[Gamer Diary] “Pretty good for a girl”? How about just “pretty good”?
Welcome back to Rai, who kicked off our Gamer Diary back in May, and will very likely soon join Team BadRep’s About page properly as soon as we’ve got our backsides in gear…
As a new addition to BadRep I thought it’d be a good idea to introduce myself a bit more thoroughly, seeing as I intend to keep popping up. I don’t mean in the typical sense of “Hi, my name’s Rai, I’m 23 and I like…” because most of that isn’t entirely pertinent. Instead I thought I’d talk about gaming and me.
I’ve been playing computer games for well over 15 years already; I started with Wolfenstein and DOOM when I was eight years old and before that played puzzle games and other now-‘retro’ games like Space Invadersor PacMan. Over the years my tastes haven’t varied too much, merely widened to encompass other styles, such as RPG and strategy games. Admittedly, I’m still a die-hard PC gamer, but I also own an Xbox 360 for some console action and an old PSP that rarely gets used.
The games that I invariably come back to time after time almost always have some element of the supernatural, sci-fi or fantasy in them and more often than not are shooters, though I have developed a healthy interest in ‘sandbox’ style games like Assassin’s Creed or Prototype. For your delectation and amusement I’ve included a quick snap of a few of my boxed games (I have many, many more on Steam and a few Xbox 360 games elsewhere).
Why am I telling you all this? So that I can ease slowly into a conversation about gender perceptions and stereotypes in gaming from my own experiences. Now that you know I like shooting aliens and occasionally wielding swords and casting magic spells, there is one more thing you need to know about me before we continue: I could be perceived by others to be, at least ostensibly, female.
Normally, this fact is utterly irrelevant but unfortunately it becomes relevant in the context of gaming and being known as a gamer. Why is it relevant in these circumstances? Because stereotypes are rampant, and I have had more than my fair share of encounters with them.
An excellent example of this is when a very close friend of mine, who had known me for years, was watching me play an FPS game on the computer. After I’d had a good few headshots and diligently eradicated the enemy, he declared, “You’re pretty good… for a girl.” Upon seeing my best ‘I am not impressed’ look (a mix of anger and despair) he back-pedalled and said, “No, not like that… just that girls aren’t usually good at shooting things.”
Needless to say, I remained rather irked, but in the interest of peace, love and friendship we decided to move on swiftly. So the problem I am trying to illustrate here is the assumption, which is ridiculously widespread, that if one is ostensibly female then one must play a certain type of game. Similarly, if one is ostensibly male then one must play a certain other type of game. Never the twain shall meet!
In practice (and in the most polite phrasing possible) this is naught but a rather large, steamy pile of manure. However, the stereotypes remain. I admit I may be at the extreme end of the spectrum when I play games like F.E.A.R., Crysis, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and DOOM, etc, but there are plenty of female gamers who play other shooters, like the RPG shooter Mass Effect for example. Equally, there are male gamers who play things other than C.O.D. or Battlefield and instead play games that don’t involve killing anything at all.
Other than the assumption of what female gamers “don’t” play, there are also the games we “can’t” play (because, apparently, our poor female brains aren’t smart enough). Puzzle games that rely heavily on a good sense of visual-spatial awareness and understanding of basic physics, like Portal, are supposedly too ‘difficult’ for us to figure out on our own. Not so. Strategy games that involve planning and forethought and tactical awareness, like Age of Empire, Command & Conquer or Red Alert, are also apparently too complicated. Not so. Even at the level of consoles, female gamers are presumed to only play on the Wii or the DS because they are much simpler to use. Personally, I found the Wii infuriatingly simplistic and therefore quite difficult to use, as I’m used to a whole keyboard full of buttons as opposed to just two.
It isn’t necessarily the gaming communities that build and perpetuate these stereotypes either; they seem to be bleeding through from mainstream society. Although gamers are perceived to be more tolerant of difference (simply because mainstream society treats us all as different) there’s still plenty of ‘epic fail’ when it comes to gender and gaming.
So, why have I told you all this? Well, because I wanted to give some groundwork that we can build on with the Gamer Diary and see where we go. I hope to prove these stereotypes wrong and spread the word that anyone can play any type of game that they want to or enjoy. That’s what gaming is for: enjoyment. Nobody should be hampered by other people’s opinions of what they should/shouldn’t do. So I would like to build up from here and look at the changes in games and gaming culture that happen constantly as we inch closer to gender equality (and hopefully all other types of equality too!).
- Rai, at the tender age of 23, has been gaming for 15 years and writing for 10 – perfect combination! Watch this space for more Gamer Diary.
Just interrupted my morning of playing Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Wii to comment. FYI I’m also a 24 year old male. Take that, people who call the Wii or games without shooting “girly”!
Anyway, must dash, I need to go and find my pony so I can get to the fairy fountain quicker.
Now we have further proof that gender stereotyping in gaming is so utterly ridiculous! Hooray!
Incidentally I do wish I could play more games like Zelda just because I feel I do need more variety sometimes. Hence why I’ve just been playing leisurely games like The Tiny Bang Story, Spiral Knights and Worms recently.
The link to my Steam in the article is proving a bit pesky so for those of you still interested here it is in a different format: http://goo.gl/hSL56
Ooer, sorry! Will have an edit when I’ve got a computer in front of me!
/editorfail
EDIT: fixed! Tiny bit of dodgy HTML from me there, now cleaned up- when Rai can post directly to our wordpress there’ll be much less of this sort of thing ;)
I’m sure I will still make mistakes lol :)
I fully support this article. I think xkcd said it very well:
http://xkcd.com/385/
people are stupid.
I don’t consider myself much of a gamer, and i’ve always hated anything involving shooting. but as a massive nerd i have played more than my fair share of computer games in my time. best one ever? civ 4 with permanent peace turned on – so it becomes a race to create the perfect society! win. i don’t know if that makes me a ‘male’ gamer, a ‘female’ gamer or a crazy dreamer. i suspect it doesn’t really matter.
I concur with xkcd (& yourself, of course).
I don’t think it matters on a personal level what type of games one plays – unless you have any friends who enjoy winding you up – but most of the stereotypes seem to occur, with ‘male’ gamers at least, on a much wider, sweeping scale. In particular from the mainstream media who assume all guys play C.O.D. and all “proper” gamers are guys and all guy-gamers are solitary beasts with no hope of attracting girlfriends (because of course, they must also all be straight).
Excuse the side-track rant, sorry! My point I was trying to make was that, as you say, it doesn’t really matter what type of gamer you may be because you are who you are and people you know will accept that. You may still fall foul of generic stereotypes but that’s what we’re here to help disprove!
I need to ask you a vitally important question before I can consider your gaming credentials, have you played Planescape: Torment and what did you think of it? :)
I’m afraid not. I got into RPGs very late in life and was 10 when Planescape: Torment came out – at that time in life I was still very much a FPS or Age of Empires kid. If indeed you recommend it, then I’ll try and locate a copy and give it a go :-)
Generally, I must say, my ‘gaming credentials’ tend to be a bit abnormal when assessed by other gamers.
I suspect it might be a bit clunky looked at from today, but It’s still a ground breaking game I will recommend to anyone at the drop of a hat. You can get it for £5 from gog.com.
Putting aside all frothing I’m looking forward to more articles to come here.
Clunky isn’t too much of an issue to me as I still play the original DOOM with its <10 square dots per enemy when seen from afar.
Currently working on 3 or 4 new pieces but at least one needs some serious spin so it fits in with BadRep (otherwise it'll just go up on my blog). I will return!
*is excited by this news*
*cheerleads*
:D
/pointless comment :D
Oh, I get so tired of this. I’m a female gamer and my current gaming fix mostly tends to involve EVE Online. I believe the female subscriber ratio is 4% or something equally depressing. My previous corp took a month to believe I was female and good at pvp, rather than an effeminate sounding guy and good at pvp. They were great and I loved the lot of them, but that did get a little tiresome. The guy who kept buying me ships – because I obviously can’t provide my own and must be showered with gifts – was worse though.
My brother is a big EVE gamer and I’ve been intending to start playing as soon as I get a ‘proper job’ (as I am a new grad). I currently play another space-based MMO, which I am formulating an article on at the moment! I’ve even seen male gamers pretend to be female just because they get an easier time and nicer reactions from other males. It’s partly why I don’t disclose any gender identity on the MMOs because if you say nothing you’re assumed to be male and don’t get treated in peculiar ways (either super-niceness or constant barrage of insults).
I don’t go out of my way to point it out, but I will correct people I actually interact with a lot if they refer to me as male, and in any case non-disclosure of gender only works until you’re needed on Teamspeak. I have quite a deep voice for a woman so gender confusion is possible, but I imagine for many others it isn’t. I don’t want to conceal my gender, anyway, because if people are funny about it I can’t be bothered to play with them and go elsewhere. On EVE this is perfectly possible, and my current corp and its allies just treat me like another pilot. I’ve had a few issues with excessive niceness, which in all bar one case was resolved with a quiet word, but never with a barrage of insults. I hear it happens, and I’m sure it does, but I’m quite picky about my corps with regards to mature attitude, sense of humour and :srs bsns: level, and that does weed the less than pleasant players out.
Apologies, meant to say ‘gender concealment’ there, not confusion. Momentary brainfreeze.
Thankfully, as I’m quite shy and anti-social, I’ve never yet been required to go on any Teamspeaks nor have I volunteered. Previously the ‘clan’ I play(ed) with used Skype and that has wonderful typing to facilitate my shyness though I too have a very deep voice combined with a female-ish visage. To be frank I prefer to remain anonymous mainly because I find gender much more variable than one or t’other, so it’s easier to not have to explain and risk epic discrimination.
Either way, in the event that I actually get round to joining EVE I will be sure to declare it everywhere so I can find friends to help me navigate it all.