Today’s rampaging stupidity is brought to you by Twitch Guru (pause while my eye twitches uncontrollably): a multiplayer melee on female gamers.
There’s oh, so many places this can go, and a few of them are even worksafe! The article, which references Kim Rom’s previous rampaging stupidity approvingly, equates women who game with Fragdoll-esque “grrl power!” joysticks ‘n spandex marketing fantasies, and from that comes to this conclusion:
“Female gaming”, as it exists today on the professional circuit – and in the minds of the policy makers, if not the legions of female MMORPG players – is nothing more than a deluded male fantasy gone wild.
He then also complains that the Suicide Girls (no link, because… um… it’s porn) aren’t real gamers. Now, I’m not quite sure who was asserting that the Suicide Girls were a gaming clan. Unless your definition of gaming clan includes getting naked and charging a monthly fee for photo access? Well, um, in that case you may be in another deluded male fantasy gone wild.
Speaking of deluded male fantasies gone wild, I’m pretty sure this feature is the only story which includes:
-
\tab
- nude renders of characters from Uwe Boll movies
- Stevie “Killcreek” Case’s CV
- Fragdoll publicity stills
- E3 booth babe pictures
- Ads for laptops from Tom’s Hardware
\tab
\tab
\tab
\tab
I tell you, it’s like they laid out this article just for me. Escapist, take note! All that’s needed is a few explosions.
The real atrocity of this article, of course, is that it actually refers to the “professional gamer circuit” without irony. From this first person shooter-centric viewpoint that views women as strange, mystical creatures who “play those MMO things”, any woman that dares to actually be good at shooters is obviously just there as some sort of plaything. The fact that most ridiculously corporate fabricated “grrl gamer” FPS clans are aimed at this stereotype only proves that the corporate culture providers still do their best to manufacture velveeta. The original sin isn’t theirs – it’s in the legions of FPS server habitues who created a locker room culture that turned “teabag” into a verb.
So, with what thought should I leave you?
In the meantime, we shouldn’t lump in every girl that loves gaming with the frauds and posers. According to research from sources like the Nielsen Entertainment Interactive Group, close to 40 percent of gamers today in America are female, and that number is projected to grow. So let’s not let the minority of pin-up girls with poor gaming skills ruin things for the majority of girls that really love gaming.
So… if a real editor was filing that story, that last para could have been punched up to:
Yeah. The previous 6 pages? Uh, I was wrong. My bad.
Hooray for online gaming journalism!
#1 by Sanya on April 11th, 2006
*throws up a little*
*washes bile back down to the stomach with Diet Coke*
*considers that the whole Diet Coke consumption perpetuates a stereotype*
*gives up*
*snickers at the boy nerds overthinking the whole girl nerd concept and calling it journalism*
*goes back to work*
#2 by unbeliever on April 11th, 2006
Hey, a girl licking a PSP sells, well, just about anything!
/me kicks sanya for a tweety rant on the whole grrl gamer concept!
#3 by Jenn on April 11th, 2006
Thank you, Sanya, for making me almost spit water on my tablet
I know that I am preaching to the converted here but girl gamers exist and I’d wager that at least some of us don’t suck. Some of us game even though we pay for the privilege and choose not to defile our systems by licking them (even though Intellivision is kinda hot in that Blue Sky Ranger sort of way) and don’t even get me started on those who game and talk about gaming due to the big cheque at the end of the …. who am I kidding? I can’t get up the bile anymore for this. I know I’m a gaming geek and a girl and that’s fine and dandy with me.
#4 by Cael on April 11th, 2006
I know that I am preaching to the converted here but girl gamers exist and I\’e2\’80\’99d wager that at least some of us don\’e2\’80\’99t suck.
There goes another locker-room fantasy.
(Sorry, couldn’t resist it).
#5 by Blake on April 11th, 2006
To throw another article at the thing, according to this one 43% of gamers are women now. Was an interesting article to read in our paper the other day:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060408/ENT06/604080325
#6 by Amber on April 11th, 2006
Let’s see…
1: Male gamers are turned on by sexy women who game. (ugly women who game are lesbians)
2: Corporation exploits male gamers by sponsoring sexy women who game.
3: Male gamers are “outraged” by camera sluts/whores who dare to game.
4. Profit.
That’s about all the outrage I can summon up today.
#7 by Loredena on April 11th, 2006
Hmm, maybe the problem is if you’re not between 16 and 24 he doesn’t consider you a ‘girl gamer’? bleh. I might not be a girl gamer (I’m 40), but I’m certainly a woman gamer!
#8 by Dom on April 11th, 2006
You forgot, pretty girls also don’t like indie music, avant garde cinema, books of the non-Harry Potter variety, or the internet in general. They’re all out buying clothes and riding ponies.
Sometime in the future I believe we’ll discover the ‘gaming gene’ and find that it has a direct negative correlation with attractiveness. This’ll probably happen around the time we discover the ‘gay gene’ and realise that, because of it, homosexuals were wiped out soon after the dinosaurs. Hmm.
#9 by Freakazoid on April 11th, 2006
This has to be like the 20th time you’ve used the “can’t have nice things” title. Just make it your motto already.
Anyway, yeah, locker room culture is a good description. Let’s just be thankful that men don’t have a violent reaction, such as girls in an all male military school. I hope that people will come to their senses and see that video games are not like most real sports, where simply by men’s physical superiority prevent girls from playing.
#10 by Eso on April 11th, 2006
Thats an amusing comment about the Suicidegirls. The site itself has nothing to do with gaming, but quite a few of its members, as well as models, are gamers. We’ve had several clans in various games, like WoW and counterstrike. I can see how the guy might get confused, but you’d have to be pretty stupid. Only takes a few minutes of research to figure it out.
#11 by Evangolis on April 11th, 2006
I thought the Monkees were pretty cool when I was in sixth grade. That was about the same time I discovered that girls were really cool. I still like them both, although nobody gets mad if I don’t properly respect The Monkees, or if I call them The Monkees, instead of Family Cercopithecidae (or should they be Platyrrhini?), so maybe I like them a little better. Sometimes. Of course, I’m been seen eating Velveeta and Spam on Wonder Bread. But I’ve given that up now.
The rest of it? Gamers Who Think Girls are Icky? I’m shocked, shocked, I say.
#12 by 3 Stacked Midgets on April 11th, 2006
Girl gamers should wear hejab on their webcams only viewable by their husband or another male family member. Only then will serious competetive gaming between the genders be possible.
#13 by Anonamouse on April 12th, 2006
If they’re so outraged by these grrl gamers or whatever – how about not buying those products and such that they’re partnered with or getting promoted by? Or not giving these things any press or attention?
Though in a way, we’re playing into their hands by clicking on the article and giving them more clicks/impressions/whatever. This editorial was written to stir up shit and get them a slice of that readership raised on a steady diet of edgy, in your face, shouting match bullshit that is shown every goddamn day on the major network news.
Admittedly I’m annoyed enough by this article that I’ll just contact their advertisers instead and point them at what they’re associating their ads with.
#14 by Slyfeind on April 12th, 2006
Dear god I’m so tired of this grrl gamer stuff. MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP!!! Most of the people who make a stink about it seem to be those who just recently discovered it. Or more accurately, those who just recently discovered girls.
#15 by Kemor on April 12th, 2006
[..]according to this one 43% of gamers are women now
Hmm, they are pretty good at hiding then because it sure looks as if male are still dominating that area like 80/20. I always knew that tons of housewives were playing MMORPGs, but would be interesting to see what they play compared to males and on what platform.
#16 by jason on April 12th, 2006
according to this one 43% of gamers are women now
All those studies always leave off the second statistic. Yes, 43% of gamers are women. But, 31% of women gamers are men pretending to be women.
#17 by Sanya on April 12th, 2006
I believe the 43% figure counts the “gamers” playing Bejeweled and You Know It! over on MSN Games.
“Gamer” in this context means a person who plays video games on the PC or on a console. One game isn’t given more “cred” than another, so a Half Life player is counted equally with the Bejeweled player.
You and I both just went, “Huh, that’s not fair,” but we can’t really articulate why in a way that doesn’t make us sound like monkeys.
#18 by Hellfire on April 12th, 2006
“You and I both just went, \’e2\’80\’9cHuh, that\’e2\’80\’99s not fair,\’e2\’80\’9d but we can\’e2\’80\’99t really articulate why in a way that doesn\’e2\’80\’99t make us sound like monkeys.”
That’d be because you actually ARE a gamer. It think that’s pretty much where the demarkation line resides.
As for the rest of the shizzle? Shut up and play, please.Between 1/3 and 1/2 of my WoW guild is women over the age of 25 and not ONE has ever felt the need to tell people she had a hoo-ha instead of a wee-wee. On any given evening there’s between 15 and 45 people on our Ventrillo server and a solid chunk of those are women. There’s never been a “you’re a girl!” exclamation or “OMG BUT I’M A GIRL!” echoing out of the speakers. They’re just raiders trying not to let my “hey, let’s try THIS” strategy for the nights boss du jour get us all killed in spectacular fashion. Which it does. A lot.
The Hilton effect isn’t isolated to Hollywood, she has clones in every facet of society. Have fun with that whole gender equity thing wearing that particular albatross ladies.
#19 by xzzy on April 12th, 2006
I suppose the silver lining is that the vast majority of “gamers” don’t care, and are pleasantly living out their lives crawling through instances in Warcraft or riddling each other with holes in CS. It might be an interesting debate, but I suspect the list of people who care extends only as far as the viewership of that website.
In my experiences playing xbox games, people with accents get strong reactions far more than a female does. This includes Halo 2, the rallying point for every idiot with a broadband connection. Women may get a “woah, a girl” comment when they speak up, but once the game starts all that matters is whether she can shoot or not.
#20 by Tom on April 12th, 2006
“Have fun with that whole gender equity thing wearing that particular albatross ladies.”
To quote one Mal Reynolds: “Way I remember it, albatross was a ship’s good luck, ’til some idiot killed it. “
Girls play games, they always have.* I just wish my wife was one of them.
*I mean video games. I’m bitter about a lot of my failed relationships but I really do only mean video games in this context.
#21 by Hellfire on April 12th, 2006
oh SNAP. Did you just make Mal defend Paris Hilton? There’s a special place in hell for that, you know.
At some indeterminate date in the future we’ll reach the tipping point for vapid whorism and the entire universe will spontaneously asplode. Mark my words.
#22 by =j on April 12th, 2006
Why is there a (percived) difference between Bejeweled and CS? I think it is the multiplayer aspect. Doing it with other people in real time is the real difference between spending 6 hours playing sims and 6 hours on a UBRS raid. Why does this distinction (seem) to fall along gender lines? Well, imho it is a combination of OOK OOK, ook ook, oOk, and ook.
damnit!
#23 by =j on April 12th, 2006
I think “Deluded Male Fantasies Gone Wild” would have been a better (and slightly more original) title.
#24 by Slyfeind on April 12th, 2006
I think it’s because of the level of dedication one game may take over another. My mother’s a gamer, and so is one of my former mentors from high school. Mom plays casino-style games, while Mrs. Mentor plays Diablo and Dungeon Siege. Diablo takes a bit more focus than video-poker, buuuuut… Mom spends more time gaming than Mrs. Mentor, because Mom has more time on her hands.
#25 by Gunblade on April 12th, 2006
Jeesus! There was even an article over at mmorpg.com about female gamers. The replys to the article are awsome.
I say we have an all mens panel and discuss manly matters of manly gaming ASAP! For it’s very dire our situation, we must unite and plan out common male goals for the gaming industry.
>_
#26 by Xanthippe on April 12th, 2006
I have heard that the half of the gamers playing MMOGs in Korea are female.
Not being terribly familiar with Korean MMOGs, I would like to know what the difference is – between the games, between the players, what?
With regard to Bejewelled – it’s a single player game. Counting people who play single player online games is not accurate.
Pretty awful article, and not merely because I disagree with the author – just overall a very poor piece seemingly written by a guy with Issues.
#27 by invitroman on April 12th, 2006
Why yes, I too would paticipate in this sausage festivale (and logical fallacy) if it meant sucessfully tricking myself into believing that most gyno-gamers are in fact…. secsay goths/emos/punks/retros/ what have you.
Write an article about it? Nay, I wasn’t one of those kids who’d get all upset because some girl wanted to join our treehouse club.
#28 by Tom on April 12th, 2006
“Did you just make Mal defend Paris Hilton? There\’e2\’80\’99s a special place in hell for that, you know.”
Yes. I mean, no. I mean, hey wait a minute – that’s not what I was trying to say!!!
Is it me or is it getting hot in here?
#29 by Walter Yarbrough on April 12th, 2006
That’s Hot
#30 by J. on April 13th, 2006
http://crystaltips.typepad.com/wonderland/2006/04/girl_gamers_in_.html
” GirlsofCS is an online gaming community and nude pinup gallery. We are out to empower female gamers by eliminating the negative online stereotypes towards them. Online gaming has typically been dominated by men, but that is changing. By keeping our community mature, we hope to encourage more female gamers to enjoy their games with us.
GirlsofCS members will have access to our private VoIP server, Counter-Strike Source Game Servers, and exclusive content through our website. We plan on providing the no-bull gaming community that gamers have dreamed of since the internet began.”
Maybe they need that Second Life “Guaranteed Gender” program or whatever it’s called. And yes, no Web site yet, just a Myspace blog.
FEMALE GAMERS ARE ABOUT BOOBIES!
#31 by Slyfeind on April 13th, 2006
Good lord. Two steps forward, one step back. I predict these titty-flashing gank-squads will be around for many years to come.
Growing pains, growing pains….
#32 by Loredena on April 13th, 2006
Xanthippe says on April 12th, 2006 at 1:17 pm:
….
With regard to Bejewelled – it\’e2\’80\’99s a single player game. Counting people who play single player online games is not accurate.
Umm, say what? It’s still a video game. Are you saying that playing Civ 4 doesn’t count as playing games because it is a single player game? That 43% of game players are woman statistic isn’t just online or multiplayer…..
and I have no problem with counting Bejeweled players in the same category as Counter Strike players either. It is still a video game, and the players often put in as many hours (or more!).
As to the rest: I’m a female player of both MMOs and single player games, and I can assure you that every guild I’ve been in has had a high percentage of women members. Adult women at that. They just don’t necessarily see a need to announce it.
#33 by CrashCat on April 13th, 2006
“My mother\’e2\’80\’99s a gamer, and so is one of my former mentors from high school. Mom plays casino-style games, while Mrs. Mentor plays Diablo and Dungeon Siege. Diablo takes a bit more focus than video-poker, buuuuut\’e2\’80\’a6 Mom spends more time gaming than Mrs. Mentor, because Mom has more time on her hands.”
Just to muck up the delineation even further, my stepmom plays mostly Realarcade games like the millions of Bejeweled clones out there …. BUT, she also plays Puzzle Pirates. Oh no, where will we draw the line now?
#34 by serlev on April 13th, 2006
Jesus fucking Christ. I’d weep for humanity if I thought the majority of them were worth it.
#35 by Female Gamer on April 14th, 2006
Hmm, they are pretty good at hiding then because it sure looks as if male are still dominating that area like 80/20. I always knew that tons of housewives were playing MMORPGs, but would be interesting to see what they play compared to males and on what platform.
I’m self-employed (freelance website designer) but I’m married and work out of home, so that sort of counts. Currently, I play WoW (60 tauren warrior, PvP) and I’m reading this while I install AutoAssault on the other comp. Also fond of 4X and RTS games. Killing people one at a time is for wimps, I want nukes! On my PS2, retro arcade games (the stuff I grew up playing), GTA3, DDR, Antigrav, and a (male) friend has talked me into trying Xenosaga real soon now. On my GBA SP, pretty much just retro arcade and some board games; that’s all my aging eyes can handle on that sqint-o-vision screen.
Most of the people I know in MMORPGs, including the guild that I was with for 2+ years until it fell apart, don’t know I’ve got Slot B instead of Tab A.
#36 by Loredena on April 14th, 2006
I’m not a housewife, but I am a woman. 20+ years of video games in general, starting with breakout on atari and adventure on the ibm pc (1983). 6 years of eq1; 6 months each of daoc, wow, coh, eq2. Civ 3 and Civ 4. Every Zork game known to man; Bard’s Tale; Wizardry etc. Gal Civ 2. Diablo. Dungeon Siege. Morrowind. Various Rogue like games (starting with rogue itself). Also computer based solitaire, mahjongg, sudoka, and match 3 games. I’d say I play a similar range to most men, with the exception that I don’t enjoy FPS or war games — and that’s because I don’t do twitch games well.