The realities of online gaming as a woman.
After a long week of studying and taking exams, many students seek out a way to relax and unwind. A typical guy may choose to go home, plop down in front of the TV, power up his gaming console of choice, grab a controller and enter the fantasy realm of his choosing. For women-gamers, escaping to the world of video games isn’t so simple.
For years now, there has been this image of the ideal “gamer-girl.” This woman has the perfect body, wears glasses, and her closet consists entirely of Marvel t-shirts, superhero underwear, and knee high socks. In reality, women that play video games come in all shapes and sizes, just as men do. Some wear dresses, others jeans, some in heels and others in sneakers.
When logging into any online gaming platform, men will seek out this gamer-girl through usernames. If your username is at all feminine, you’ve likely received numerous friend requests from strangers, who then message you asking to join their party or guild. What starts out as friendly game-play and camaraderie quickly leads to your every action being scrutinized and critiqued.
The fact is, most gamers are male. You’re playing in a man’s world. Just look at the characters in games. The main characters are almost always men, and if it is a woman (think Tomb Raider), she’s going to have a flat stomach and killer curves. We are only just beginning to see the option to create female characters in mainstream console games.
Still, female gamers are underrepresented. According to the 2015 Sales, Demographic And Usage Data report by the Entertainment Software Association, women make up 44% of video-gamers. We represent nearly half of the gaming world, yet we are made to feel irrelevant to the industry. Game controllers are designed to fit a man’s hands, the console is designed to appease the man’s eye, and while I am not anxiously awaiting the arrival of stereotypically feminine pink consoles, it would be nice to know that we are being taken seriously enough to be considered by the industry.
As game-play continues, a gamer-girl cannot make mistakes. She must help lead her team to victory, taking shots that never miss. In contrast, she must never be better than her male counterparts. If a gamer-girl violates either of these rules, she will be targeted. Suddenly she will hear the voices of her male teammates come through her headset, spewing vulgarities and expletives, degrading her as a gamer and as a woman.
A woman that chooses to play video games never gets to truly relax and enjoy herself. She must constantly prove herself to everyone online. She must be knowledgeable on all games, the history of each console, and she must know the strategy guide by heart. This makes it extremely difficult for new women to join the world of gaming, as a new female player will not be helped or encouraged as she learns the basics and levels-up her character.
When I first started playing online, I had to use my male friend’s account so that I would be taken seriously and wouldn’t be mocked. I vividly remember the first time I switched over to use my own account, and despite playing relatively well, I was brutally picked apart. One member of my team actually betrayed me several times before being booted from the game. Because I’m a girl, I was held to a higher standard of game-play. Even as I got better and began to hold the team-lead position, consistently scoring the most points, I was betrayed by my teammates. It was a no-win situation, and started to turn me away from playing at all.
Online gaming is just one reason why it is crucial that women stick together. We are already being torn down by a male dominated society that tearing each other down only sets us back further. If we work together, helping each other and building each other up, we can show men in all fields that we are just as capable as they are. We are women, we can play video games without fitting into anyone’s mold.
This article was originally posted at The Odyssey.
