You know, I think we're interpreting this wrong.
Most guys act totally different around girls. They pretend to act interested, and say things they normally wouldn't, in hopes that something might happen afterward.
When playing multiplayer games online, such as CoD or WoW, that hope is lost. If a girl is acting girly, she is going to be ignored, because there's no reason for a guy to pay attention.
And that's generally the best case scenario. I always hate using the chat, because most gamers are total idiots and whenever there's a girl, the game pretty much ends and turns into a sexist flamewar. "Why aren't you in the kitchen?" they say.
So basically, girls play video games. But, girls are not allowed to act like girls when playing video games, and therefore lose their status as girls.
Here's something I found, I think it explains it a little better.
[quote]
Girl gamers in the mediaI saw a story on the news recently about a young female gamer (16 or 17 years old, I’d guess) who had suffered ‘serious verbal abuse’ whilst playing a video game online. The story showed the girl looking sad and then cut to feminists talking about the ‘disgusting male-orientated culture’ of video games. I have to admit that the piece bothered me a little; it’s not that I think that it’s okay for someone to be verbally abused when they’re trying to have a bit of fun and play video games, it’s just that I don’t understand why she allowed herself to be ‘verbally abused’.
That sounds really harsh but I don’t mean anything like what you’re thinking, and I hope you’ll read to the end of the paragraph before closing this page in disgust:
The girl was playing a major console first-person-shooter online with a bunch of random people and was using a headset-microphone. Now I’m no guru when it comes to online FPS’s but I do know one thing: The average age of 99% of online shooter players is 14 years old (easy to remember because it’s the same as their IQ). Which is why, when I play Halo: Reach online I don’t bother attaching a microphone unless I’m playing with a group of friends. If I do switch to team chat (yeah right) I expect to hear 14 year olds screaming about whatever is going through their minds.
I don’t understand how anything about that story deserved to be on the news – someone was abused via a relatively anonymous online medium – none of it is shocking. It did get me thinking about girl gamers, though.
The thing is; rare as they may be, I’ve met girl gamers. I’m not talking about girls who play a few casual games or maybe a bit of Halo now and then; I’m talking about girls who have played a diverse list of games over multiple consoles and who can hold their own in the midst of the heated argument with the most pedantic of nerds. I’m talking about hardcore gamers who happen to be female. Unfortunately, these women tend to have a hard time convincing people that they are legitimate gamers and it, understandably, really upsets them.
Why female gamers hit a wallGamers are basically big children – If that statement offends you then pretend I said ‘all gamers but you are basically big children’ and hopefully we can avoid the tantrum.
We have entitlement issues – See complaints about DRM, ‘criminal under-development’ and, if you really want to be disgusted, check out The Pirate Bay’s joke of a film; Steal This Movie.
In fact; the average ‘hardcore’ gamer is the 14 year old without a mind/mouth filter that I mentioned earlier – ninety nine out of every hundred have nothing to say beyond squeaking out insults and trash-talk to other saddos (pronounced SAD-OHS) on public chat channels. The 1% of gamers who are also fully-formed human beings are used to being judged as part of their crowd.
When I tell someone that I’m a gamer I’m trying to communicate that I like to play video games, but more often than not people hear “I’m a sweaty nerd with social issues”.
I don’t like it but I can’t blame them – I do the exact same thing to girl gamers.
When you say you’re a girl gamer you’re trying to communicate that you like to play video games, but more often than not I hear something else entirely. Because there’s another type of girl out there who calls herself a gamer; one who has no real interest in video games, but is only really looking for easy attention. These girls exploit a very common desire amongst gamers; a desire to meet girls who like video games.
I’m not going to say if this is better or worse than the ninety-nine per cent of belligerent male gamers because I don’t want to invite a comparison – I’m not interesting in pointing fingers: I’m trying to illustrate that, just like how ‘real’ gamers get used to being treated like children, girl gamers should prepare for a bit of cynicism when they talk about their hobby. I don’t mean to imply that gamers aren’t to blame because there are more douchebags than embarrassing gamertags in the world of online gaming.
The path to acceptanceSomewhere along the line there has been a miscommunication. I mentioned earlier that there are girls who play gamers for attention – think for a second about what makes that possible: boys like girls & girls like boys and people like people with similar hobbies. Every single serious male gamer has, at some point, wished they could meet a girl they could play video games with. It stands to reason that gamers would accept girls into their hobby with open arms.
I think gamers need to chill out a bit and accept the violent ‘mainstreaming’ of our hobby. It’s time to realise that the days of hearing someone say “I’m a gamer” and immediately knowing that you’ll be like-minded are long gone. It’s sad, but I think the billions of dollars pumped into the video game industry are worth the trade-off.
Similarly, girl gamers need to get into the culture and champion their cause, not with words, but with some damn good gaming: It’s going to be hard for someone to scoff at your abilities when you’ve just beaten them senseless.
And for God’s sake, if someone says something abusive to you online; don’t call the media – either turn off team chat or switch on your microphone and threaten to violate their eye-sockets.
Do you think online gamers need to make room for a more female-friendly enviroment? Or are you of the opinion that should girl gamers should suck it up and embrace the culture? Leave a comment below to voice your opinion.
Read more at
http://www.rantgaming.com/2012/08/13/gi ... WLwhDwM.99[/quote]
Posted: November 11th, 2012, 3:09 pm
Well if girls don't play video games, then I must be a real man if I've sat infront of my TV playing Fable for 6 hours straight, non-stop! 
I always thought most girls played video games tbh lol, I started when I was about 7 years old. I'm not exactly a "gamer girl" and there are only certain ones that I really enjoy, but that's beside the point x] 