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 :)