Must just meantion this because I (a guy) felt very sad and even reloaded when my horse died in Red Dead Redemption. Pesky wolves. It was such a pretty horse.Valksy said:
This one's for the girls.
- Thread starter chinangel
- Start date
Recommended Videos
I have absolutely nothing against girl gamers. Heck I couldn't take my girlfriend away from the computer for 12 hours straight when she first saw Dragon Age:Origins. Now we even play League of Legends together when she's not playing some rpg or another. I never felt uncomfortable about this and neither did she. What I can't stand are girls that parade the fact that they play games. It's kind of repulsive, actually. As an example we were playing LoL and there was a girl on the other team. Match starts: "Hey guys, I'm a girl, and I'm playing games, you have never seen that before XOXO" and that went on for the entire match.
Why should it matter if you're a girl who plays games? You don't have to label yourself as a girl gamer. If you enjoy video games as much as us guys do, then you're a gamer. Simple. There's no need to create this label. Let's just get rid of it, so we can all just be gamers.
I'm yet another guy chiming in.
I just want to say part of it may be fear or jealousy because many guys would be more attracted to a girl who enjoys video games then to one who does not. My wife enjoys them slightly (mostly light gun games or some wii games) and I feel jealous of other couples who are able to enjoy such a wide variety of games together.
Perhaps some of those girls have lost boyfriends to other girls that enjoy video games
I just want to say part of it may be fear or jealousy because many guys would be more attracted to a girl who enjoys video games then to one who does not. My wife enjoys them slightly (mostly light gun games or some wii games) and I feel jealous of other couples who are able to enjoy such a wide variety of games together.
Perhaps some of those girls have lost boyfriends to other girls that enjoy video games
Not a girl, but I don't think that a lot of those negative stereotypes don't really exist anymore, and the amount of people who suffer them will continue to decrease. Stereotypes change constantly, especially when they concern a large number of people. Chill
I personally take issue with the term "girl gamer", because I believe it's stereotypical, fetishizing, and infantilizing all in one. Generally I avoid calling people out who self-identify as "girl gamers" or "gamer girls" (because hey, to each their own), but if you ever find yourself muttering the phrase "ashamed of my title as a girl gamer", maybe you need to reexamine that label and the reasons why you identify with it.chinangel said:
My question in this case is, are you defined by the fact that you are female and play games? Or are you a multifaceted human being that happens to enjoy interactive entertainment as one aspect of your life?
OT: It's true that there's a number of ladies who try to ostracize other women when they find out they play games. This is usually because they have a preexisting and uninformed view of games as being "for men" and/or "childish". If they believe games are for men, then their behaviour is gender-shaming and close-minded. If they believe games are for children, then they've probably never walked into a game store and seen all the "M for Mature" ratings.
At any rate, it certainly isn't all non-gaming women who exhibit this behaviour - I have a friend from university who had never played a game in her life before meeting me, and although she called me a dork when I told her about my hobby, it was light-hearted and she now comes over occasionally to watch me play Dragon Age because she likes Alistair.
TL;DR if your co-worker is attempting to ostracize you because you enjoy a form of entertainment that she doesn't, she's probably a judgemental ***** and doesn't deserve your time anyway. Try to ignore her while at work, then look for women who aren't going to scratch your eyes out for not being a carbon copy of themselves.
It goes against the grain of what girls are expected to be into. A "girl" is supposed to like pretty things, dolls, and clothes. A "video game" is supposed to be a boy's toy--like dinosaurs or Tonka Trucks.chinangel said:
So on the most basic level, to unenlightened folk, seeing a girl playing video games is very much like seeing a girl playing with dump trucks rather than Barbie dolls. It's just weird to them--a gender-role flip.
So consider yourself lucky to be so enlightened on the subject of video games. If enough people like you become open about how they feel about video games, these misnomers and stereotypes can finally be put to rest.
As a female who enjoys gaming (and has for over 25 years) if you enjoy it do it, don't listen to a girl who is so insecure in herself that she has to harass someone else to make herself feel better. I have noticed the bitches who say this venom are usually the prissy ones with fake nails and tans. Usually bleaching their hair to the point of killing every brain cell. I tell them honey you blow your money your way I will spend my disposible income mine.
Also not a girl but I would like to reply to two topics brought up in this thread:
1.) The term "Girl Gamer" and people against it
Why be against the term? It just distinguishes the fact that said gamer is female. Just as I am a guy gamer, the OP is a girl gamer. The problem, however, comes in it's usage. A girl gamer shouldn't refer to herself as such, but simply as a gamer (just as I would). The terms only practical use (in my opinion of course)is when referring to the specific subset of gamers. I would put it in the same category as "black gamers," Asian gamers," etc.
2.) Regarding "girl gamers"
Girl gamers shouldn't be ashamed of being gamers. It's a part of who they are. Just like I shouldn't be ashamed of being a black gamer, anime fan, metal music fan, etc. As for why some girls avoid girl gamers, these are probably the same girls who ridicule guy gamers, but if not then they're stuck seeing stereotypes. The stereotypical gamer (according to society (mostly outdated, but still as perceived by some)) is an obese nerdy white male with glasses living with his mother eating Cheetos all day and drinking Mountain Dew or a guy with the mental capacity of a rock. We have to get non-gamer girls (or, more appropriately, non-gamers in general) to see past those stereotypes.
1.) The term "Girl Gamer" and people against it
Why be against the term? It just distinguishes the fact that said gamer is female. Just as I am a guy gamer, the OP is a girl gamer. The problem, however, comes in it's usage. A girl gamer shouldn't refer to herself as such, but simply as a gamer (just as I would). The terms only practical use (in my opinion of course)is when referring to the specific subset of gamers. I would put it in the same category as "black gamers," Asian gamers," etc.
2.) Regarding "girl gamers"
Girl gamers shouldn't be ashamed of being gamers. It's a part of who they are. Just like I shouldn't be ashamed of being a black gamer, anime fan, metal music fan, etc. As for why some girls avoid girl gamers, these are probably the same girls who ridicule guy gamers, but if not then they're stuck seeing stereotypes. The stereotypical gamer (according to society (mostly outdated, but still as perceived by some)) is an obese nerdy white male with glasses living with his mother eating Cheetos all day and drinking Mountain Dew or a guy with the mental capacity of a rock. We have to get non-gamer girls (or, more appropriately, non-gamers in general) to see past those stereotypes.
The assumption that games are meant for guys only is just one of many stereotypes floating around in society. A real friend shouldn't look at you with shame just because you're a gamer. It's a hobby (like reading books and watching movies) that a lot of people are into.
You shouldn't be ashamed of being a female gamer. In fact, if enough people go against the grain and challenge the stereotypes of men and women, then we can change (even if it may be slow) people's perception of what it means to be a gamer.
You shouldn't be ashamed of being a female gamer. In fact, if enough people go against the grain and challenge the stereotypes of men and women, then we can change (even if it may be slow) people's perception of what it means to be a gamer.
Its the roles that society pushes onto people, guys are meant to be the gamers the football players and the DJ's, and girls are meant to like pink, make up and talking about boys ( ues i'm going a little over the top, but you get my point). Gamers can be anyone, be they male , female or whatever else. Enjoy what you do, screw people who think its wrong.
BTW i'm a girl.
BTW i'm a girl.
I don't know why you felt ashamed, gaming has become an almost universal thing, if those Nintendo commercials are to be believed, but I have been gaming since I was 3, when my dad brought home a SNES. My parents never enforced the whole "boys do this and girls do that", they wanted me to do stuff that made me happy. So if anybody looks down on me when I play on the PSP or my Nintendo DS then I ignore them. People like that are not really worth bothering with in my book.
They assosciate gaming w/ a lot of negative stereotypes. "Loner, weird, awkward, boyish, lesbian(which makes no sense), creep, etc." I happen to fit a lot of these so even if I didn't game I'd still be a bit isolated. Gaming both created and cushioned the blow of the disparities between me and other girls. I started playing games because I had these neighbors who were brothers and they had a ps2. I quickly got tired of just watching and started playing everytime I went over there (mostly Soul Calibur II). My mom got me a Gameboy Color when I was about 5, so I guess it was meant to be and no ones gonna change it!
im a guy. i would jsut ignore the person who says girls dont play games. you shouldnt be ashamed of stuff like that. should a girl be ashamed to like football? or like car racing?
last i hear the average gamer is a 30-40 year old women. with all the farmville and solitaire that they play.
last i hear the average gamer is a 30-40 year old women. with all the farmville and solitaire that they play.
Speaking as an older gamer, what you described actually seems very reminicent of what any gamer went through when gaming was in it's infancy and sociaty looked down on them. That was because gaming was rare.
Now gaming is not rare for males but is for females. I am afraid that female pioneers into gaming may have to go through same crap males did in the past. But bear with it, it will not last once it becomes more comman place.
Now gaming is not rare for males but is for females. I am afraid that female pioneers into gaming may have to go through same crap males did in the past. But bear with it, it will not last once it becomes more comman place.
Im not ahamed of the fact that I play games...of coarse in highschool I never mentioned it because any talk of videogames just gets blank stare from most girlschinangel said:
but now Ill ramble on about how awsome games are to anyone who will (or wont) listen
anyway its all to do with sterotypes and what society expects from genders
society tells girls that they should love clothes, shopping, make-up , pink and all that other girly sutff, thats socally acceptable, and theres ntohign really wrong with that, just because somone likes that feminine stuff dosnt automatically make them a shallow idiot
(but seriously what the FUCK is it with pink? I FUCKING hate pink I dont understand why anyone would like pink, pink is ALWAYS FUCKING ugly it NEVER looks good, the only way any sane person could like pink is if they were brainwashed by the media to think pink=girly=acceptable) sorry little rant there
anyway reality is 9/10 girls dont play "non causal games" and by that I mean games where you have to be a little bit of a geek to be intereated (also stuff thats on an xbox/ps3/PC) in the first place, so we are under represented (not indlucing those who do it for attention)
but things change, you can tell because I had to include a definition of "causual vs hardcore"
I always cringe whenever I see those parents that just forcefully enforce those gender stereotypes on kids that young. In fact, just a couple weeks ago while shopping a Walmart I actually saw a girl no older than 6 or 7 intently playing a Marvel vs. Capcom demo while her mother was buying a game for her brother. As soon as it was purchased, the mother noticed her daughter, quickly took her away from the controller without waiting for the fight to end, and immediately marched into the pink, doll filled isle. Side note, both the mother and daughter were dressed as if they were trying too hard to be fashion models, only, the girl seemed so uncomfortable in such clothes as if she just wanted to tear them off. Needless to say, I facepalmed and started praying for that girl.Valksy said:
I'm glad my parents didn't play into gender roles that much either, so I was entitled to be and enjoy whatever I wanted. From this, I was actually a lot less physical and more compassionate and understanding than most all the other boys I knew, while still being far from effeminate. More recently though, my parent were kind of slipping on this with my little sister (more out of being too busy than real neglect), so I stepped in. Think of those "girlie toy" isles I mentioned above, and that's the kind of stuff her life used to solely revolve around. With my guidance over the past couple years, she has developed a healthy taste for rock n' roll, sports, anime, and various genres of video games among other things while still retaining a fair bit of what makes her feminine. Because of this, I've heard that she's quite popular with both the boys and girls of her elementary school without having to pretend to be someone she's not.
I do not think there is any reason to be ashamed of playing games.chinangel said:
However, some girls (only some) can be really competitive and spend a lot of their time grooming, plucking, waxing, applying, dressing, detoxificting (not even sure that is a word) e.t.c and feel that this kind of artificial beauty=self value.
Therefore, they look down on girls who a) do not follow this kind of lifestyle and b) do things which detract from this kind of supposed feminine beauty such as sports, certain careers e.t.c.
At the same time, they are a little jealous though, because some of these types of girl can attract a man, but have a hard time relating to them. Therefore they feel resentful of girls who make less effort with their appearance but get on better with males because they can share the same medium
Of course, these kinds of girls are free to have this kind of lifestyle, but I think that there is so much more to life that looking pretty and seeking relationships with men. Therefore in my free time I enjoy the things I love. Which are playing sports, Star Trek, Zelda games, hiking and reading.
I do not think you should be embarrassed about who you are and what you like.
I never think of myself as a "girl gamer" but rather "a girl that happens to play games". When I encounter any negative attitudes from other girls (and sometimes guys) about my gaming habits I just ignore them because I am happy with the girl I choose to be.
