“YOU play video games?!”
I shook my head as my friend asked this of another friend of mine; a female friend. Why, I wondered at the time, does this confuse him? True, I too have not seen many female gamers (and NO, it’s NOT because I don’t know any girls. I’m NOT some female-friendless creepy guy. Good, I’ve got that cleared up…), but I’m not that shocked when I see one.
Then I found out that this friend of mine did not think the girl should play games. Well, in his defense, I guess it wasn’t so much that she shouldn’t play; it’s more that he doubted that she could. Wow, did he ever pay for it. She beat him consistently in a little tournament of Super Smash Bros. I had later that week. I can tell you he was embarrassed and annoyed.
Yet he didn’t stop being prejudice. That was when I realized how stupid and stubborn he was. He just, for one reason or another, couldn’t accept being beaten by a girl I guess. Pathetic really, but true. He just made up excuses like, “She was good at that one game!” or “She just an abnormality.”
And this, for some reason, seems to be a very big chunk of male gamers’ opinions on the matter. Why? Well, I think I may have a few reason, being a guy and all myself.
First of all is probably the most obvious reason: the fact that girl gamers are female. These guys still believe in the equality of males and females, but deep down, they probably still feel that they are better then females, at least at games, since games are stereotyped as a “guy” thing. So when a girl comes along and even tries to play a game (whether or not she’s good at it), there will be some guys that feel that she has no right intruding on what they consider to be “male” territory. These guys that think this way are merely in denial, and would rather stay in their own little world.
And then there’s the other obvious one: the minority issue. Because there is a definite minority of girls that play video games, many guys just seem to associate the minority with worse skills. Maybe some think that girls don’t play video games because they aren’t good at them, and the few that do play are just the more persistent ones. I think part of the problem may be that they may have played against one girl and won, and since then hasn’t played against any other girls because of the minority, so they therefore think females are worse. What I’m getting at is that because there are fewer female gamers, there is less of a pool of female gamers, so male gamers may only play with several female gamers ever, and therefore have a much smaller spectrum of the skills of female gamers.
Another likely reason is that girls playing video games may destroy some guy’s perception of what females are. They may have a set idea that they have used to stereotype females, so when a female comes along that destroys that view, they will try to force that female to repent their ways, as to keep their narrow little idea in their head correct. They may think of females a objects of beauty, or some other stereotype, so when they see a girl that does not fit that, they may get mad or degrading as they look down upon the female that does not fit their idea of a perfect female. Sad? Yes. True? Quite possibly.
My conclusion? It is different for every guy, as some may not want girls playing video games for a personal reason, while others just feel it is not a girl’s place to be a gamer. But generally, it just seems to be the guy’s insecurity that is forcing him to not accept female gamers, as they feel that it is just not a female’s place.
And when a female gamer faces one of these male gamers, they have no way to win. If they aren’t as good as the male gamer, the guy will taunt and tell her to stop wasting her time. If she’s better than the guy, the guy will tell her that she’s a serious tomboy, or something much worse. So when facing these types of idiotic guys, there is no real way for a female to beat them. My suggestion to female gamers is to do one of two things: if you find a guy that has this view, just ignore him and don’t let what he says get to you. Don’t try to change his view. It won’t work. All you will be doing is wasting your time on a lost cause. And if you want to keep playing against these types of guys, then just keep your head up high, and beat them. Even if it doesn’t change them, I’ll bet it’ll make you feel a whole lot better.
But remember girls, not all guys are like these dumb ones that can’t accept change. There are many of us that welcome any gamer, whether they are male or female, with open arms. Personally, I would love to know more female gamers and for more females to play video games! It would give me more people to talk and play video games with. And if I’m playing a multiplayer game in versus mode and a girl beats me?
I’ll be happy to know that I’ve been beaten by someone that has the same interest in video games, and that I’ll probably be able to become good friends with.
One last point I'd like to put in just before I close off here is is that I have heard many female gamers be just a stereotypical and prejudiced. "I'm a girl gamer, and I can beat any guy!" Is a statement I have heard numerous times. This really is just as bad as what some guys say. So just keep this in mind girls, guys like me won't be quite as understanding if you go right back and do the same thing.
