Poll: Girl Gamers: offended by stereotypes?

[gmergurl]

For clarification:

"Not actually a girl" - You're really just a dude pretended to a be a chick. Usually where you can select your gender and don't have to "prove."
"You must be ugly" - You're a gamer because you fail at being "girly" and therefore are ugly.
"You don't play videogames" - Usually accompanied by dismissal of your favorite games, or even your game library as not being games. This includes the idea that casual games aren't games and playing casually is a crime (easier difficulty etc.)


I know these aren't all of them, but these are the ones I encounter the most.

There will always be stereotypes, duh, and sometimes they are funny. I laugh at some of them, most of the actually even when they apply to me. "You don't play videogames" is kinda my favorite, because it's like "and I can you don't either because you don't play " But I was watching G4 tv today with my brother and I couldn't help but notice that all the female hosts, while attractive (one debatable but whatever) they were idiots, at least about gaming and technology. I understand that this whole channel is for guys, geeky, nerdy guys. But when they give a girl a role where she's supposed at least somewhat knowledgeable, can you at least give her the appearance of being in the know? Now I'm not claiming to be some gaming/tech wiz and extremely attractive (though I believe I am somewhat decent, in both categories) why can't they give the appearance that there are girls out there like this? I understand they're going for sex appeal, I'm not stupid, but this seriously ticked me off.


I can hardly go into Gamestop without being "attacked" by sales reps (all male) who see me browsing (reading boxes and such) and think I don't know what I'm looking for, or flirt with me. It just gets awkward when I'm with my brother or boyfriend.

Now tomorrow this issue isn't going to bother me nearly as much, I understand, but I can't immagine I'm the only one who's starting to get sick and tired of "omg u a grl? srsly? want 2 have sx?" -,-


So what are your stories/ideas on the subject? Do you think women are prejudiced against in gaming?


Edit 1: Alright, "Girl" was probably not correct, female probably would've been better.
Edit 2: It's tomorrow here, so again, not really offended so much anymore, sorry if I peeved anyone else off with my rant.
Edit 3: I am very happy with the responses. Usually I don't let it bother me either, it just gets annoying when I'm more hardcore than my brother or my boyfriend and they get more "respect" than I do, just for being male. I understand that this stuff doesn't matter too much, but I was just venting after watching a couple of shows that represented female gamers as blonde bimbos. Very happy with the poll results too, good to know I'm not the only one. I'm not saying we all get super offended, we all get super pissed when this stuff happens, it just ticked me off at the time because I felt it was feeding the stereotypes.

 

[Aetera]

I get annoyed by these. I demolished any lingering doubts at my college when I dominated in several games at the campus-wide video game tournament, though. I took first place in two games, and second in two more. When I worked at GameStop a few years ago, a lot of guys either questioned if I really worked there/was qualified, or treated me like the second coming or something. I was the first girl to ever work there.

I got the reputation of being the most capable gamer in my dorm, though. I played a lot of co-op with guys in my dorm, and I got asked to help out in games a lot. A few guys have resented me for beating them in games, though.

At the tournament, though, a lot of the guys just found it funny that I was dominating everyone in the fighting games. I took first place in Fatal Fury on the Sega Genesis, and some guy came in to watch half-way through. He was behind the couch, so he couldn't see who was playing. The conversation went like this:

"Wow, who is playing that huge mexican wrestler guy? He's kicking ass."
"The tiny girl on the end of the couch."
"...What?"
xD

 

[Indeterminacy]

(Obligatory "Not a Girl" opening)

While I have no real stereotypes as regards girl gamers (I know several and they're awesome), one thing I guess I do puzzle over is why girls would want to call themselves "gamers". There is something inherently masculine about the sort of competitive "Pro" gamer title. Just playing games (whether casually or competitively) can be a fun thing to do that girls can enjoy just as much as guys, but when it becomes a cultural identity thing, I would tend to ask the question "why is this important to you?".

I guess the point I'm making is that the "Gamer" title carries with it slightly obsessive and macho connotations, and it's a little weird thinking of someone who is female wanting to embrace that particular aspect of the hobby. Similarly, certain genres of game, such as the MMORPG and the First Person Shooter that currently dominate the social game-playing landscape, tend to favour those characteristics in their reward structure, so it might seem strange to place this kind of environment as somewhere a girl would want to spend their time.

 

[Stasisesque]

Yeah I've been a girl for 25.9 years, have been a big fan of computer/video games since the age of six, and I've actually never encountered any of these phenomena. Or, if I have, I just ignore it.

I guess I'm ugly enough to be ignored, and this suits me fine.

 

[badgersprite]

Yeah I've been a girl for 25.9 years, have been a big fan of computer/video games since the age of six, and I've actually never encountered any of these phenomena.

Same, only for not quite as long. Apparently, this is a really prevalent phenomenon, from what people keep saying, but I've never experienced it, either in multiplayer or IRL.

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

Well, this forum is more than %50 male, so the male responses had to get here at some point.

That said, yeah I'm a guy. It's just one of those things that takes time to get rid of; because gaming is just now beginning to get itself into the "acceptable" area of entertainment methods we haven't really had enough time to clear the stereotypes.

It's understandable that for quite awhile girls who play games would be treated a bit differently than guys. I mean from the male perspective seeing a girl who has similar interests to you is always nice and this is something that not long ago very rarely happened in the gaming community. It's only since gaming has become more popular that the community has evened itself out between both genders. At this point girls playing games really shouldn't be surprising or unusual but again, people hang on to stereotypes for a long time.

 

[Fappy]

Yeah I've been a girl for 25.9 years, have been a big fan of computer/video games since the age of six, and I've actually never encountered any of these phenomena.

Same, only for not quite as long. Apparently, this is a really prevalent phenomenon, from what people keep saying, but I've never experienced it, either in multiplayer or IRL.

I think it really depends on what games you play. The community can make or break your experience after all.

 

[Nemu]

(female gamer)

I'm not offended by any of those stereotypes. Been playing games since the Atari 2600 days, so it's difficult for me to be offended by guy gamers for being female. Hard to argue with someone who bought Pitfall 2 the day it came out. ;D


That being said, I've DEFINITELY had more than my share of the "stalker-guy" type[footnote] And by "stalker-guy" type, I mean the kind of guy who, once he finds out you are female, feels the need to be overly-friendly.[/footnote] in-game, so I find that to be more irritating than anything else.

 

[Sandernista]

(Male Gamer)

I don't really make comments at girls. Sometimes I'll joke with my friends, some of them girls who play games, and with my girlfriend, a very casual gamer (she mostly just likes to watch me play).

 

[mirror's edgy]

I think gaming is like politics or the samurai lifestyle... stay with me, here. Gaming started as a male dominated medium, and men and women have always led largely different lifestyles and therefore have many differences in interests. I mean this as a general rule. Plenty of girls enjoy gaming for the same reasons as guys, they just happen to be the questioned minority because of the dominant stereotypes about men and women today.

Once male and female gamers know each other personally, I think these stereotypes and judgments stop mattering. The reason the ones listed above exist is because some male gamers have never met female gamers with interests like theirs and have only stereotypes to rely on. Those stereotypes bother me a bit as a male gamer, but only because they damage the respectability of gaming as a whole and can have the reverse effect of making people assume all male gamers believe them. I just stick to judging people individually, so if you knock my favorite games, I will have the same argument with anyone, gamer or not, girl or not.

 

[Mischa87]

Female gamer here, and I find all three of those offensive, never really been a victim of the third though, I play a whole slew of different games, so people generally have nothing to say about my choices. Although offended, it's not particularly bad, I mean, I'm more offended by the fact you used the word "chick" in your post than the topic at hand.

 

[FreakSheet]

As a male, I do kinda get surprised when a girl is on, (but thats only because I basically only know one who plays,) but I never point it out or mention it. They are still just another player in my eyes, and Guy or Girl, I will kick your ass no matter what.

 

[HUYI82]

the stereotypes get old especially when males keep saying that girl gamers player girly games and we don't exist, i tend to just ignore them most of the time.

 

[HUYI82]

That being said, I've DEFINITELY had more than my share of the "stalker-guy" type[footnote] And by "stalker-guy" type, I mean the kind of guy who, once he finds out you are female, feels the need to be overly-friendly.[/footnote] in-game, so I find that to be more irritating than anything else.

thats why when it comes to online gaming i tend to not mention that i am a girl and keep the voice chat off, i've had my share of perverts too.

 

[arsenicCatnip]

Once male and female gamers know each other personally, I think these stereotypes and judgments stop mattering. The reason the ones listed above exist is because some male gamers have never met female gamers with interests like theirs and have only stereotypes to rely on. Those stereotypes bother me a bit as a male gamer, but only because they damage the respectability of gaming as a whole and can have the reverse effect of making people assume all male gamers believe them. I just stick to judging people individually, so if you knock my favorite games, I will have the same argument with anyone, gamer or not, girl or not.

I don't know you, but I like you a lot already because this is how I feel.

I'm a 25 year old female gamer. Sure, I only got into FPSs about 2 years ago, but I was playing Final Fantasy almost as soon as I could hold a controller. Most of the guys I play with online don't realize I'm female until I open my mouth, and usually they don't freak out or ask for tits. (And some of the best gamers I know are girls. Weirdly enough, though, they all play Medic/Pyro when it comes to TF2.)

I think we should be a community, and not judge based on gender. The ones who annoy me are girls who come into a game and expect to be treated differently because they ARE girls. You know the ones.

 

[Mallefunction]

I get offended by them, but I don't argue it. I just don't respond if it's an online conversation or log out of the chat. If it's IRL, then usually they don't believe me and I just sigh and try to change the subject.

I love my games and I admit that I am not a tournament winner (I've been playing since I was 6ish and I STILL suck at games. I play them for the fun of it, not the skill) but it's annoying to see guys react to it like that. I don't get this crap when I go by myself to see an action movie (another thing that is seen more as a 'guy' thing) but I pull out my DS and all of a sudden I get people staring.

 

[Azaradel]

I'm quite annoyed by all three, but really, what bothers me the most is being labelled as a "girl gamer" because

A) I am not a girl, I am a grown woman who finds being called a girl rather patronizing

and B) I'm just a gamer - "girl gamer" seems to imply that it somehow matters that I have ovaries. Guess what? It doesn't.

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

It's offensive, but it's not like we're being denied the right to vote or denied birth-control or something, so I don't get my panties in that much of a twist over it.

If some guys are ignorant enough to behave in a manner that's so offensive to me, then I simply ignore them as I would anyone who was acting similarly ignorant - male or female.

I don't know what the deal is with the women on G4, but everyone on that show (the hosts anyway, not so much the actual reporters) seems like they're a little light in the brains department across the gender gap.

 

[burningdragoon]

(dude here)

and B) I'm just a gamer - "girl gamer" seems to imply that it somehow matters that I have ovaries. Guess what? It doesn't.

This is really the right idea to have. I mean, douchebags will be douchebags and lonely nerds will be lonely nerds, but if you are already distinguishing yourselves as being a distinct subset with 'girl gamers' you aren't exactly helping.


...or something like that.

 

[Javarock]

I pull out my DS and all of a sudden I get people staring.

(Guy here, You know if It actually matters.)

Well... You did pull out a DS, If I saw anyone pull it out regardless of gender I would still stare. I'm sure alot of people would to, And it probley has nothing to do with gender for the majority.