Video games are one of the most popular genres of entertainment. You can find children, teens, and adults who have at least played one video game in their life. With so many different types of people who play video games, you would think that there would be no gender discrimination or stereotypes about the type of people who play video games.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of stereotypes, which are mostly centered around girls that play video games. If you are a girl who plays video games, also known as a "gamer girl," you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's the type of misconceptions that say that only guys can play video games because "video games are only oriented toward guys" or "girls can only play a certain type of video games" and so on. You're probably familiar with all of these misconceptions.
And it's not just misconceptions that plague gamer girls. There are also stereotypes. Girls who play video games too often are seen as people who don't have many friends, are unattractive, and unintelligent. They are also often given titles or descriptions such as nerds.
In addition, there is a common misconception that men are better at playing video games than women. According to The Conversation, women gamers are often seen as players who aren't really interested in playing video games and rather use playing video games as a means of seeking attention. Girls who are good at playing video games are seen as hackers who cheat in the game in order to win because there is no possible way that girls can be good at playing video games. As if it's hard to admit that girls can be just as good at playing video games as guys.
What's even worse is that when a woman decides to play a video game or interact with other players, she sometimes will face discrimination or harassment from other players if she mentions what gender she is to another player. Sometimes, she may even face sexual harassment from other players.
It's hard to save up enough money to buy a console, let alone a video game. To have to face harassment and stereotypes for simply deciding to play a video game is another thing. This situation can make it very difficult, maybe even impossible, for women to enjoy playing video games. Maybe that's why whenever I decide to play a video game, I struggle to find another gamer girl to chat with or to watch a live game broadcast of them playing a video game.
Personally, I've dealt with many of these stereotypes and misconceptions myself. Growing up, I was constantly exposed to playing video games. Since I have 15 nephews and nieces, I would spend most of my time around them. Specifically, I spent a lot of time with my two nephews, one of whom is the same age as me. One of the most common activities that we would engage in was playing video games. I would play games such as Call of Duty, Left 4 Dead, Super Mario Bros, and a whole bunch of other types of video games. There was no such as thing as disliking video games for us.
As I got older, I still loved video games and still have tons of video games and consoles at my house that I continue to use to this day. Whenever I talk about video games with other people, I often get sideways looks from others. I sometimes see shocked expressions from others when I talk to guys about video games. I've even seen other players harass women when they find out their gender. I remember being accused of cheating when I would do well on certain video games.
These misconceptions and stereotypes could not be any more wrong about gamer girls, especially the stereotype regarding that guys are better at playing video games. According to The Conversation, a study was conducted with over 10,000 men and women over an anonymous server data. The research had players finish quests and kill monsters to earn experience points in Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games. The research found that the player's gender did not cause performance differences and, instead, women advanced just as fast as the players that were men. This shows that it doesn't matter what gender a player is and that both genders can both perform well in playing video games.
These stereotypes and misconceptions can cause a huge negative drawback for any girl that plays video games. They prevent girls from gaining the confidence to play video games. In the process, the gaming community loses women who may prove to be good at developing or programming video games. They also lose a potential number of players who are good at playing video games.
I know what you're thinking. What can I do about it? Well, one way that anyone who plays video games can help solve this problem is through creating a less hostile environment for women that play video games. For example, instead of staying silent when you see another player get harassed because of their gender, you need to speak up and stand up for the other player.
In addition, it's not always other guys who sometimes cut girls down for playing video games. I have seen girls cut other girls down for playing video games. Women need to come together to support one another and fight against the stereotypes regarding gamer girls. Girls can create a chat site online, for example, to chat and support one another when playing video games.
The stereotypes and misconceptions cause more harm than good and it's time that we finally put them to an end. There are so many women who just want to play video games for the same reasons why men want to play video games. I feel that, as gamers, if everyone decides that enough is enough, we will be able to encourage and allow more girls to play video games without the fear of harassment.
