Why I think "Gamer Girls" shouldn't hide.

[Ryotknife]

In my experience you'll see at least 20 to 100 guys in a wholesome community for every girl. And that odd girl, well is most likely an odd girl. Girls are disengaged for whatever reasons. I expect girls are more pressured to to not specialize in life. Or just too distracted to be able to. It's a shame but only time will tell if this will ever change.

what is your experience? because as I posted before 1 in 5 half life players is a female, 3 in 10 COD players and 1 in 2 almost WOW players is female.

guessing WOW has changed in the...what is it now...three years since I left? When I played I only met a single female player out of hundreds of players across numerous guilds and two servers. She was the rogue class leader and yes, she was better than me. Course, everyone thought that I was a female player as I never used my mic. The feedback from teamspeak and ventrillo back in the day was horrendous.

actually now that I think on it most people think im a female in online games mostly because I do not use a mic.

 

[lunavixen]

I guess i'm one of the lucky ones, in the 16 years i've been seriously gaming, i've almost never been harassed even when i reveal my gender, my voice is not androgynous either, and I also tend to play female characters when the option is there, so there's little mistaking.

 

[Lady Lucky]

I have personal experiences which makes me hide my "Gamer Girl" Status. This was a while ago, I was about 12. I was at a wedding with all of my cousins who are, of course, boys. So to get us young'ns out of the way they put us in a room with a Sega Genesis and a VCR. Ignoring the VCR and the VHS of "Aladdin" my cousins began to have a "Streets of Rage" marathon, in which highest score gets bragging rights and their name on the high score list.
So dinner was finally served and I made it back to the Sega before everyone else and began playing. I managed to blow everyone's high score away and got to the top of the high score list.
The eldest of my cousins was so upset he said "Girls shouldn't be allowed to play video games, who invited you anyways."
From that point on, up until about college, I hid my gamer girl status.
Now I'm older, and gaming is much more mainstream. I'm not afraid of my "Gamer Girl" alter ego now.

 

[lacktheknack]

I remember Moonlight BUtterfly getting into a hilarious fight on this very website because some tool was complaining that her playing Dark Souls was "tainting the game". It was ugly and extraordinarily funny, and I wish I bookmarked it.

Combine that with the continued popularity of websites such as fatuglyorslutty.com and it's no wonder that girls while hide online.

 

[Lieju]

Still, if you are going through the trouble of ditching a mic or you're too afraid to tell people you're a girl just because some prepubescent morons overreact to your voice, then you shouldn't be playing games in my opinion. If you are ashamed of who you are to the point you will go out of your way to avoid letting anyone know you might be a guy or girl, then you shouldn't be playing in the first place. Guys, be proud that you are a gamer (I'm talking to the actual gamers and not the casual kiddies) and don't be afraid to announce it to anyone. Girls, same thing goes for you. If someone has a problem with your gender, then that's THEIR problem and not yours. If they are getting annoying, most games have a mute and/or ignore feature for just that purpose.

It's not about being ashamed, just that sometimes you just want to play a game and not deal with various unrelated shit.

I personally don't use a mic when playing online (which is rarely anyway) mostly because my accent is horrid and I don't want to talk to people, but that is problematic.

Online women become an invisible minority, the way gays for example become in real life.
We might be a minority, but people will assume there's even less of us if we don't make the effort to point out we exist.

 

[Something Amyss]

I guess it does, its just that when my sister and her friends got those messages, we just laughed and sent back even more insulting messages.

I get that it really is a problem for some people, since guys online like to be assholes because nothing bad can happen to them (you can bet they won't say that shit offline)

Sorry if I came off as callous, especially since it is a problem online.

It's a tricky subject to navigate, honestly. I mean, I'm split. When people screw with me online, I screw right back. Well, 98% of the time. Sometimes people get under my skin. I'd like to be unflappable, but sometimes I flap. But anyway, yeah, I screw with people right back. At the same time, I recognise a lot of people take a lot of crap on the interne due to race/gender/sexuality/whatever, and not everyone reacts the same way.

Also, there's a real phenomenon out there where this adaptation may not be the healthiest thing for people. And I worry that I myself might fall into that. At the same time, I wonder how many other people are sort of propagating the problem. It seems like a borderline no-win situation.

 

[TomPreston]

Honestly with how misogynistic, homophobic, immature, and childish the gaming community is at the moment, why should any woman degrade herself to be part of that pathetic stupidity?

You want women to come out of the woodwork and admit they like gaming and being associated with gaming culture? Make gaming culture a friendlier place that people WANT to be associated with.

I'm a guy and I can't stand calling myself a "gamer." It has such an awful stigma at the moment.

 

[5mj7R7yf4Dwr3gdZyyu9PeGNwYjlNrjzuh3iTXQG]

One of my best friends is uterus-enabled and is a regular Left 4 dead partner of mine. We also occasionally play Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 or the Serious Sam series.

So yeah, I personally know at least one and have encountered others online.

238U

EDIT: typo

 

[guitarsniper]

The best kind of female gamer:

 

[Jinxzy]

The world is opening it's arms to things that were once considered lame. Why not open our arms too and embrace the world? "Gamer" is not a mantle for the chosen it's a flag for people to get behind. So Women, don't be afraid to join the rest of us in the "Gamers" club. Yes it will be tough but people like me will always strive to make it easier for you, so you can help the community grow and all "Gamers" everywhere can enjoy the full extent of this new age for gaming.

I'm a female that partakes in games, I've been playing all types of games since I was 6, I also play a little bit of everything because thats how I am. I played mmorpgs, puzzles, shooters, fighters, racing, simulation and so many more. I play on the computer, 360, ps3, wii, and 3ds. Sure there are millions of times I've been called names, hit on, stalked and received rude pictures. But I never let it affect me, but I think it actually makes me a stronger person. I don't get mad at them, send them hate mail or cry. I let it slide and move on, heck it's the internet.
Besides I'm not filling up my friends list with everyone that says "Omg your a girl lets be friends, I don't play with girls" or "Hey baby your really good, lets private chat." I just don't pay any attention to them at all.

I don't need someone to make it "easier" for me, if it was hard in the beginning then I would have giving up by now. I love gaming and I will always be a gamer and no one can stop me. I also don't like saying I'm a female gamer because gender shouldn't matter when playing a video game.

 

[Raioken18]

I dunno, I don't think pointing it out is a great idea either because it seems like attention seeking behavior, and despite that I'm alright with it a lot of the 11-18 year old male demographic can't handle it.

Take my girlfriend for example, she loves Diablo 3, but dislikes playing with anyone but me because she dies all the time and knows I won't rage at her. When we did play with other people, they were really unforgiving of her for struggling with Nightmare mode and would rage at her and say stuff about violent crimes and sex acts...

League of Legends... Yeah it's got a pretty terrible community, but I think she'd enjoy playing, at least the vs npc mode. Only I don't see anything positive about her jumping into a game and telling everyone she's a girl because she's insulted someone said "guys".

Reminds me of WoW when I used to be in a guild called Serenity EX, we had a female second in command and everytime we pugged someone in Vent it was the biggest deal that she was a girl... Usually added 30 mins to our prep time and our GM was also pretty sleazy to her as well.

With that said I'm not sure exactly what we could to to alleviate the problem of teenage boys being afraid of women...

 

[mooncalf]

When I hear a female gamer in game I tend to feel awkward, like an extra layer has been spread over everything. I think it's silly to be so careful around them, watching my language, playing my A-game, but on the other hand it's just so rare to notice a girl is in game that when it does happen it becomes a *thing*. Please, female gamers, don't hide off the mic, I think that when it's not unusual for girls to be apparent in their games, then me and others like me will sooner be able to get over the novelty, past the bull and get right to the fun part, enjoying the game!

 

[Retardinator]

I tend to bump into a lot of female players in Left 4 Dead 2. I also tend to bump into a lot of men posing as women in that game. Which brings me to a funny story.
There was this girl on the opposing team with a nickname "Patricia" or something and a sexy avatar (because that's the only way to describe it, really). One of the guys on my team says something along the lines of 'Patricia so pretty...' on allchat. The next round, game accidentally switches me to the other team for no reason (as it tends to do, goddammit VAVLE - and yes I'm aware of how that sounds, the game really does do that though) and "Patricia" turns out to be some 20-something guy yelling something in Hungarian at his teammates. Me and my brother still laugh to this day.

 

[Brainpaint]

Uh, I've never hidden. No point. I just like playing as male characters from time to time because those happen to be the games with better clothes for guy than girl avatars (Or did at the start and now I can't change back).

And why do people brandish the terms "gamer" and "geek" around like they're the same thing? They never have been and never will. You can be a gamer and a geek, or a geek and not a gamer. Why can't you NOT be a geek and into games? It's like calling every person that likes sushi an otaku.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

I do kinda hide. It's not because I don't have a thick skin, but it's simply because I'd rather not put up with people online. It gets tiresome getting hit on, and ridiculed. ... oh, and stalked.

I'm an unlucky one that had someone get really really really obsessed with me. He googled me on an old user name, found my old myspage page, and posted it in the chat room among other things. I immediately severed ties.

Honestly, when I play a game, I'm on to play. I really am not a huge fan of wading through the slimy gamers to find some half decent ones, so I don't make it a point to do anything that points to me being a girl aside from playing as them in games.

If someone asks, I don't deny my gender. If someone calls me a dude, I may, or may not correct them.

Bluntly, it really is a headache to put up with.
I knew some guys that posed as women online at one time. I dunno why they initially did it, but they definitely ended up walking a mile in my shoes, and got a grasp of the crap women have to deal with online. That earned them some respect from me.

Sure, everyone gets harassed, and trash talked online, but it's usually pretty gender neutral for guys. Women get that, and gender specefic harassment! Joy! <.<

 

[FrankatronX]

"Gurrrl gamers"/fake gamer girls (and their male counterparts) absolutely exist, and in fairly large numbers. They mostly stick to casual games, and clearly strive for attention.

To even suggest that they are a myth shows a large amount of inexperience with the internet.

I'll post a couple of examples, whatever can be found in a simple Google search,

This is your proof?
A goolge search of something people already go out of their way to prove and gloat over. Picking this apart is simple but I'll draw attention to the comic. It's created from the "Real Gamer's" point of view and disregarding the blatant exaggeration of the events merely shows a person seeking approval from a peer. Which is coldly denied. This is the problem I have. If you have ever been bullied for trying to fit in then you should see my point here. It's not about them being a "True Gamer" or not it's about them seeking a place in the culture. You have no right to pass judgement on anyone who wishes to partake in the "Geek Culture" because it's ABOUT having a place to go when nobody else wants you. It's a place anyone can go and regardless of age or taste can find someone to connect with about stuff they have otherwise been made feel foolish about.

Or am I wrong? Have I missed the part where we sit in judgement over those we deem "UNWORTHY FAKERS" sipping lemonade from ivory goblets, smug in our own sense of self satisfaction?

I won't do that to anyone because I've had that done to me, I've even done it to others (to my shame) and I see it here and I won't let people get away with it.

 

[Phasmal]

Interesting how they made the blond one the fake one.

Yay! Stereotyping!

Not to mention she's wearing pink.
Girls who wear pink can't be trusted.
The women who enter gaming fandom must sacrifice their femininity at the altar of Dudebro or they're just fakers.