Girls and Video Games

[This Isnt Sparta]

Do you know any guys that tend not to take you all that seriously when it comes to video games? Do they assume you dont play any of the "serious", "hardcore" games out right now, and claim you just only play the Sims (although the Sims are pretty fun), farmville or just about any casual games? Have you felt the annoying sting of some dude on Xbox Live telling you "you're hot send pics of your tits" or "girls cant play games gtfo"? As much as more and more girls are getting into the gamer scene, there always seems to be that stigma of "boys only" that's still hanging around.

Ive been a gamer since my father first shown me his NES. (Although really I havent played anything until the SNES since I was just a couple years old.) Ive had my hand in just about every system out there, (besides latest ones Im going to wait awhile for) I have a particular knack for fighting games and I have the confidence to give you a good fight. If you want a win from me, I make you earn it. My game savvy guy friends know what to expect from me, but even in the back of my mind I have to feel as though I need to prove something to them. Ive heard little jokes of me being a girl and playing games and they're usually at my expense. I laugh it off, but inside Im just a tad annoyed and thinking "dammit take me seriously". I honestly wish I didnt feel as if I had something to prove. I wish I could just sit back and chill with my guy friends and not be thinking "take each and every one of them down, tear them apart and have no mercy, make them regret going up against you!"


Girls, how do you fare in such a male dominated genre? Have any personal experiences where your gender had been brought into account during any type of game? What are your thoughts regarding women in the gaming community and industry?  

[Lady Kira X]

It was the funniest thing the other day. I was playing Dead Island with my fiance & one of his random steam friends would show up in the game with us.
He was relentlessly killing me for no damn reason & I was like.. what the s**t.

Few days later I was talking on mic & he joined in. He realized I was a girl & started apologizing to me for his actions. Then he started giving me free stuff

I've never had a guy talk s**t to me before because I was a girl. Maybe I'm just not playing the games you are.
The guys I do talk to usually WANT me to play with them.  

[Sweet Peppermint Tea]

yum_tea None of the guys I personally know treat me any differently as a gamer than they do each other. They'll still pull out all the stops when they play against me in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 or any other fighting game because they know I'll beat them if they don't. In fact, most of the guys I hang out with now were people I met because of gaming.

I haven't had any bad experiences playing on PSN, either. I hear a lot of horror stories about XBox Live, but the guys on PSN either don't know I'm female (possible, since I don't use a headset) or they just don't care. I've even had good luck with finding people while playing Skullgirls who were willing to help me practice and improve.

Now, I'm old enough that I remember when the arcade culture was in its heyday. I did encounter a fair amount of sexism then, with guys blocking me from cabinets to prevent me from playing, subtly bumping me out of the rotation when I did, and mocking each other mercilessly when I beat one of them. By the time my sister was old enough to really start playing games, the atmosphere had changed a bit...but then, so had a lot of the faces you'd see there, as most of the douchebag dudebros had moved on. I can't help but think that a lot of the guys who made the arcade such an unfriendly place for girls are now junking up XBox Live.  

[This Isnt Sparta]

Sweet Peppermint Tea

My guys friends also had to learn the hard way that I know fully what Im doing when I play. Hell, my boyfriend is now very hesitant to play against me in most fighting games,
I know the PSN has its own share of problems, but you mostly hear about the horror stories on Xbox Live. Its mainly why I dont want to use a headset when I decide to go online. Although my guy friends think I should reconsider, Im keeping that option on the table I like to think that maybe the video game community is improving at accepting girls in the fold. More girls are playing and we have female designers out there in the industry which is always great. But I still feel there is a long long long long way to go until nobody cares what gender you are when you walk into a Gamestop. I honestly dont like the fact that if a girl doesnt want to run the risk of being harassed, she pretty much has to keep her gender an air tight secret. I personally dont think that's fair. And I dont go with any "excuse" along the lines of the harassment being "part of the game" which I feel is a sack of s**t.  

[shadow22cat]

Funny thing is I think girls have always been into gaming, but in the past they seemed 'quieter' so the guys thought they weren't there or serious. Now, more and more girls are getting into it, and are very 'loud' about it. I like that they are.

I love most games. Especially, shooter, rpg's, simulator, adventure ones, etc. I got a sega genesis for my birthday when I was, I think, 9. I loved playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Ecco the Dolphin. I still have this console.

My ex, when we were together, thought I couldn't play 'his' games. So, he went easy on me at first. Big mistake. I had always beat him at those games, and loved it. His friends were surprised too. They also told me I was 'hotter' once they knew I was 'into' it. I'm not really hardcore, since I don't play them all the time. But, I do really get into them when I play them. So, I guess I'm semi-hardcore. blaugh Honestly if I had the money (and time), I would really love to buy a bunch of the new consoles, games, and play them all the time.  

[This Isnt Sparta]

shadow22cat

Funny thing is I think girls have always been into gaming, but in the past they seemed 'quieter' so the guys thought they weren't there or serious. Now, more and more girls are getting into it, and are very 'loud' about it. I like that they are.

I love most games. Especially, shooter, rpg's, simulator, adventure ones, etc. I got a sega genesis for my birthday when I was, I think, 9. I loved playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Ecco the Dolphin. I still have this console.

My ex, when we were together, thought I couldn't play 'his' games. So, he went easy on me at first. Big mistake. I had always beat him at those games, and loved it. His friends were surprised too. They also told me I was 'hotter' once they knew I was 'into' it. I'm not really hardcore, since I don't play them all the time. But, I do really get into them when I play them. So, I guess I'm semi-hardcore. blaugh Honestly if I had the money (and time), I would really love to buy a bunch of the new consoles, games, and play them all the time.

Haha. I dont think Ive ever had some guy come up to me and tell me that I had suddenly gotten 10times hotter whenever I say I played video games. The reactions I usually get are "oh that's really cool, what do you play...?" And the conversation just goes on from there.

I know my current boyfriend went along the lines of "ohh I'll go easy on her" when we first started hanging out even though he knew I was a gamer. Boy did he learn that the hard way. Many times when we would play he was so sure he could take me down easily. We're back and forth mostly and usually I took the leading score. He admitted one day that he underestimated me, because I was a chick. I think he gets a bit annoyed with how I play. wink  

[Kitalpha Hart]

Don't remember wha fighting game it was, but I'd play as Cassandra and just mash the triangle button
Beat the normal game, beat the bonus game, and in PVP the other player had no chance to attack XD
My brother's friend eventually gave up. He and I play games together, he knows the games I like to play. For him, NBD
We don't have the connection for online play, so I haven't been exposed to that  

[the mage-girl]

I don't game online so I don't get a lot of flak from male gamers. I hear about it online and it makes me shake my head.

Guys are always saying they want someone they can share their interests with... If one of your interests is video games, wouldn't it be a good idea to treat women alright when you're gaming? If nothing else, good practice for the "real" world.

In my group of friends (4 girls and 1 guy) we all game. World of Warcraft, Fallout 3, Skyrim, Diablo 3, Animal Crossing, Pokemon. I loves my Pokemon.

Way back in the 90s, we would take our Game Boy Colors EVERYWHERE to play Pokemon. We didn't care who saw us or what they might think.

The guy in our group does not give us ladies any amount of crap when we are gaming, but then, he is not really obnoxious or a huge "alpha male".

He's also held back a bit by the fact that his wife is an EXTREMELY poor loser, so it's best not to aggravate her.

Good times...  

[the mage-girl]

ll-Frantic-ll

the mage-girl

I don't game online so I don't get a lot of flak from male gamers. I hear about it online and it makes me shake my head.

Guys are always saying they want someone they can share their interests with... If one of your interests is video games, wouldn't it be a good idea to treat women alright when you're gaming? If nothing else, good practice for the "real" world.

In my group of friends (4 girls and 1 guy) we all game. World of Warcraft, Fallout 3, Skyrim, Diablo 3, Animal Crossing, Pokemon. I loves my Pokemon.

Way back in the 90s, we would take our Game Boy Colors EVERYWHERE to play Pokemon. We didn't care who saw us or what they might think.

The guy in our group does not give us ladies any amount of crap when we are gaming, but then, he is not really obnoxious or a huge "alpha male".

He's also held back a bit by the fact that his wife is an EXTREMELY poor loser, so it's best not to aggravate her.

Good times...

The bold part.. how does that work? confused

Huh... The bolding was completely accidental. question

To do it in a post, highlight the text and select "B" above the smilies.

I tried to tell you how to do it in HTML, but it automatically bolded it, which was no help whatsoever!

Hope this helps!  

[the mage-girl]

ll-Frantic-ll

the mage-girl

Huh... The bolding was completely accidental. question

To do it in a post, highlight the text and select "B" above the smilies.

I tried to tell you how to do it in HTML, but it automatically bolded it, which was no help whatsoever!

Hope this helps!

No, not that. I did the bolding myself, sorry for the confusion. I meant, how can you play WoW(world of warcraft) but not game online?

Oh! Oops. I don't play WoW. A couple of my friends do.

Sorry for any confusion! redface