in whatever game is being played.
I have encountered a few girl gamers in my time...not a lot but a few. They're hard to find, especially since it's generally a no-no or turn-off for a girl to be handy with a joystick (unless you mean "joystick" in the double entendre way).
When I was a young lad of about 10, I went to my cousin's house to stay over with my family (Both my cousins were girls). I initially scoffed at the idea of them owning a mega drive, because I had always had very clearly-defined social expectations of both genders. They still had games that weren't big boom-fests, for instance their lineup included one of the mickey mouse games, and the Lion King, but on the whole they didn't over-use it, it was just something they did sometimes.
My next encounter with a girl I actually knew was a girl was many years later, a girl I now love very much, who plays various different games, ranging from Soul Calibur to Mario Kart, friendly games on the Wii and N64. She also plays The Sims 2 on her laptop, so in my few experiences, the old adage about the SIms being the game that girls play is true, but I know in my heart that there are more girl gamers out there, and I'd like to meet them, simply to help rid myself of the assumption that's been drilled into my head that every gamer is a guy aged between 13 and 40
My next encounter with a girl I actually knew was a girl was many years later, a girl I now love very much, who plays various different games, ranging from Soul Calibur to Mario Kart, friendly games on the Wii and N64. She also plays The Sims 2 on her laptop, so in my few experiences, the old adage about the SIms being the game that girls play is true, but I know in my heart that there are more girl gamers out there, and I'd like to meet them, simply to help rid myself of the assumption that's been drilled into my head that every gamer is a guy aged between 13 and 40
I can think of plenty of girls I know that play games, and they're not all weird. Though that depends entirely on your yardstick for defining how weird someone is.MaraN88 said:
This is one of those discussions that will carry on forever, because us manly men will always find the death and destruction that gets meted out in FPS's and the like more than girls, and I use FPS's because they are the most popular type of game and are generally associated with gaming more that any other genre) Thats not saying girls (and I use the term girls as a general term for all women) don't like that sorta thing either, but they are the minority.
Basically it boils down to our hunter gatherer instincts, methinks. Us men are all "Smash kill" and women are, well, I don't know how to finish that sentence without sounding incredibly sexist, so I wont.
maybe its just bad luck on your part. Of all the girl gamers I know (Which isnt that many, not even 10 id say) only 1 is wierd.MaraN88 said:
I think it depends on what some girls are into anyway. Im an anime fan myself, and Ive noticed that it seems to be that most female anime fans seem to enjoy games too.
Most of my female-gaming friends enjoy the final fantasy series, and I know one that really loves to play age of empires. Though Ive never seem them playing FPS games or the likes of GTA, but some of the do play games that have a bit of violence in them (One of them is very skilled at fighting games)
I'm sure they'd say the same about you. Here's something to remember: All women are crazy (and by saing that I now have the GirlMafia attempting to kill me for letting out our secrets...MaraN88 said:
If you want to find a "normal" woman who does anything, then I suggest that you give up and play some more DoA. As for why girls don't tend to play games... Well, we tend to have different priorities (like shopping, puppies, and shoes [insert eyeroll]). Obviously, I am being somewhat sarcastic here. Almost all of my female friends (including myself) play videogames, warhammer, or tabletop RPGs.
We do tend to go for the less murderous games, and I think that what Fullmetal X said about gaming being seen as not "feminine" is right, but I think it's less about "society" and more about GUYS. I beat one of my ex-boyfriends at Halo maybe three times in out two year relationship, and he sulked for a week. Same with my last best friend, except that he was just really horrible about it. They couldn't handle losing to a girl at something so "masculine". It got to the point where I just refused to play with them any more, which means that I'm a bit wary of they guys I play with now. This doesn't apply to all blokes, obviously. Nothing applies to everyone.
As for girls liking the Sims... Well, statistically there's no argument. The fairer sex can't seem to get enough of it. My old computer ran out of disk space because my sister had so many sims expansion packs installed. Personally, I think it's practise for when we take over the world
(also, guys, you're being crazily sexist about yourselves, so go right ahead and say what you want about us
)I never said they can't be. Just speaking in broad generalizations and my own experience. I've been trying to get my wife to play something beyond the sims or tetris for years now, she just straight out refuses to try. I'd love my daughter to be a gamer, but with the missus thinking that it isn't the thing for girls to do will she be trained to think the same from her female role model?The Reverend said:
My girl has played World of Warcraft, and actively plays Tales of Pirates, Oblivion, The Sims, and loads of point-and-click and text adventures. She's also on a mission to write a text adventure in every programming language known to man, and as far as I know she's already covered the most popular ones.
She tried Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, but found it to be to violent. The admits Half-Life 2 is a great game, but also to much violence for her taste. She's probably as much of a gaming freak as I am, but she doesn't like the bloody killing kind and has a soft spot for cute-looking games.
She's not the only gaming girl I know, but all of them seem to prefer Point-and-Click games.
She tried Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, but found it to be to violent. The admits Half-Life 2 is a great game, but also to much violence for her taste. She's probably as much of a gaming freak as I am, but she doesn't like the bloody killing kind and has a soft spot for cute-looking games.
She's not the only gaming girl I know, but all of them seem to prefer Point-and-Click games.
Answer: Look at any movie, read any book, look on posters, look at those redicilus fashion magazines - Do you really think that "girls" would give it up?
Not to mention that girls tend to get hit on by 24/7 whenever they exclaim it in a game that they are females.
I say: Stop focus so much on what gender does what and it'll eventually come around by itself.
Not to mention that girls tend to get hit on by 24/7 whenever they exclaim it in a game that they are females.
I say: Stop focus so much on what gender does what and it'll eventually come around by itself.
Whenever I play Halo with my girlfriend on cooperative I make sure I stick a few grenades to the back of her head to make up for any times she beats me.Rys said:I'm sure they'd say the same about you. Here's something to remember: All women are crazy (and by saing that I now have the GirlMafia attempting to kill me for letting out our secrets...MaraN88 said:
As for why girls don't tend to play games... Well, we tend to have different priorities (like shopping, puppies, and shoes [insert eyeroll]). Obviously, I am being somewhat sarcastic here. Almost all of my female friends (including myself) play videogames, warhammer, or tabletop RPGs.
We do tend to go for the less murderous games, and I think that what Fullmetal X said about gaming being seen as not "feminine" is right, but I think it's less about "society" and more about GUYS. I beat one of my ex-boyfriends at Halo maybe three times in out two year relationship, and he sulked for a week. Same with my last best friend, except that he was just really horrible about it. They couldn't handle losing to a girl at something so "masculine". It got to the point where I just refused to play with them any more, which means that I'm a bit wary of they guys I play with now. This doesn't apply to all blokes, obviously. Nothing applies to everyone.
As for girls liking the Sims... Well, statistically there's no argument. The fairer sex can't seem to get enough of it. My old computer ran out of disk space because my sister had so many sims expansion packs installed. Personally, I think it's practise for when we take over the world
(also, guys, you're being crazily sexist about yourselves, so go right ahead and say what you want about us
I'd say they were just idiots who couldn't handle the prospect of an actual challenge (That sort of attitude, I've found, is not gender-specific at all). I scoff at them. If I got my ass handed to me by somebody at, say, Guilty Gear, I wouldn't sulk about it. I'd try and beat them. I'd practice. And do you know why? Because I'd want to get better than them, so that I could beat them. I'd want to do that so that *they* would practice, so that they would try and beat me, so that the cycle would keep on going. Bah. Bad losers disgust me.