It's no secret that the gaming industry is a male-dominated one. If females play, attempt to produce, or are in video games, they usually end up feeling like anomalies or glitches. Over the years though society has tried to help female gamers, make us feel like we fit into the community. Their solution, why to sexualize us of course. This way we are more acceptable to the males in the industry that cannot grasp the concept that a girl plays video games just because she thoroughly enjoys them. We are in an age where girls and boys are adapting, and they should and can feel accepted and integrated into multiple communities, and this includes the gaming world.
There is still this ideal version of a female gamer, known as the “gamer girl." If you don't believe me, then go onto Google and look through the images like I had to find a title image, or look at the hashtag #gamergirl or #girlswhogame. A lot of pictures I discovered are partially pornographic and even when they aren't many of them still have an ideal image of the gamer girl that looks and sounds very sexual. She has the perfect body, she wears superhero or video game t-shirts, superhero underwear or short shorts, knee-high socks, sometimes she wears a snapback hat, and sometimes she has glasses. While I will admit loving wearing superhero and video game t-shirts, and snapback hats; I should not be expected to wear them every time I game. In reality, gamer girls are much more diverse than this. We can be tall, short, slender, curvy, or thin. Some of us wear high heels, some wear jeans, and some even wear dresses.
When a girl logs onto an online gaming platform, many people will usually send her numerous friend requests based on her username. If the username sounds very feminine, she will probably get a lot more requests from strangers, wanting her to join their party or their guild. When she does, she must be prepared to face the scrutiny and critique, because even if it all seems like all friendly game-play in the beginning, anyone can and will judge you.
Guys often make many assumptions about us. This includes ideas such as, we won't understand what the point of the game is, we'll never grasp the basics of the controls, we will die multiple times, or even that we're not even playing because WE want to. This only makes us want to prove ourselves more as gamers. So, a girl will never be able to truly relax and just enjoy herself fully when gaming online.
If a girl gamer is going to be judged or critiqued, then it should be on how she plays the game. The amount of achievements or trophies that she has doesn't have anything to do with her gender. We are capable of learning the basics of any game, and we can play the game just as well as the guys can. I understand that us women are still a minority in the gaming industry, but we have the same rights to enjoy gaming as men. I am a gamer girl yes, but I am not a stereotype. I enjoy the story lines of the games I play, I enjoy the fictional combat, and the challenge. Gaming is for everyone; so, don't focus on my gender, just let me play.
