Sunday eSports: Girls in the Pro-Gaming Scene

[News Portal]

There’s regular discussion about how gaming is an activity dominated by males, and far too often by misogynistic ones. But what is it truly like for female players inside the local pro-gaming community - what perceptions and attitudes are girl gamers confronted with? Alex Walker spoke to a couple to find out.

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[RSOblivion]

It's interesting how it's normally picked up on the gender rather than anything else, plus combined with the narrow minded nature of public gamers it can be pretty overwhelming for female gamers.

Having 2 girls in my clan in a friendly environment has certainly helped for both them and us. My clan are naturally very tolerant to others (no that doesn't include cheaters!) no matter their gender, combine that with one of the girls being one of the best players in Hardcore Black Ops and the other being a solid MW3 player and getting good at LoL too, I think we are pretty lucky to have them.

TBH I don't think it's that male gamers are a uninviting crowd to female gamers, it's more that the competitive crowd are very defensive of their male elitism and that has become entrenched from many past sports/institutions/schooling though is slowly being eroded by the more welcoming nature of the majority than the selfishness of the minority.

[Vencha88]

Nice to get a shred of positivity in the stories. The more we show and tell people how unwelcoming the gaming community can be to anyone remotely different the more likely we'll get change.

[skitzor]

it's good to see more women getting into "hardcore" gaming. stats keep showing that a large % of women do play games, but they don't tend to be games like SC2, and WoW. a more diverse playing base is always good.

I still don't understand why more girls don't like gaming. is it part of the evolutionary differences between men and women, or is it society?

[Vencha88]

it's good to see more women getting into "hardcore" gaming. stats keep showing that a large % of women do play games, but they don't tend to be games like SC2, and WoW. a more diverse playing base is always good.

I still don't understand why more girls don't like gaming. is it part of the evolutionary differences between men and women, or is it society?

In my opinion it's primarily society. Why would girls be into something that they're never shown because nobody assumes they'd like it. And then when they try they're greeted with "Get back in the kitchen" or "**** OR GTFO".

[At0mican]

The way I see it, we don't 'need' more hardcore girl gamers than we need more male nurses. More specifically, we don't need to push for a greater gender balance if, well, the games in question aren't appealing enough to girls to want to play in the first case. For example, my wife plays Sims 3 and various puzzle games, but you'll never see her playing your typical violent and aggressive FPS or RTS. She just doesn't find those types of games appealing, although she likes making up virtual families in Sims though (practice perhaps?)

Though if she did try out some multiplayer FPS games, once identified as female she's probably get enough specific talk about her gender as to wonder why the hell people willingly subject themselves every night to such dialog from the gaming community.

[Takiah]

Great responses guys, thanks (I'm Tamikya/Takiah)

I agree with At0mican, it isn't a matter of "needing" to balance out the gender ratio's at all. In an ideal world we would ALL just be considered "gamers" rather than "boy gamers/girl gamers".

Also, games don't need specifically target either gender - it all comes down to personal preferences. I don't really find my taste in games (WoW/SWTOR/LoL) to be because of my gender - it's just my preferred play style.

I also agree that if the community were more accepting towards females who enjoy gaming then you would see more of us come forth!

Be the change you wish to see folks, it all starts with YOU! Let's change the world...one gamer at a time <3

-Tak xo

[Takiah]

Also, someone also just made a valid point that is worth mentioning that is also overlooked quite a bit:

Men are attracted to women and because the gaming scene is dominated largely by men, when a woman is discovered it generally makes them all go crazy!

[Agent_Dark]

One of the most aggressive PvP MMO players I've come across was a chick. The rage she let fly in vent was impressive lol. My point is I don't even understand the attitudes that exist towards female gamers - my personal experiences are that they're are just as big geeks as the rest of us lol.

[snex]

I still don't understand why more girls don't like gaming. is it part of the evolutionary differences between men and women, or is it society?

Relatively long and potentially sexist answer: It's a pretty horrible generalisation but girls tend to not pursue hobbies, or at the very least, anything that could be called a conventional hobby (e.g., listening to music or watching TV or reading books or basically anything any other person would do anyway).

Short answer: Girls are just different.

[skitzor]

firstly, thanks for making the effort of coming here and doing follow up posts.

Also, games don't need specifically target either gender - it all comes down to personal preferences. I don't really find my taste in games (WoW/SWTOR/LoL) to be because of my gender - it's just my preferred play style.

eh I don't know about that. lots of elements in a lot of games these days are targeted at a specific audience, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. it's just what happens in media. if a company wants to market a product to middle aged women they would use different strategies than the ones they would use targeting teenage boys.

to use one of your examples, parts of LoL have so obviously been targeted at men. the amount of near-naked female avatars that game has is actually amazing. however, this doesn't mean the game play has been targeted at a specific audience.

it's important to keep this sort of stuff in mind, as I imagine some women could be very put off by certain elements that aren't targeted at them. for example, the unnecessary sexualisation of the female avatars in LoL. and I guess that situation is a bit unfortunate.

[Collect0r]

Drama seemed to follow me wherever I went. It is always hard to mix teenage girls with teenage boys (and older men). Personalities (and hormones) clashed like there was no tomorrow! The more I played though, the more I grew and the more I learned how to deal with everything.

no that's not you. That's just wow. 10 Million drama queens.

My experience with wow was exactly the same. Nothing but freakin drama in every guild I ever joined... all I wanted to do was kill bosses and get loot. Not play days of our lives

[Takiah]

to use one of your examples, parts of LoL have so obviously been targeted at men. the amount of near-naked female avatars that game has is actually amazing. however, this doesn't mean the game play has been targeted a specific audience.

Again another extremely valid point and I suppose subconsciously I have certainly noticed this (Janna...hahaha!) that being said I'm still far more likely to play a sexy female character than a male character

I would also LOVE to see some more female targeted gaming peripherals like the http://cdn2.ubergizmo.com/wp-content/up ... mage-1.jpg (just saying )

I complete agree and hear where you are coming from though skitzor.

@Collect0r

no that's not you. That's just wow. 10 Million drama queens.

My experience with wow was exactly the same. Nothing but freakin drama in every guild I ever joined... all I wanted to do was kill bosses and get loot. Not play days of our lives

Too true my friend, too true. It always gets blamed on the girls too, AM I RIGHT?!

I also want to thank ALL of you for reading the article and taking the time to post your thoughts and opinions. I welcome them all, even if you disagree - that is okay too!

Feel free to look me up on the popular social networking sites as well (Takiah) I always love meeting and chatting with fellow gamers

I'll do my best to reply to all of your posts as well so if you have any questions, go ahead!

-Tak xo

[snex]

I would also LOVE to see some more female targeted gaming peripherals like the http://cdn2.ubergizmo.com/wp-content/up ... mage-1.jpg (just saying )

http://steelseries.com/c/bcrf-2012

They're for charity, not specifically for women. There is pink Zowie gear though.

[Takiah]

They certainly are! A breast cancer foundation no less