This one's for the girls.

[FamoFunk]

I would be embarresed to have the title Girl gamer, too.

I'm a gamer, I don't give a damn I am Female. The word "Girl gamer" makes me cringe, more so when other Girls use it to identify themselves.


Seriously, I though the whole Girl Vs. Boys in gaming was long over apart from with 13yo Boys. Who cares?

 

[kc_lax]

i'm not female but i personaly think its cool
never be ashamed of who you are or what you enjoy in your spare time unless its seriously dogey

 

[Sarahcidal]

In my experience the girls who tease us about being gamers, are the very same girls that in high school, pretended to be into games/sports/boy things in a vain attempt to make specific boys like them more.. failed horribly and then developed their much more natural "Like ohhemmgee ewww video games" persona.
it happens.. it's never really bothered me.. but it goes back to the theory that all of us females secretly hate each other.
just flip her the bird and move on

 

[Ekonk]

Human nature. Men and women are meant to be separate and have their roles.

That's evolution for ya.

"Evolution" and "meant" don't go well together.

OP: It's because it doesn't fit the gender roles. It'll take a couple of decennia before that will be gone.

 

[Ray De Ation]

Let's be charitable and assume that they avoid you because they think you would have nothing to talk about.

 

[BENZOOKA]

I just have to post, if I'm specifically excluded in the topic.

I suppose gaming isn't generally thought as the most feminine thing in the world, especially by people who don't know much about gaming.

It's all in the context. I wouldn't necessarily yell out that I occasionally shave some body hair that I don't like, while having a manly man talk about manly things with an acquaintance. It's all in the context.

I don't think there's anything to be embarrassed about in girl gaming. But one reason for someone to be embarrassed of that might have something to do with the things, presumptions and stereotypes that go with gaming. And people are often, to my experience: girls even more, a bit obsessed and neurotic about telling/hiding things because of the fear of what-other-people-think-of-me.

 

[DJDarque]

I would be embarresed to have the title Girl gamer, too.

I'm a gamer, I don't give a damn I am Female. The word "Girl gamer" makes me cringe, more so when other Girls use it to identify themselves.


Seriously, I though the whole Girl Vs. Boys in gaming was long over apart from with 13yo Boys. Who cares?

I am a guy, but I agree with this. Why do some women feel the need to distinguish themselves as "girl gamers". You're a gamer just like all the boys.

Screw what non-gamers think. We love that you love games.

 

[El Poncho]

Girls were never really encouraged(generally) to play games I guess, although I'm glad to see that disappearing where I live, a lot of girls I know play games, even if it is only COD or Pokémon, either way it's a start( great start if it's pokémon ;D)

 

[FrostyChick]

@Nature: ,!,,(-.-),,!,
Evolution is a broken outdated concept. Darwinism is dead get, over it.

OT: I don't really care, I'm a girl gamer. If you have a problem with that. Then you can go fuck yourself. I ain't changing for no one but me.

Wow, you sure are smart. You better hurry! Telling all the world's scientists they're wrong will take a while. You'll have to rewrite all those text books and re-teach all those university professors and doctors too.

Good luck with that.

I'll just wait here. You know, where we keep the science, facts and logic.

Learn to read. Context is important.
Evolution may have occurred, and it resulted in modern society.
But selection pressures change, there currently is no reason for separation between sexes.
So using evolution as a means to spout your sexist opinions holds no water.

 

[LuzGutierrez]

I direct this question at my fellow female gamers out there. While at work I was playing my PSP, now I struggle already with social situations but I like to think I try. Anyways, one of my co-workers commented that girls really don't play games much (she was also female if it matters) which made me really embarrassed and actually ashamed of my title as a girl gamer. I also spoke briefly with a few of the boys there about other games, mostly shooters.

Now...my question to you is, why is it okay for guys to be into games, but when we get into them, or publicly show our love/interest/what have you of video games, other girls avoid us like we are carrying some kind of contagious disease? Is there any good reason why we should be ashamed or hide the fact we play games?

It's more of the idea of humans segregating themselves into their niche. Just like it's been said before, it's just like High School all over again.

I mean my brother and his girlfriend both enjoy playing LOTS of games together, it's actually ironic, they first met on Halo Reach, which I find to be the most romantic way ever, in an ironic sense. Then there's me, I'm his twin sister, and I have NEVER had a single friend, who was female, who didn't enjoy playing video games, or any sort of tabletop game for that matter. It's all about the niche you put yourself into.

My question for you is, would you consider that co-worker who spoke to you as a close friend, or even as a "friend" for that matter, or just another person you work with who you don't socialize much. If the answer is yes, then you might want to either just stop caring about what she says about what you do, or maybe try to show her that video games are fun, and that she may enjoy it herself. If you feel uncomfortable, just put your PSP to sleep around her, so she doesn't try to bring up an uncomfortable topic (some girls can be ruthless, I would know, I look exactly like my brother and have always been openly mocked because of it, mostly by women). If the answer is no, then just forget about it, and move on, treat her just like you would a co-worker, and if she tries to delve into the uncomfortable topic of "OH, VIDEO GAMES ARE FOR BOYS!!" Just either change the topic, or tell her that it isn't work related, so none of her business, or something. She has no right to impose her beliefs on your life!

Just be proud of your interests, and don't flaunt them to the wrong people, I guess...

 

[FrostyChick]

I don't care about the roles, but they exist. I treat women and men the exact same; I'll hit a woman just as soon as I'd hit a man, I don't open doors for women and I don't speak differently around them.

But the roles have existed over thousands of years of evolution. They are deeply ingrained in us. Men are hunters. Women are homemakers. This is how humans are. As our society grows, these roles are becoming less and less relevant and soon won't exist at all. But, as it stands, most women want to stay home and look after a baby. Most men don't.

Children, with no intervention on the part of parents, separate into gender groups before they are five and spend 3/4 of their time with children of the same sex. This separation is interwoven with the above-mention roles. Boys have boy's toys. Girls have girl's toys. A boy playing with a Barbie is seen as 'weird'. A girl playing with a truck (although less weird, as homosexuals (boys + Barby = homosexual to many people) are met with a lot more revolt than masculine women, as homosexuality is a defect in genetics) is 'odd'. Sit a person down with a baby boy and they will give them a truck and play rougher. Sit them down with a girl and they will give them a teddy or a doll and baby them.

These things are not bad, as they are natural, but they are mostly useless in today's world. Won't be long and gender will be all but extinct.

In future, try not to waste my time. Thank you.

And? Woodee fucking doo, you can quote textbooks.

None of that has any relevance in modern society. And yes, they are bad. Gender doesn't dictate a persons skills. And the "it's human nature" argument is bullshit. The only reason such things were put in place was because hunting was a dangerous task, one that early humans would have given to men in order to preserve breeding females.


Simply put natural =/= good.

Darwins theories no longer apply to humans stop pretending they do. I'm done talking to you.

 

[Simulated Eon]

As a gamer, I love any game that lets me be knee-deep in the bodies of my enemies. I will never cry because my pony died because it is not pretty enough....

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.

 

[GaijinAndrew]

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.

 

[superbatranger]

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.

 

[Palademon]

Because common society is a sexist *****.

 

[wulfy42]

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

 

[Verlander]

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

 

[MasterChief892039]

which made me really embarrassed and actually ashamed of my title as a girl gamer.

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.
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.

 

[Lilani]

I direct this question at my fellow female gamers out there. While at work I was playing my PSP, now I struggle already with social situations but I like to think I try. Anyways, one of my co-workers commented that girls really don't play games much (she was also female if it matters) which made me really embarrassed and actually ashamed of my title as a girl gamer. I also spoke briefly with a few of the boys there about other games, mostly shooters.

Now...my question to you is, why is it okay for guys to be into games, but when we get into them, or publicly show our love/interest/what have you of video games, other girls avoid us like we are carrying some kind of contagious disease? Is there any good reason why we should be ashamed or hide the fact we play games?

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.

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.

 

[AmayaOnnaOtaku]

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.