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Girl Gamer vs. the Gamer Girl

Miss Doronjo

Gaiden
4,473
Posts
13
Years
Alright, for the basis of this thread, watch this video:



Have you ever encountered a situation.. like that before? Well, case in point: there's... a bit of a debate and issue that's been going on between the woman who play video games: from the media, they're.. most of the time labeled as gamer girls, or girl gamers.

From the media, gamer girls are just normal, everyday gamers like everyone else. Girl gamers, according to the media, are gamers who think that just because they are girls, they think it's the hottest thing to play games that "target the male audience". The first thing that they would usually say is "Hi guys, I'm A girl playing this game!" and.. that leads to attention.

So, what do you think about this whole debate and issue between gamer girls, and girl gamers? Should gender be an excuse for gamers to be treated differently? Any other thoughts?


Note: this thread is to not disrespect any one in anyway, but only to debate. So please, do not spout any rude comments or any of the sort. Thanks.
 

T!M

Four Category MoTY (VG) Winner
1,422
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The truth is, girl gamers indeed try to make themselves known that they are female to male gamers. Whether it be as direct as the video or, more commonly these days, usernames and gamertags that hint to their gender such as "PinkLove", "StacyDove", "MrsGamer".

In the end I believe gender in a video game doesn't matter. And women shouldn't feel like males need to know their gender and that men shouldn't make a big deal about girl gamers when they find out that they are female.
 
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Society built the image that video games are for guys only, which is why when girl gamers play games, it makes them think they're special. They feel they should get special treatment for it. In my opinion, it shouldn't matter if they're a girl or not. They should all be called "gamers" just like boys, and be treated equally~
 

Apple Juice

who are you
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Hahaha, oh man, as stereotypical as that was, I applaud the creator. Gave me a good laugh!

On a serious note, even though it's portrayed like that for comedy purposes, it can be true. I've never encountered such a situation myself, but I'm sure it can be rather awkward for the girl if her fellow players act differently when they figure out her gander. I don't see a way that this can be changed, per say, but it would be a huge improvement if a girl gamer doesn't get any special treatment or bashing for playing bad before the game even starts. Like most stereotypes, I don't see that changing soon, as it's human nature to judge others, but hopefully something can be done in the future to at least mitigate it.
 

T!M

Four Category MoTY (VG) Winner
1,422
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Society built the image that video games are for guys only, which is why when girl gamers play games, it makes them think they're special. They feel they should get special treatment for it. In my opinion, it shouldn't matter if they're a girl or not. They should all be called "gamers" just like boys, and be treated equally~

Spoken like a true gamer.
 

Keizaal

but innocence is gone
81
Posts
10
Years
Wait... I thought it was reversed?

Gamer Girl: Stereotype, girls who play games for attention
Girl Gamer: A gamer of the female gender

Now you've got me confused. o-o
 

Kotone

someone needed a doctor?
2,787
Posts
14
Years
this annoys me:/ whenever people find out i play video games, i seriously get mad or they go "wow you're a girl, and you play video games?" video games are for everyone. i'm a girl and i like video games. get over it.
 

TY

Guest
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Posts
Idc about the gender really... Girls can play video games and there is nothing wrong with that... I got my butt kicked a few times in StarCraft 2 by girls and i dont complain or do anything different than usual.
 
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I'm surprised this hasn't been posted yet:
eUqf4MV.gif


I'm not really in the FPS multi crowd, so I wouldn't really know :P But girls who look for attention like that are a dime a dozen anyways, so I wouldn't be surprised.
 

T!M

Four Category MoTY (VG) Winner
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I'm surprised this hasn't been posted yet:
eUqf4MV.gif


I'm not really in the FPS multi crowd, so I wouldn't really know :P But girls who look for attention like that are a dime a dozen anyways, so I wouldn't be surprised.

Flippin' Lol at the .gif

But yeah. Why can't we game on a gamertag basis. No one needs to know if you're a boy or girl. Just how well you play, amirite?
 

atomtanned

Delinquent
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But yeah. Why can't we game on a gamertag basis. No one needs to know if you're a boy or girl. Just how well you play, amirite?

Well, you're kind of breaking your own regulation there, aren't you? Trainer Timothy implies that you're a guy. The thing that's irritating about this is that you made no mention of men keeping their usernames/gamer tags gender neutral. Mr.Gamer is okay, Ms.Gamer isn't? Even though my username everywhere is gender-neutral, I will always choose a female avatar if available. That will lead people to think I'm a girl most of the time... should I not be able to do this, just to ensure I'm not "seeking attention"?

The other issue I have with this "We should just all be ~gamers, gender doesn't matter!" is that all that attitude does is maintain the status quo -- which is that the video game industry still caters largely to men, despite all the progress that has been made.

Sweeping gender under the rug and saying "We are all the same!" doesn't change the fact that most games have male protagonists, and almost no games have female protagonists who aren't overtly sexualized. It also doesn't change the fact that many female gamers playing in online environments are harassed repeatedly. It's why I don't play games online, and it's why many women try to hide their gender in the first place. And the more that women feel the need to hide their gender for whatever reason, the more likely this is to continue.

Women should be able to participate openly in the video game industry, and they shouldn't feel like they need to hide their gender in order to be taken seriously or to prevent being harassed. Period. THAT is what will make people realize that being a girl and playing video games is no big deal.
 

T!M

Four Category MoTY (VG) Winner
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Well, you're kind of breaking your own regulation there, aren't you? Trainer Timothy implies that you're a guy.

I am not. I used my first name. This doesn't necessarily imply that I'm male and I'm certainly not trying to. I'm using my name. So... lolwut?

The thing that's irritating about this is that you made no mention of men keeping their usernames/gamer tags gender neutral. Mr.Gamer is okay, Ms.Gamer isn't? Even though my username everywhere is gender-neutral, I will always choose a female avatar if available. That will lead people to think I'm a girl most of the time... should I not be able to do this, just to ensure I'm not "seeking attention"?

No, men don't often use Mr. Prefix and there isn't many tags use to described a male gamer. And we, as men, aren't so desperate for attention that we intentionally use a male tag for people to know. Ladies are the only ones who use female tags to get their gender notice. Why else would you use it? Why not you something like "Matrix" or "Gama" something gender neutral. No one said you couldn't. I'm talking about gamertags. Plenty of men use female characters avatars (Runescape namely)

The other issue I have with this "We should just all be ~gamers, gender doesn't matter!" is that all that attitude does is maintain the status quo -- which is that the video game industry still caters largely to men, despite all the progress that has been made.

Sweeping gender under the rug and saying "We are all the same!" doesn't change the fact that most games have male protagonists, and almost no games have female protagonists who aren't overtly sexualized. It also doesn't change the fact that many female gamers playing in online environments are harassed repeatedly. It's why I don't play games online, and it's why many women try to hide their gender in the first place. And the more that women feel the need to hide their gender for whatever reason, the more likely this is to continue.

You're joking right? F'n Lightning and Bayonetta isn't a female character? Samus? No? Why don't you stop being pity and just admit that developers definitely make their best efforts to share the fame between male and female antagonists and it's the gamers, the people who play the game, that ever question it. Furthermore, females don't try to hide it, which is my entire point.

Women should be able to participate openly in the video game industry, and they shouldn't feel like they need to hide their gender in order to be taken seriously or to prevent being harassed. Period. THAT is what will make people realize that being a girl and playing video games is no big deal.
Women do participate openly >_>. You don't have to hide your gender. But you shouldn't have to announce it with a gamertag is all I'm saying.
 
Last edited:

Khawill

<3
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Not sure I encounter this problem much -.- I mean I play with a lot of gamer girls on league and I also met a lot on WoW. The thing was though, I didn't know or care about their gender and only found out over voice chat. (Even then I had gotten over the fact)

The thing is, there are a lot of girl gamers these days. I think it is like 47% of all gamers (so male isn't an overwhelming majority) The problem comes from the few guys in a game who make a big deal about it, and act like it is special. I also think people don't realize how many females play video games, since the stereotypes are what everyone thinks.

That being said, I have occasionally treated female gamers better than a male gamer. I don't go out of my way to do it, but I always find it a lot more second nature to be less angry at a girl who has messed up over a guy who makes the same mistake. I think its just natural though.
 
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It's funny - On the other end are girls that are so anti-gaming they explicitly forbid their boyfriends from playing them. I've seen it happen... (not to me personally, thank god). Those girls are the same type that still plays mini-games on their tablets or facebook zynga type games.

Anyway, whether you're a man, or woman, it shouldn't matter. If you play video games, ok then! The problem is that other video game nerd men see girl gamers as a special gem. (or is it gamer girls...? the type who just play video games for the enjoyment and not the attention, I'm confuzzled on the definitions). Of course, you also got non gamers of the female variety who think nerds are hot... so there's that end, too.
 

Neosprin

Horsea's Mother
21
Posts
10
Years
There are some games that are only meant for girls, and other game that are only meant for guys. The games that are intended to be played by girls are games like Cooking Mama, or My Baby games. First person shooter games, adventure games, etc were made for guys to play. I think that is very sexist, and stupid. I used to like to play Pacman, it was made for both genders, but when Mrs. Pacman came out, I totally lost interest in Pacman. Mrs. Pacman was made for girls to play, only because of the female Pacman. Both girls and guys should be able to play all sorts of games without anybody judging them about it.
 

T!M

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There are some games that are only meant for girls, and other game that are only meant for guys. The games that are intended to be played by girls are games like Cooking Mama, or My Baby games. First person shooter games, adventure games, etc were made for guys to play. I think that is very sexist, and stupid. I used to like to play Pacman, it was made for both genders, but when Mrs. Pacman came out, I totally lost interest in Pacman. Mrs. Pacman was made for girls to play, only because of the female Pacman. Both girls and guys should be able to play all sorts of games without anybody judging them about it.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. This whole post is incredibly sexist. Simply saying that games are generated for one type of player is completely off. What kind of developer would promote a sale of a game for one consumer. They would seriously be hurting their sales.

Call of Duty has guns, blood and swearing but that doesn't directly tailor the game to gentlemen. And Cooking Mama has a female protagonist and cooking, but I can assure you that there are plenty of successful male cooks. *cough, cough* Turn your attention below.

Spoiler:


I digress. The point is very few games are made specifically for one type of gamer. Except maybe Barbie games but I wouldn't put it passed a young lad to play it. So yeah.

Your whole post is just... wrong.
 

atomtanned

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I am not. I used my first name. This doesn't necessarily imply that I'm male and I'm certainly not trying to. I'm using my name. So... lolwut?



No, men don't often use Mr. Prefix and there isn't many tags use to described a male gamer. And we, as men, aren't so desperate for attention that we intentionally use a male tag for people to know. Ladies are the only ones who use female tags to get their gender notice. Why else would you use it? Why not you something like "Matrix" or "Gama" something gender neutral. No one said you couldn't. I'm talking about gamertags. Plenty of men use female characters avatars (Runescape namely)

You're joking right? F'n Lightning and Bayonetta isn't a female character? Samus? No? Why don't you stop being pity and just admit that developers definitely make their best efforts to share the fame between male and female antagonists and it's the gamers, the people who play the game, that ever question it. Furthermore, females don't try to hide it, which is my entire point.

Women do participate openly >_>. You don't have to hide your gender. But you shouldn't have to announce it with a gamertag is all I'm saying.

You're really taking my post as an absolute, when if you'll notice, I used the word "some", "many" or "most" quite a bit.

My computer died and I lost the original response I was typing... -_- But basically, what I was reacting to is that your post implied that women gamers should actively try to hide their gender, because if not they're just seeking attention. That's just unfair, I think. Women should be able to use whatever gamertag they like, and so should men. And for the record, I've seen plenty of usernames/handles/gamertags that include "Mr." as a prefix.

The other point I was trying to make WASN'T that there are absolutely NO games with female protagonists, it was that there aren't many. Every time this gets brought up, someone makes a list of female protagonists or characters. You forgot Lara Croft, by the way. ;) It's not necessary to do that -- I KNOW that there are games with female protagonists. My point is that overwhelmingly, video game protagonists are male. Just try to make a list of male protagonists. You could go on for days. And when there are female protagonists, they're often hyper-sexualized.

Finally, when it comes to harassment, there ARE plenty of women gamers who hide/don't disclose their gender and those who don't play online because they don't want to deal with it. I am one of the latter, and I know plenty of the former. Yes, there are women who openly participate, of course there are. There are also many who don't.

Sexism within the video game industry IS getting better. But it's important to keep talking about it, because once women are seen as a totally normal presence within the industry, THAT is when you will have the "girl gamers" this thread is talking about disappear. If it's a normal, everyday thing for women to be playing games alongside men, then no one will be able to use their gender to appear cool or receive special treatment. And we'll also most likely have more badass female protagonists, which I think is a good thing :)
 

Phantom1

[css-div="font-size: 12px; font-variant: small-cap
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I play Call of Duty.

Extensively.

As in, hours a day.

And I'm good.

My gamertag is gender neutral, same as my username here. And unless I talk, most people don't know I'm a woman. My clan all knows, of course. We're all really good friends and all.

So a few weeks ago I decided to make an emblem, showing that I was a chick. I never pointed it out to anyone or anything. It was more a joke than anything. Once a buddy from my clan announced after a game that I'd gone 18-2 in that they (other team) just got beat by a chick. As a joke I made the emblem that said "You just got pwned by a chick"

The results were a mix of hilarious and terrifying. I would get random friend requests, messages ranging from "r u rlly a grl', 'you're a girl who plays games? cool, props!', to 'wat r u wearing'. Some were actually threatening in nature. Someone calling me his 'little ****' and other interesting comments. Some people would follow me. They would 'join my session' over and over again, to the point that I had to block them.

Eventually I took it down. I couldn't stand how women are treated in the gaming community. I'm not just a CoD gamer, I play dozens of other games, and think myself, well, a true gamer. I've been a gamer my whole life, and it's been a huge part of my life, so much so that I have a tattoo based FROM A GAME.

This all just reminds me of this video...

 

Crunch Punch

fire > ice
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Whoa, whoa, whoa. This whole post is incredibly sexist. Simply saying that games are generated for one type of player is completely off. What kind of developer would promote a sale of a game for one consumer. They would seriously be hurting their sales.

Call of Duty has guns, blood and swearing but that doesn't directly tailor the game to gentlemen. And Cooking Mama has a female protagonist and cooking, but I can assure you that there are plenty of successful male cooks. *cough, cough* Turn your attention below.

Spoiler:


I digress. The point is very few games are made specifically for one type of gamer. Except maybe Barbie games but I wouldn't put it passed a young lad to play it. So yeah.

Your whole post is just... wrong.

Did you even read the whole post? ahahahaha

Meh, I understand men who give special attention to women whenever they are playing with each other. It's just like many social situations, right? And also I've never seen girls try and gain attention to themselves whenever I've played online, but maybe that's just me. I never really know if a player is a girl most the time unless I hear them in voice chat.
 
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