The very first thing guys tend to say to me when I bring up my obsession with gaming is always “really? but you’re a girl.” This isn’t an uncommon response at all, but given that almost half (IDGA says 40% while the ESA puts the figure at 38%) of players are female, it’s pretty strange. CNET editor Don Reisinger things it’s a weird, stereotypical phenomena – and one that needs to stop. He cites the usual stuff – the statistics showing that plenty of women game, the fact that most women in game-design schools feel that male dominance is a huge deterrent to female participation, and the general “girls only play Wii Fit and Bejewled” attitude that prevails.
From the article:
“So where do we go from here? Certainly we can’t simply sit back and accept the fact that stereotypes exist in the video game industry and women are being forgotten. Instead, we need to finally pull our heads out of the sand and welcome the fact that women are very much a part of the video game industry and should play an even greater role in its development going forward.
So next time you hear someone say that women don’t play video games or listen to some uninformed loon try to tell you that the video game industry is for men, make them realize that women play video games, too. And just in case they don’t believe you, have them log on to Halo 3–I’m sure a woman would be more than happy to frag them into oblivion.”
Damn straight! I applaud Reisinger for taking a stand on an issue that so many gamers just ignore (unless they so happen to be girl gamers themselves – or dating a girl gamer).
Read [CNET]
I will admit that sometimes I am a bit surprised when I find a female gamer, because I don't know very many. I know there are several out there, but not really the places I go. However, I would not go as far as to ever state that "girls aren't gamers" — that's far from the truth.
A lot of guys are ignorant to the extreme…