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[Deleted member 125677]

Does not provoke me at all. It's not a secret that the vast majority of people who are above interested in and spend lots of time playing video games are males, and it's a great thing that more girls are discovering/enjoying the medium and being vocal in doing so.

I think it'll eventually lead to a healthier community and better games.

 

[Manic Mouse]

I don't understand why female gamers are considered a rarity. Goddamn everyone plays video games.

Technically this is true.

But the people that play the kind of games we talk about here on GAF, or buy consoles/gaming PCs, are overwhelmingly male.

So, in terms of AAA games or console and gaming PC communities, they are indeed a rarity.

In my university course my 280 person year is 66% female, and technically all of them "play games" since they own smart phones and dabble in stuff like Candy Crush. But maybe 2 of them (if even) own a console or actually buy games. There is a reason most console/PC and non-F2P games are targeted at males, don't you think the companies that make them have the demographic data to know who their audience are?

It is funny that in such a "sexist" medium like videogames girls would try to draw attention to themselves for their gender. But my experience, with games like WoW, is that if you identify yourself as a female you get showered with (positive) attention, loot and gold. Still sexist I guess, just positive sexism.

 

[ponpo]

Have any of you Girl/GrandmaGamers™ experienced this stuff in real life or is it all just online stupidity?

I see countless girls in arcades like every second day and I can't imagine anyone saying anything to them. No one even looks at them any different. Some 15 year old girl just beat me by like 4x the score in Sound Voltex 2 twenty minutes ago. Stupid girl gamers (._. )

 

[maomaoIYP]

All these terms are stupid.
I'm not defined by my hobbies, and I couldn't care less if you were man or woman playing a game.

 

[Manic Mouse]

Even recently a guy I grew up with discovered I liked games and now he and his friend are all puppy eyeing me like I'm some geeky goddess when really I ain't all that special. Dudes act like it's just so bizarre for girls to like games.

Because it is. Only one of my friends has a girlfriend who plays games and he is living the dream. The rest of us have girlfriends who think our hobby is stupid and a waste of both money and time.

If those boys had met lots of girls who liked games, as you do, then they wouldn't be acting that way. I often wonder, when people claim girls like games, where all these girls are hiding. They sure aren't on message boards, in my university or any of my female friends.

They truly are the white whale of the gaming world. Apparently massive, yet nowhere to be seen...

 

[KePoW]

Have any of you Girl/GrandmaGamers™ experienced this stuff in real life or is it all just online stupidity?

I see countless girls in arcades like every second day and I can't imagine anyone saying anything to them. No one even looks at them any different. Some 15 year old girl just beat me by like 4x the score in Sound Voltex 2 twenty minutes ago. Stupid girl gamers (._. )

What country are you in? Doesn't sound like America, because there are no arcades here anymore.

So if you're in a different country, that might be a different culture.

What I CAN tell you is that when arcades were popular in America in the 1980s, it was nowhere near 50% female players. I spent a lot of time in many different arcades during that decade.

 

[ponpo]

What country are you in? Doesn't sound like America, because there are no arcades here anymore.

So if you're in a different country, that might be a different culture.

What I CAN tell you is that when arcades were popular in America in the 1980s, it was nowhere near 50% female players. I spent a lot of time in many different arcades during that decade.

Japan, but I just meant in real life in general, not necessarily at arcades. At some sort of gaming event or tournament or whatever.

Though specifically about arcades, I can't imagine anyone being remotely hostile to a girl playing anything. It's usually the complete opposite. Funny that online is completely different.
"Oh, you're pretty good" or "You play this too? Neat." turns into "bak 2 tha kitchen u fukkn bitch"

 

[Laughing Banana]

Attention seeking.

Trying to get views from horny males.

Yup.

Show some boobs to get an easy million followers! It's really sad.

To get views from basement dwelling nerds/pre teens who want to see chicks.

+ getting an army of horny horribly underfucked males (who will never get a bite) who do everything for her ingame.

Never fails to illicit a cringe. Thankfully it seems like we are past the peak of the 'gurl gamer' as a way to gain attention.

"Please don't treat me differently, but I am going to point out that I'm different."

You play games. It's OK. Lots of people do.

There's no point in distinguishing yourself as a male or female.

Whenever I'm reading something and it uses the term "Female ____" I know it's probably going to be dreck.

For example, if a character profile states "FEMALE WARRIOR" I just kind of... walk away.

Holy shit that bans from the 1st page. It feels like Dragona is coming back :O

As for the term itself, meh, girl gamer, boy gamer, they all gamers to me, not making any difference whatsoever.

 

[Karkador]

Because it is. Only one of my friends has a girlfriend who plays games and he is living the dream. The rest of us have girlfriends who think our hobby is stupid and a waste of both money and time.

If those boys had met lots of girls who liked games, as you do, then they wouldn't be acting that way. I often wonder, when people claim girls like games, where all these girls are hiding. They sure aren't on message boards, in my university or any of my female friends.

They truly are the white whale of the gaming world. Apparently massive, yet nowhere to be seen...

it's as if there wasn't an entire thread preceding this response where a bunch of girls posted. on this very forum. white whales! white whales everywhere!

 

[Wazzy]

Because it is. Only one of my friends has a girlfriend who plays games and he is living the dream. The rest of us have girlfriends who think our hobby is stupid and a waste of both money and time.

If those boys had met lots of girls who liked games, as you do, then they wouldn't be acting that way. I often wonder, when people claim girls like games, where all these girls are hiding. They sure aren't on message boards, in my university or any of my female friends.

They truly are the white whale of the gaming world. Apparently massive, yet nowhere to be seen...

Weird because I meet other girls who play games all the time.

 

[shadowkat]

Because it is. Only one of my friends has a girlfriend who plays games and he is living the dream. The rest of us have girlfriends who think our hobby is stupid and a waste of both money and time.

If those boys had met lots of girls who liked games, as you do, then they wouldn't be acting that way. I often wonder, when people claim girls like games, where all these girls are hiding. They sure aren't on message boards, in my university or any of my female friends.

They truly are the white whale of the gaming world. Apparently massive, yet nowhere to be seen...

Funny, because there were quite a few females who posted in this very thread.

 

[Devolution]

Here's a clue: maybe a lot of girl gamers are actually playing games instead of posting on forums complaining about them all night and day.

 

[Aquamarine]

Because it is. Only one of my friends has a girlfriend who plays games and he is living the dream. The rest of us have girlfriends who think our hobby is stupid and a waste of both money and time.

If those boys had met lots of girls who liked games, as you do, then they wouldn't be acting that way. I often wonder, when people claim girls like games, where all these girls are hiding. They sure aren't on message boards, in my university or any of my female friends.

They truly are the white whale of the gaming world. Apparently massive, yet nowhere to be seen...

What? But I'm right here. A real life girl. On a hardcore message board. Discussing commentary with fellow NeoGAFians.

 

[H.Protagonist]

Have any of you Girl/GrandmaGamers™ experienced this stuff in real life or is it all just online stupidity?

I see countless girls in arcades like every second day and I can't imagine anyone saying anything to them. No one even looks at them any different. Some 15 year old girl just beat me by like 4x the score in Sound Voltex 2 twenty minutes ago. Stupid girl gamers (._. )

The real life variety isn't as nasty as online tends to be, but the assumption that you know jack all about games or only play FB stuff or have just been hired to talk about games is pervasive, especially working at expos.

Because it is. Only one of my friends has a girlfriend who plays games and he is living the dream. The rest of us have girlfriends who think our hobby is stupid and a waste of both money and time.

If those boys had met lots of girls who liked games, as you do, then they wouldn't be acting that way. I often wonder, when people claim girls like games, where all these girls are hiding. They sure aren't on message boards, in my university or any of my female friends.

They truly are the white whale of the gaming world. Apparently massive, yet nowhere to be seen...

You must be blind or unlucky or ignoring everyone around you.

 

[shadowkat]

What? But I'm right here. A real life girl. On a hardcore message board. Discussing commentary with fellow NeoGAFfians.

Shhhhh. We don't exist.

 

[Screaming Meat]

What? But I'm right here. A real life girl. On a hardcore message board. Discussing commentary with fellow NeoGAFfians.

.

 

[zeldablue]

What country are you in? Doesn't sound like America, because there are no arcades here anymore.

So if you're in a different country, that might be a different culture.

What I CAN tell you is that when arcades were popular in America in the 1980s, it was nowhere near 50% female players. I spent a lot of time in many different arcades during that decade.

Really?

Do you mean women or girls? Because girls are much more expected to "grow out of games." There were plenty of girls at the arcades, but once they hit a certain age group they were socially expected to drop that stuff, unlike men.

They truly are the white whale of the gaming world. Apparently massive, yet nowhere to be seen...

I think a lot of us are on Tumblr. Where they fangirl about everything.

 

[Deap92x]

I dont like the term gamer at all, and when a girl says "gamer girl" is just annoying. Its like if i make a video and name it "gamer guy"

 

[ponpo]

Really?

Do you mean women or girls? Because girls are much more expected to "grow out of games." There were plenty of girls at the arcades, but once they hit a certain age group they were socially expected to drop that stuff, unlike men.

Japanese arcades again yet again confirmed gaming utopia.

 

[Laughing Banana]

I am actually surprised by the amount of people here not wanting to be called "gamer", as if the term itself synonymous to something embarrassing/disgusting. Now why would anyone thinking that way unless they are insecure about themselves and their hobbies?

 

[Eusis]

I am actually surprised by the amount of people here not wanting to be called "gamer", as if the term itself synonymous to something embarrassing/disgusting. Now why would anyone thinking that way unless they are insecure about themselves and their hobbies?

We probably think of things like this.

 

[Log4Girlz]

I think he called us fat too.

Spoiler

The whale thing along with massive, I just couldn't resist.

If anyone is comparable to a white whale, its me.

 

[G-Fex]

I am actually surprised by the amount of people here not wanting to be called "gamer", as if the term itself synonymous to something embarrassing/disgusting. Now why would anyone thinking that way unless they are insecure about themselves and their hobbies?

to me it's just a label that I really don't like at all. like "Geek"

Terrible label

 

[Arozay]

I hope you have something to actually contribute besides that.

Settle down, I already posted my opinion on the matter earlier.

 

[Laughing Banana]

We probably think of things like this.

to me it's just a label that I really don't like at all. like "Geek"

Terrible label

That's just it though: although there are indeed some gamers that show less than ideal behavior---but then again, what hobbies don't? There are many perfectly rational, capable, good-natured, highly successful, and -insert any other positive word in here- people that play games, so why should we be ashamed to be called gamers?

Such a silly, coming-from-total-insecurity feeling. In fact, not acting ashamed by it would do wonders to dispel all the negative connotations that are inflicted to the term gamer itself.

I've seen arguments that it's not 'elite' enough anymore because anyone can be a gamer now so the term has lost its meaning, or something.

That's bloody ridiculous, hahaha.

 

[Yakkue]

You must be blind or unlucky or ignoring everyone around you.

I think that's just a matter of different environments.
When I grew up I only knew one other girl who was somewhat into video games (because I introduced them to her), but the boys didn't seem to be into gaming either (except for pokemon, maybe). I quickly learned that it's easier not to tell anybody that I'm into games when I'm asked about my hobbies, because the reactions I got just weren't worth it. I'd rather talk about my favourite books than explain again and again that I'm not a serial-killer in the making.
Nowadays those kind of reactions have thankfully decreased and most people I meet seem to be more accepting of gaming, and I found more people who share this hobby with me once I entered university.

 

[Eusis]

That's just it though: although there are indeed some gamers that show less than ideal behavior---but then again, what hobbies don't? There are many perfectly rational, capable, good-natured, highly successful, and -insert any other positive word in here- people that play games, so why should we be ashamed to be called gamers?

Such a silly, coming-from-total-insecurity feeling. In fact, not acting ashamed by it would do wonders to dispel all the negative connotations that are inflicted to the term gamer itself.

Yeah, I think it's kind of on and off for me and there's worse in other interests. Certainly you see pictures of some guys going around with body pillows (nevermind the fact those exist in the first place) and you might be tempted to distance yourself from anime, hahaha.

Still, some of the kind of behavior that we've seen on this topic is shameful, but then you'll run into this in a lot of other areas like automobiles, so that in and of itself just needs to be ignored.

That's bloody ridiculous, hahaha.

Yeah, some sort of embarrassment from association is fully understandable, but that... those guys are the kinds of clowns most of us don't want to associate with, so it's probably better they weed themselves out.

I think that's just a matter of different environments.
When I grew up I only knew one other girl who was somewhat into video games (because I introduced them to her), but the boys didn't seem to be into gaming either (except for pokemon, maybe). I quickly learned that it's easier not to tell anybody that I'm into games when I'm asked about my hobbies, because the reactions I got just weren't worth it. I'd rather talk about my favourite books than explain again and again that I'm not a serial-killer in the making.
Nowadays those kind of reactions have thankfully decreased and most people I meet seem to be more accepting of gaming, and I found more people who share this hobby with me once I entered university.

No she means literally, there's plenty of women posting in this thread.

 

[KePoW]

Really?

Do you mean women or girls? Because girls are much more expected to "grow out of games." There were plenty of girls at the arcades, but once they hit a certain age group they were socially expected to drop that stuff, unlike men.

I mean females of any age. I definitely did not see many in the arcades during the 80s.

I saw a few, but usually they seemed to be relatives of a guy and just watching while waiting for their parents to come back from shopping. Certainly wasn't many of them playing. And it was nowhere near half & half.

Maybe it depends where you're located? I grew up in Texas, and the school district I'm from is super conservative and very religious, and was literally 98+% white. Girls where I'm from didn't really play video games back then.

 

[sploatee]

lots of sincere and sensible stuff.

Your openheartedness is inspiring.

ps great paintings.

 

[fedexpeon]

I want to create a show with a hired female model pretending to play games on live stream, but the one that actually controlling the game is another person instead.
You know, like the music industry with lips-syncing.
Since you only see her face, and her reading off of her computer screen for live commentaries, it would look real enough to the viewers.
The show would add in some quirky and next-door shy girl personality to the model, and then having her dress up in cosplay outfit like LoL characters while playing LoL...raking in that LoL/Anime fanbase all in one go as well.
Dang, the show could be in the top 10 on Twitch/YT easily within months.

Hmm, this sounds so good on paper that I really should hit craiglist to hire a model and see if this experiment would work lol.
It would be a great social experiment just to see which demographic sub/view the show.

 

[Zeyphersan]

I am actually surprised by the amount of people here not wanting to be called "gamer", as if the term itself synonymous to something embarrassing/disgusting. Now why would anyone thinking that way unless they are insecure about themselves and their hobbies?

It's possible to be very invested in a hobby while not liking the stigma attached to it. And yes, there is one whether I or anyone else wants there to be. It comes down to the individual person whether or not they are bothered by this.

Even beyond that, I don't like the label of "gamer" for a couple reasons. First, people use it to be assholes, like "You're not a real gamer!" which irritates me to no end, and the further I can distance myself from those people the better. Second, no other media has a self-attached label to it like "gamer". "Film buff" or "movie snob" aren't really comparable because it's not a single word, I can be a "snob" about anything. I can be a food snob, television snob, book snob, etc. But games have the only single word label, which annoys me, and only reinforces both the negative stigma and the assholes who use it like an exclusive club.

Basically, "gamer" to me is the negative parts of the culture that I don't like. Not being a part of that, but still being really into games, is important to me.

 

[Trent Strong]

The term 'Gamer' in general just annoys me. You don't see other medium users labeling themselves. What do we call someone who watches movies? Movier?

I'm a TVer.

 

[Wazzy]

Settle down, I already posted my opinion on the matter earlier.

Yeah but your post about the bans was unnecessary.

If you're concerned about them, pm a mod and discuss it with them.

I think that's just a matter of different environments.
When I grew up I only knew one other girl who was somewhat into video games (because I introduced them to her), but the boys didn't seem to be into gaming either (except for pokemon, maybe). I quickly learned that it's easier not to tell anybody that I'm into games when I'm asked about my hobbies, because the reactions I got just weren't worth it. I'd rather talk about my favourite books than explain again and again that I'm not a serial-killer in the making.
Nowadays those kind of reactions have thankfully decreased and most people I meet seem to be more accepting of gaming, and I found more people who share this hobby with me once I entered university.

It can't be that when there's multiple women arguing in this thread which he would have to completely ignore.

 

[G-Fex]

It's possible to be very invested in a hobby while not liking the stigma attached to it. And yes, there is one whether I or anyone else wants there to be. It comes down to the individual person whether or not they are bothered by this.

Even beyond that, I don't like the label of "gamer" for a couple reasons. First, people use it to be assholes, like "You're not a real gamer!" which bugs me to no end, and the further I can distance myself from those people the better. Second, no other media has a self-attached label to it like "gamer". "Film buff" or "movie snob" aren't really comparable because it's not a single word, I can be a "snob" about anything. I can be a food snob, television snob, book snob, etc. But games have the only single word label, which bugs me, and only reinforces both the negative stigma and the assholes who use it like an exclusive club.

Basically, "gamer" to me is the negative parts of the culture that I don't like. Not being a part of that, but still being really into games, is important.

I can very well agree to this.

I despise self entitled extreme hardcore of the hardcore. It's very annoying -_-

 

[Eusis]

I'm a TVer.

TV viewer I think.

But then we got with TV viewer, movie goer... game player? Yeah sure let's go with that they even named a magazine that once upon a time.

 

[Dark Schala]

They sure aren't on message boards, in my university or any of my female friends.

Perhaps before posting, you should read the thread because there are many women posting in it, two moderators included. Additionally, what may apply to you and your friends may not be extrapolated to the rest of the population or environment.

During some of the game nights we had in undergrad, we had a lot of girls coming to them. That university focused very much on the arts and humanities, so it isn't necessarily something that is limited to females in STEM courses. I made a few (female) friends in my linguistics and chemistry courses and the game nights because of a common interest in games. Of course, there was one occasion where I pulled out a DS and a few guys were surprised I played games at all, but at the same time, there were other guys who simply treated it as a normal occurrence.

By contrast, I currently attend a school that focuses on STEM professions for graduate studies, and many of the girls play games, regardless of genre. It's absolutely fascinating how some people are incredibly quick to dismiss people who play mobile or browser games (even if they know those games in-depth and could probably write their own FAQs for them if provoked), and decide to generalize them as people who simply don't know any better to pick up a console or PC game to play it, when they probably do pick up traditional games. In one of my health policy classes, I see a few girls playing Minecraft or playing whatever game they got from Steam. They don't outright say that they play video games, but I do see them doing it. No one has to be forced to say that they are a girl and that they play video games. Why should they? It's just a hobby to them, much like it's a hobby to any individual of any gender.

So essentially what I'm saying is, perhaps look for a broader scope or be a little more attentive on the message board that you are posting on.

 

[Volimar]

^^^^^Cumberbatcher


My impression is that a female gamer is taking pride in taking part in a pastime dominated by males in many genres.

The hate that girls get just for saying they are girls is ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as the hate they get for saying they're gamers.

 

[Trent Strong]

TV viewer I think.

But then we got with TV viewer, movie goer... game player? Yeah sure let's go with that they even named a magazine that once upon a time.

I don't think anyone would label themselves or define themselves as a TV viewer though. I just find it odd that if someone plays video games the "gamer" label gets attached so easily.

 

[KePoW]

I honestly don't understand the problem with calling someone who enjoys playing video games a gamer.

'So, what do you guys do for fun?'
'I really like basketball.'
'I'm more of a skateboarder, really.'
'Snowboarder here!'
'I'm a huge reader, I love a good book.'
'Dancer. Loving dancing.'
'I'm a gamer myself.'

Why is gamer bad when it's literally just describing one of your favorite hobbies?

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the term gamer.

I laugh at people on GAF who get offended by it... that's being way over-sensitive about a harmless term. It's an easy and short word to say, and rolls off the tongue well and is a good description. What the hell is wrong with that??

 

[Zeyphersan]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the term gamer.

I laugh at people on GAF who get offended by it... that's being way over-sensitive about a harmless term. It's an easy and short word to say, and rolls off the tongue well and is a good description. What the hell is wrong with that??

Because the same people who call themselves gamers are the ones getting banned in this very thread for the things they've been saying/believe, and the further I can get away from that association the better

 

[KePoW]

Because the same people who call themselves gamers are the ones getting banned in this very thread for the things they've been saying/believe, and the further I can get away from that association the better

You do realize that there's a lot more gamers here on GAF who have not gotten banned, right?

 

[CoLaN]

I see a lot of women playing videogames, both around me and online. In uncharted 2 multiplayer almost every game had one or more women on the mic.

On Twitch (the main videogame streaming site), also several people claim how "women watching twitch are so rare"... but the people chatting are a minimal percentage compared to the number of viewers, and tons of nicknames are gender neutral, so you dont really know.

Also, you cant really use internet forums as a way to see how many women like videogames, because people writing on internet boards are a minority, a lot of people only read the forums, and you cant really tell the gender of anyone since so many names are gender neutral.

Claiming that women that play/like videogames are extremely rare strikes me as being out of reality nowadays.

As for the term "girl gamer" i just dont like it, mostly because it doesnt make sense.

 

[Wazzy]

Because the same people who call themselves gamers are the ones getting banned in this very thread for the things they've been saying/believe, and the further I can get away from that association the better

But those posters were banned for their generalizations of girl gamers, not because they themselves are gamers.

 

[Eusis]

I don't think anyone would label themselves or define themselves as a TV viewer though. I just find it odd that if someone plays video games the "gamer" label gets attached so easily.

It probably should matter about as much admittedly: It's a thing you do, maybe you do it a lot, but it really does only matter as much as being a TV viewer, reader, whatever. Though given how reading can be overlooked these days people do hoist that with pride, so it's probably fundamentally the same thing here when you care enough to dig deeper than CoD (and if you're dedicated to just one game like CoD it's probably akin to saying you're a snowboarder or something anyway, like you're a specific sports player.)

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the term gamer.

I laugh at people on GAF who get offended by it... that's being way over-sensitive about a harmless term. It's an easy and short word to say, and rolls off the tongue well and is a good description. What the hell is wrong with that??

I don't know if any of us are really being OFFENDED, it's probably more some level of embarrassment seeing what some of the other people do while waving that card around.

 

[figadapaura]

If there are a need to identify as a GIRL gamer, then it means that all those girls see the term GAMER as male only.... so the problem is not using "girl gamer", is the idea that "gamer" is male only

This is basically the gist of it, which makes me sad.

My only problem with the term is that every time I see a stream with gamer girl/girl gamer in the title I cringe just thinking about the kind of comments such a title induces. I never see people telling male streamers to get their dick out. I can't imagine these women/girls are doing it in the hopes of getting messages like that. (I'm sure there is a minority that are, but they're not streams I've watched)

 

[Dusk Golem]

On Twitch (the main videogame streaming site), also several people claim how "women watching twitch are so rare"... but the people chatting are a minimal percentage compared to the number of viewers, and tons of nicknames are gender neutral, so you dont really know.

Claiming that women that play/like videogames are extremely rare strikes me as being out of reality nowadays.

It's how I see it, I don't stream on twitch but I'm very social in my streams and have come to know a lot of regulars and most of them are female. Which isn't surprising as I have a larger viewership of females who watch stuff on my YouTube side than male.

And do not take this as a way to say that less girls play games, as that's not what I'm getting at in the slightest, but more to say that women are just as interested in games as guys, but the reason they may be less social in certain places like Twitch might come to feeling less welcome? I'm mainly saying this as I knew a few girls who used to watch the stream who passed themselves off as boys originally on stream until they got more for a feel of how I handle streams, and when I asked curiously about this, their response was usually either it was just easier on most other things to pass as a boy than to be a girl, or that they felt gender-neutral.

Just my two-bits to something I thought I could comment on. On opinion on the overall topic, I think girl gamer has gained sort of a reputation as a derogatory status, which I think is incredibly stupid. Though it can be argued gamer is in many ways the same. I'm of the mind there needs to be more awareness that people are people. While there are differences in gender obviously, gender is less different than so many people make it out to be thanks to gender-roles and stereotypes and media. I think when people try to group people together less and realize individuality is the most important thing, we'll be a lot better off, but sadly still far-off from that as a whole.

 

[H.Protagonist]

Settle down, I already posted my opinion on the matter earlier.

Some posters just seem more preoccupied with the bans than actually saying much about the topic. I don't come on the Gaming side often, but this tends be a trend in girl threads in OT as if the carnage is because of the mere association with women-related topics rather than the nature of what those banned are posting. It's noticeable, that's all.

I think that's just a matter of different environments.
When I grew up I only knew one other girl who was somewhat into video games (because I introduced them to her), but the boys didn't seem to be into gaming either (except for pokemon, maybe). I quickly learned that it's easier not to tell anybody that I'm into games when I'm asked about my hobbies, because the reactions I got just weren't worth it. I'd rather talk about my favourite books than explain again and again that I'm not a serial-killer in the making.
Nowadays those kind of reactions have thankfully decreased and most people I meet seem to be more accepting of gaming, and I found more people who share this hobby with me once I entered university.

It's as Eusis said. There have been lots of women posting in here, so it was kind of like... OK...

I do agree that women are far more open about talking about gaming and having it as a hobby. That just means that there are more open serial killers in the making, though.

 

[Dusk Golem]

Speaking of twitch, I've streamed before but only for friends. I have this one friend though, she streams, only for friends, and she's fucking hilarious, it's so much fun to watch her play. She actually posts here too. She'd be super popular if she tried, but I totally understand not even wanting to because of the hostility that exists over there.

I've thought about streaming to try and get some income (I've missed out on a lot of the more popular PC games over the past few years, due to being a mom) but I'm not actually funny or anything. People would be bored watching me. No one would watch me just because I'm a girl, even though I'm marginally attractive.

Come to the Hitbox side, the community at least for now is a lot nicer (smaller, but growing) and the site works a lot better too. It's where I currently stream at the very least, and I prefer it.

If you choose too that is. You may not be the most popular hit since whoever else, but honestly my stance is if you enjoy streaming, do it. And if you have some friends who like watching and don't mind moderating, if there are any problems moderation can be crucial. I have some rules I enforce on my stream which have worked perfectly fine over the last year and a half I've been streaming, a few issues but worked out, and the rules are reasonable.

Good community that forms in place and some common-ground rules that are agreeable can do a lot for a stream chat to be more welcome and a more fun place to be.

 

[Monas]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the term gamer.

I laugh at people on GAF who get offended by it... that's being way over-sensitive about a harmless term. It's an easy and short word to say, and rolls off the tongue well and is a good description. What the hell is wrong with that??

While there is nothing wrong with the term, it is a little gringe-worthy depending on convo context. I.e. Trying to present it as an activity on par with basketball or soccer.

On another note, my ex was a girl and she played games. Loved adventures and God of war. But she was not in the whole culture thing.

 

[Velcro Fly]

I dated a girl and we played WoW together. It was pretty fun until other people we met found out. Then it was a constant hassle having to deal with guys hitting on my girlfriend, saying lewd and vulgar things to her, and pretty much just harassing her to the point where she stopped rolling female characters for a while. It was sad and pathetic but somewhat expected. I've seen firsthand how the dynamic changes when people realize they are playing with a girl in online games. It's stressful and frustrating because you care about someone and you both have fun playing video games but people just ruin it for you.

I'm not sure she ever called herself a "girl gamer" and she definitely did not broadcast that she was female. If people asked she never lied, but it was never some huge deal. We broke up a long while ago but it still pisses me off to no end when guys treat girls like shit in online games, almost to the point where I get accused of being a white knight for telling people to knock it off.

Not sure my anecdote was 100% relevant but I felt like sharing!