Girl Gamers – Two Hands, Ten Fingers… Three Eyes
This article was written by: Sarah Brannan (FFXPrincess)
A few years ago I got a tattoo on my upper back, above and in-between my shoulder blades. Most conversations about it go like this:
Person: Nice tattoo! What is it?
Me: It’s a symbol from Final Fantasy X
Person: (blank stare) What’s that?
Me: A video game.
Person: (the look) …
I’m really starting to think that I have three eyes…
The number of women in gaming continues to grow every year. They’re not just playing SIMS or Cooking Mama either. I’ve watched a few girls rack up some serious kills against guys in Halo, tear through teams in Madden, and cut through enemies in Devil May Cry.
Why do we do it? Is it because we want attention? Because we want to compete against guys? No. It’s simply because we enjoy playing video games, just like you do. For me, I love having something to do instead of sitting in front of the TV like a zombie. To have to think about what you’re doing and also enjoy doing it at the same time. In my spare time you will almost always find me in the game room at our house.
Want another female opinion? A great group of girls to check out are the Frag Dolls. This group was put together by Ubisoft to represent their video games and to promote females in gaming. Why do they call themselves “Girl” gamers and not just Gamers? On their website they say, “We are gamers, but we’re also girls. It doesn’t really matter whether “girl” is placed before gamer or not. We’re just here to play and compete. We’re not going to hide the fact that we’re girls, just like guys aren’t going to hide the fact that they’re guys.” The Frag Dolls have been around for about 5 years strong and compete often in the world of professional gaming. There’s even a chance that you saw Valkyrie (Amy) on the show WCG Ultimate Gamer 2009. She had a hand in creating another fantastic group as well, Pandora’s Mighty Soldiers (PMS Clan).
Females of all ages love playing video games. A friend of mine at work has a little girl who is around the age of 5 that loves to sit and play video games with him. Now, she doesn’t always use the controller herself, but just sitting and watching Daddy is just as fun (especially when you get to tell him what to do!). Then there is Kristina (age 11), who also loves to play video games, and argues with her brother over who gets time with what system. Let’s not forget my mother (can’t give you her age!). Despite the fact that she normally has no clue what she’s doing in the game, she has a great time doing it!
There is an increase in women working in the gaming industry as well. It’s always good to hear the voice of a female when I call up to the local video game store. Women just aren’t in the stores though, they’re starting to be more prominent in both designing and programming of the games as well. Hopefully that will get us out even more great games with men and women working together.
So, here comes the ultimate question. Who’s better, girl gamers or guy gamers? My answer? I think they’re both equally talented. Neither one is better or deserves more credit than the other. Will there always be competition? Definitely. But, isn’t it more fun that way?
ABOUT THIS AUTHOR
How about female gamer, or woman gamer?
Girl gamer makes it sound like you are trying to sell to young boys.
A product is a product and a hobby is a hobby. Until people can get passed the idea that it really doesn’t matter what sex you are to enjoy something gaming will be stuck in the dark ages.
Just going by what most female gamers will call themselves. Most, not all.
Thanks for the comment.
You tell ‘em, GIRL!
Yes, Orange Monkey, I said girl. Female, Woman, Chick, Babe, Broad, B*tch or Girl it’s just a term to specify gender. So relax and enjoy gaming for the pure fun of it.
But how old is the average gamer? Would that average aged female person be happy being called a girl?
If it’s all about the fun of gaming then surely titles are irrelevant?
My only thought on this really is that, until labels are thrown out the window you might as well write something along the lines of.
“Yes I’m a girl film geek. So what of it?” Nobody says that because it isn’t an issue. Until people get their heads around the concept that gaming is just a hobby and not some MALE DOMAIN it’s going to be the, quite patronising, image of the pink controller.
I’m 34 years old and have no problem being called a girl. I’m confident enough with who I am that I don’t feel the need to compete with men, but I would like to be considered equal. But if you wanna get all serious about not making distinction between whether someone is male or female then do it all the way. Cut your hair short, wear mens clothing, loose the make-up, trim your nails and start grabbing your crotch. I’m a female and damn proud of it. I have long hair, get manicures & pedicures, work on my car, cook dinner, clean house, raise children, wear skirts, have an unending collection of shoes (most with 3 or more inch heels) and play vidoe games. Why shouldn’t I be allowed to be both a girl and a gamer instead of having to fit in the one little “gamer” box. I like bring a “girl”.