I've been gaming since I first developed motor skills fine enough to hold a controller and push a button simultaneously. Since that point, I've been able to enjoy games not only by myself, but with all of my friends, and with the inception of online gaming, hundreds of thousands of other people as well.
In that time, however, I've noticed something very distinct about nearly all of my multiplayer gaming experiences: they're almost completely dominated by men. Except, women make up a fairly large percentage of the game playing population. A study by the Entertainment Software Association suggests that 40% of gamers are female, not a majority, mind you, but still a large enough percentage that one would think they'd be more noticeable.
If the numbers are to be believed, though, then what is it I seem to be missing? Among the women I know, I can count the number who play games with any kind of regularity on one hand.
Add to that the sheer number of hours I've logged playing online FPS's, MMO's and games of various other types, and that 40% starts looking even more suspect. Granted, the easiest way to differentiate between male and female in an online game is when you're listening to them talk through Teamspeak or whatever voice-chat option is available. That alone begs the question: are female gamers just not speaking up?
Is it better to keep a low profile so as not to attract unwanted attention from the multitudes of sexually frustrated men playing games? Granted, part of the charm of online gaming is the anonymity it provides. You can use any name, any picture and create any kind of avatar to represent yourself, so being a man or a woman doesn't necessarily matter.
Still, I find it odd that with so many girls gaming out there, that they aren't more visible. Men playing online seem to have no qualms about sharing their gender with everyone else. Hell, they practically scream it through their mics and their chosen monikers.
Is gaming just one more area where men have made it uncomfortable for women to openly participate?
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I've been gaming since I first developed motor skills fine enough to hold a controller and push a button simultaneously. Since that point, I've been able to enjoy games not only by myself, but with all of my friends, and with the inception of online gaming, hundreds of thousands of other people as well.
Comments (32)
The server in CSS that I play on has about..3-4 female regulars? (30 max for the server)
I think I've only played with 1 girl on L4D in all of my games...If 40% of gamers are really females, then they are too quiet. Teamwork=good communication, right?Occum's says... it was a terrible, TERRIBLE survey. They got high levels of responses from Farmville players, or the MRS candidates who play online Sudoku during EDU2301. Lets not even start on the validity of anonymous internet surveys...
Well first of all, there is something about us women who doesn't really want to be logged in for 5 h and talk with a guy who has nothing better to say but that gear and what dungeon he's going to and all the things he'll give. Its slightly annoying to that point. As I've been playing I've come accrosed to women which are really acting like man and are using man chars (no wonder they look kinda cool in game) and they don't tell anyone cuse, well man are like: uuu women lets put 100 annoying comments so she'll notice that I'm around,... and jeah usually the answer is: ^^ <--- got to love this smile.
I've also had experience to skype a group, and use ventrilo, they were talking and talking... I didn't even know what was it all about so i was quiet mostly, thinking my own then I started to fell like some npc hanchmen or something, reciveing the order: Heal that, Heal this, Don't Heal!, OMG, It's oke she's just a girl... wtfznj! xD I totally felt like no fun in the end. Men usually forget it's a game, made for fun, don't take it so serious and stop being so angry, If i get pissed, I log off - simple ^^
A lot of women plays, and some might even fool you as playing male chars. And also way around ^^ I don't mind whatever sex is behind the char, I usualy talk with person calling his ingame name + using she/he from his/her char, unless a person wants to be called otherwise.
And guys are just too much slimey around women, like we're retarded and can't do a thing by ourselves.. it's nice to get help, but not being buried under gifts and promises on which we don't really care :P cuse we like to be in center of attention for as long as we want. ^^
I game all the time, but I dont make it a point to let everyone know Im a chick. Its really a matter of not caring. I use to go to Gaming Arenas and lockdowns what not to play games. I wasnt trying to hide being a girl. But at the same time when I played WoW, I didnt use any voice chat.
I think every girl has their own reasoning. Maybe then dont want people to know they're a girl. Maybe there embarrassed because they think its a guy thing. Or like me, they could just not care and if people know theyre a girl, fine, but if they dont, thats fine too.
I usually have a male character in any MMO to avoid the obvious discrimination of having a vagina. I'm there to game, not to cater to the whims of an obese twelve year old with low self esteem.Especially the ones that try to hit on you - part of the virtual world is letting the player fall into a delusion of grandeur. Last thing I need is some tool pretending like I need help in a game from his "manly visage."
Not to mention that most girls tend to not be logged on for extended periods of time like a lot of male gamers do.
It also depends on the genre of the game: out of that 40% did they mention what games were most popular among them? For instance Audition is a game clearly advertised towards females, while Evony clearly caters to the male demographic.
I play MW2 for the PC a few hours a night. I constantly get 'HEY FAG OMG HE'S LIKE TWLEVE LISTEN TO HIM' before they realize I'm a girl. And then even half of them don't believe me! I've played pretty much all of the COD's to date, as well as some RTS's and the classics like the Final Fantasy's and WoW, though my real roots are with Sega and Nintendo...
First of all I think that survey might be a little off. What do you consider to be a gamer? Just cause you play computer games like yahtzee or games online doesn't make you a "gamer" when it comes to this discussion. Hell that would mean my mom is a gamer lol. For one alot of games played aren't neccesairly online. Most of my gaming comes from RPGS like Final Fantasy's and Pokemon or fighting games like Smash Brothers(online sucks for that). I play more games than alot of guys I know but most of it isn't online. The online games that I do play like Halo for example I don't usually talk on there for a couple of reasons. 1. I just don't care to talk unless I know them because usually it's a bunch of annoying guys that have only learned to say a few choice words about how they're the best and it gets quite annoying, I usually end up muting most people. 2. And yes the second they realize that I'm a chick it starts. Either they won't stop pestering me with stupid inappropriate chatter about my boobs, etc or they decide I'm an easy target and start to gun for me the whole game, or ignore me since they think I can't do anything. I usually voice myself at the end of the game when I've kicked all their asses and they realize it's a chick haha.
To answer your question, yes. I've actually had teammates throw grenades at me after finding out I was a girl.
You know, I don't really wanna say that I'm a lady on MMO's. Everytime I do, I get told to show my tits if I'm really a chick. I get hit on. People send me sexual messages. They don't even know what I look like, but as long as I have a pussy, it doesn't matter. Plus once I say I'm a chick, I don't get taken seriously. Most of the male population I've come across on games question my ability to play whatever game it is. Then I get comments like "you're good for a girl" if I have a decent playing ability.
I'm a normal person, not some piece of meat. Talk to me like a normal person, ffs.
I went online with my PS2 a few years ago and we were playing just fine until I had to speak through the head set. It went south from there.
I play a mmorpg called ragnarok and some of the best players are females.I lost to my Girlfriend in pvp and i didn't feel bad at all
Are there a bunch of douchebags playing online? Absolutely. Will they target women and make gaming suck more for them? Wouldn't ever doubt it. (Though to be honest, these people talk shit to whoever, doesn't matter what your accent is or what's between your legs. Being female just gives them something to target.)
As a guy who really doesn't give a shit who's got my ass in a round of CTF, all I can say is this. You want more representation? GET SEEN and have a louder voice (I don't mean scream into your mic, I mean be more visible in gaming communities).
Refusing to acknowledge that your a women is only adding to your problem.
Sorry for the douchebags though, I mock them whenever I have a chance... as you should too. Plus there's no better way to shut them up than to dominate them, mercilessly.
I think women should remain anonymous in all games just because of the immature nerds.
I use to play WoW for like a year. A few times, players would verify that they were female wherein silly, dumb nerds would give up all their gold to the female players as well as going out of their way to spend ridiculous amounts of time helping them level; never really experienced the "effect" -- the effect girl players had on these female-deprived nerds.
It's like they've never seen a female in their insignificant lives before.
ive seen some girls who are really good in gaming
I always figured the girls who game seriously keep quiet because it's more of a liability to expose your gender (you get harassed, targeted, treated as inferior) and because to them they want to be treated like the male players, aka no one cares about gender.
Online gaming is unfortunately the cultural sewer in terms of who you meet. I've seen more slurs on Xbox Live than anywhere else.
I've played games with a number of female gamers and to be honest they kinda sucked at the game. I have nothing against them being female and guys can suck too...but every chick I've played with sucked.
Most female players that I've encountered aren't that good at video games, especially ones that have a varying difficulty or take up a lot of time (MMOs). I barely if ever, see any women playing fighting games either. I'll go ahead and generalize that most women who play video games play pokemon or WoW.
But online, its a nerd fest. It's not that men make women uncomfortable intentionally, it's like going to a construction site and hearing the men talk there. they just say and do as they please. It is the same with online gaming. You have to either deal with it or not play.
Ive never made a secret out of my gender in game. It really isnt a big deal, and Ive never been bothered by anyone either. In the end, we are all there to enjoy the game, so it shouldnt really matter in the first place.
i love how shes playing counter-strike... dust 2 perhaps? she looks pretty hot too
Well I'm a gamer. MMO's are my favorite most definately. But I usually keep my gender a secret, I mean. when I tell them I'm a girl they usually freak out and treat me differently. They act like I'm totally incompitant.
I dont think gender is important while gaming, at all. I mean, I take pride in the fact that I am a female gamer, but in game.. I could care less what gender everyone is.
i played w/ a bunch of guys once and they found out i was girl and made fun of me forever because of that and then they realized i'm better than some of the guys on their team. sex doesnt matter
i don't care what your gender is, just your avatar.
Nope. If you're a girl gamer and you think you're "underrepresented" you're you're JUST the right amount of NERD to be represented in the gaming world. Congratulations. Jesus christ its just video games.
If you broadcast that you're a particular sex, race, nationality thats ASKING for someone who doesnt necessarily like whatever you are to make a greater effort to fuck with you. Imagine if Ashton Kutcher was playing a FPS and he went up on the game all "HEY EVERYONE IM THE REAL ASHTON KUTCHER" ...everyone and thier mom would make it thier DUTY to frag the shit out of ol boy just because.
If you think there are too many men stop squawking and make your girlfriends learn how to play. Who gives a fuck if you're "represented" or not. Just play the game, have fun get over yourself and STFU.
I used to game all the time, Id spend a lot of my free time playing CSS.
The only real reason I didnt tell the guys I was a girl was because as soon as they knew they're like "oooh so thats why you're doing so badly" and then when you're kickin everyones arse at it and havin a great time they go "as if, she must be a hacker cos it's a girl"...Nice.
So just keeping quiet and pretending Im a dude just makes them not care and actually take me seriously as a team player.
A lot of female gamers that I know use Lady or Mrs or Miss in their name to show they're female. Others have names that make most people think that a guy would come up with it. My name is unisex but describes me if you know anything about me. I've noticed that unless you speak up and say you're a girl most people assume you're a guy until more people get to know you.
There's also a lot of jokes about female gamers and some girls stay quiet because they don't want any directed at them. I have a terrible graphics card and a slow computer so once they found out I was a girl a lot of people assumed that I didn't know anything about computers or gaming.
For the most part I've noticed that girls don't really care if anyone knows that they are female when playing online games. If they want people to know they draw attention to that. If they don't then they just stay quiet. You'd be surprised how many "guys" are actually just girls who either got tired of correcting people or just don't feel like speaking up.