Being a woman and a gamer is difficult. Yes, we may be verbally abused online, misrepresented in media, and placed on an unrealistic pedastol - but the real reason being a "girl gamer" is so difficult is that we're constantly expected to deal with extreme dualities.
Let me explain.
Women who game are always represented as either a)Attention seeking, hot, girlie-girl or b)boy-killing, ugly feminist. These are both extreme (offensive) stereotypes at opposite ends of the spectrum, yet acorrding to the game industry, media, and culture, we're all one or the other. We're shoved into one of these two options, no exceptions.
 |
| We're either this... |
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| ...or this. |
We are trapped.
Why can't we enjoy gaming freely? I want to live in a world where I can be proud of my femininity, yet not treated differently than my male counterparts. All we want is equality and freedom. We don't want to be labelled by two extreme identities. We don't want to make an all-girl industry, or want every game to be about ponies and sandwich making. We just want to be ourselves and be respected for it.
Hopefully one day this world can be a reality. All that we can do to help the change is to be respectful of others - no matter who they are, where they came from, or what they enjoy. If we're open-minded, we can create a safe, welcome environment for gamers of all kinds. Not only will this improve the image of the gaming culture as a whole, but will encourage more innovation, diversity, and creativity in the industry. Everyone wins if sexism is diminished.
As Always,
LadySnip3r
6 comments:
This is the first time that I reading something like this... It's unbelievable what you said!
I'm living in Italy and from a long time i know a lot of girls gamer, since 1990, and nobody has discriminated a single girl for this!
I know girls who buy a playstation and they are proud of buying it, and first of all they remain always girl to others, no except.
I think the problem it's only this new concept, different from what a girl is in people mind...
(Sorry for my bad english, i hope you can get the gist :])
@Pix3l: You're extremely lucky! The problem I think with being a "gamer girl" is defining it. Anyone can be a gamer, so what makes a "gamer girl"? Do you just need to be a girl? Or is there more to it?
We need the term to be more openly defined than simply grouping us into the two stereotypes.
I think it's awesome that women who game are encouraged where you live, but unfortunately none of us can escape the huge world of the internet. This is where I've received the most discrimination, probably due to the fact that it's easier to hide behind a screen and keys than to be rude to someone's face. We've got a long way to go in diminishing sexism in gaming culture, but thank you for sharing your story. It gives us some hope :)
I think they are only jealous that a girl play better than they! :D
Don't pay to many attention to their opinions, play and have fun!
Anyway, here there is another problem, everyone who playing games is a nerd...
I hate who wants to label everything...
See you around :]
This is such a great post. It's so sad that even though a majority of the "geek and gamer culture" is women, we are still being judged by both men and other women! I truly hope one day we can all just get along and game in perfect harmony :)
It's a well-written post, but I think it's pretty shitty that your example for the extreme is a group of girls clearly enjoying themselves at a convention.
@Anonymous: Yeah, I realize it's a pretty bad picture, I was trying to focus on the text below it - Assuming all gamer girls are the same.
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