First of all, I would like to state that I would love there to be more gender equality in gaming. I, like many others, find that running into a girl who takes gaming seriously can be very rare indeed (in some places more than others. And when I do find one, I am almost never attracted to them in other areas (personality, looks, etc.). I think a lot of the problem is with how games are created, targeted, and marketed.

In Japan for instance, the games take on a more universal approach, and only now we are seeing a taste of it with the Wii (which for some girls is their first experience in gaming that they enjoy). The games created there are targeted towards both genders’ main interests as well as mutual interests, almost like we had GI-JOE and Barbie, but both girls and guys would both play with a slinky. Same principal.

Here in the West, I think it’s the way games are targeted and created that drives many females’ lack of interest. Most games are targeted towards the same audience that is in love with voilence, aggressiveness, and other male themes and characters. This really doesn’t appeal to many girls. When the games change, I think we will see more of an influx. But it’s a give/give situation. Companies wont make games for girls if they think girls are interested. Theres also the factor that many females are brought up, raised, and conditioned to feel like video games are for boys, and in some areas of the country it’s worse than others. Mothers will prevent daughters from playing video games and tell them “those are boys games”, etc. You will find in smaller rural towns, and in certain areas that girls have never touched a video game and would never care to, and it’s sad because they dont know what they are missing!

I think slowly things are changing and we will see more feminine gamers, rather than girls who have a “geeky” stereotype. Once the concept of gaming moves from a “nerdy pastime” to a “normal pastime”, people will open up to it more and more types of people, including females, will become more serious about it.

For now though, I hope the girls out there continue to break the chain and not be afraid of what people will think if they decide to have video gaming as a hobby.

Good luck!, and One Love!

As a result there is a certain degree of fantisization of the girl gamer into something sexier than she might otherwise be simply because the idea of a girl that shares your hobby is understandably appealing.

For this point I will refer you to rakehell’s comment and Jeff’s response on another thread of mine. It’s not wanting to be with someone who has similar interests that’s the issue, it’s when the fantasy/sexualization becomes part of a culture of entitlement that it crosses the line.

Personally, I think this is a separate issue and is indistinguishable from the use of female sex objects in any other male dominated hobby (such as car racing, pro wrestling, etc).

It’s all part of the beauty myth, of course. But the beauty myth encompasses such a broad range that I think a lot of times people — especially those who have geeky habits — feel like it just doesn’t apply to them. But the point of my series is that I’m saying it does apply to gamers, and exploring how it does and what impact it has.

Can this be applied to other areas? You bet. I’m not using any new concepts here; just bringing together ones that already exist. But how else do you reach an audience except through writing about things that resonate with them?

And I definitely don’t get the impression that they are expecting me to be incredibly hot or see me as a sex object because I am female and like games (despite many jokes we all make to the contrary).

This gets addressed a bit more in the next part of my series. Suffice it to say, I’m guessing your friend has never been part of an online gaming forum. There is inevitably a “post your picture” thread aimed primarily at women and there is a tangible amount of pressure for the forum women to conform.

Of course, I’ve heard the order of description applied to men just as often.

I’m not sure what poin that friend is trying to make, when they go on to cite evidence to the contrary in the rest of their comment. But I am intending to do a Postscript to the series that discusses, in brief, men and the gaming beauty myth.

Now think of the cumulative effects on gamers who are not regularly exposed to any other kinds of female bodies.

I do agree that the representation of gaming characters has a chance of skewing the male perception of normal, healthy female bodies. That’s one reason why I often push for a more varied representation of body types in games. I’m not sure that it’s all that much worse than traditional media, though: ads (especially now with photoshop being the norm) are not of real people, but “idealized” ones who have their body shape altered; many famous women have had at least one kind of plastic surgery (usually multiple); etc.

What are the most-discussed (prevalent) archetypes of male gamers–or what are the prevalent archetypes of gamers-where-gender-is-not-discussed?

I assume they are not “typical (conventionally unattractive) gamer” versus “studly gamer.”
What are they, though?
Andrea implies that they generally have to do with gaming preferences, but she doesn’t explicitly say so. Is this how gamers at large and how male gamers are most commonly sorted out and discussed?

I had the following conversation with one friend about it (formatting slightly altered):

Friend:
“Girl gamers” are considered one thing. Rare. Guy gamers are excited about the prospect of someone sharing their hobby, especially gamer types that typically are on the shy side of the spectrum. As a result there is a certain degree of fantisization of the girl gamer into something sexier than she might otherwise be simply because the idea of a girl that shares your hobby is understandably appealing.

I find this extremely understandable and I have done the same thing with regard to men who share my hobby. The fact that guy gamers are common doesn’t make them less appealing as partners. The advantage of having something to talk about and share with is still there.

The other side she might be referring to are things like the “Frag Dolls” and the pervasive use of female sex objects as game characters and in advertising (booth babes at E3 for example).

Personally, I think this is a separate issue and is indistinguishable from the use of female sex objects in any other male dominated hobby (such as car racing, pro wrestling, etc).

Katie:
So the way images of women are used in advertising and at cons has not made you feel awkward just being a gamer who has the same body parts as these objectified advertisers? They haven’t made any of your friends feel awkward? The presence of booth babes hasn’t made you or your friends feel like there are extra expectations put upon your “hotness” as a gamer than are put upon a man’s “hotness” as a gamer?

(”Extra” as in unfairly beyond the rarity and common-interest components to what makes someone a prized, valued, and “hot” person to have around.)

I assume that Andrea has felt this, but if you and people you know haven’t ever felt it, then that’s fascinating!
It sounds like for her, the two types of ways of looking at female gamers have gotten very muddled up, but for you, they really have stayed separate.

Friend:
I don’t think it’s any more muddled for gaming specifically any more than it would for a girl who watches racing or WWF or is a math major. Same issues wherever there is a huge gender imbalance. Guys will be interested in you because you have common interests so you’ll get attention.

So it’s just a matter of how much you are annoyed by it. I’m annoyed by the objectification of women in general and specifically in games I see it a lot because of my interests.

I am not annoyed by gamer guys talking to me. They are generally nice, and we have something to talk about which is cool. And I definitely don’t get the impression that they are expecting me to be incredibly hot or see me as a sex object because I am female and like games (despite many jokes we all make to the contrary).

Another commenter wrote:

Commenter:
Women are often described by their attractiveness if they are particularly attractive before anything else about them is brought up. Of course, I’ve heard the order of description applied to men just as often.

So generally, the description would read as, if simplified into just a list in order of importance:
girl, hot, D20-playing
or
girl, D20-playing (if she is not hot).

Interestingly enough a girl who games and is of arguably normal appearance or outright ugly is not usually described her appearance. That she games is more interesting than her appearance at least among male gamers.

As to men, the archetype breaks down by type of gaming more often than not.
Role-playing gamers and PC gamers are generally not considered sociable or attractive.
Console gamers are too broad a category to really classify.

I, for example, will not admit to role-playing, but console gaming is perfectly acceptable.
LARPers are another story altogether.

A third friend wrote:

Friend:
Interesting. If you look at it in terms of simple supply and demand, it’s the male gamers who ought to be sorted by attractiveness.

With such a majority of gamers being male, gamer ladies (or non-gamer ladies willing to date gamers) have their pick of the lot ^_^

I also asked my friends this question:

What do you think, gamers?
Is Andrea onto something that exists in your world?

Do you think that if this ridiculous, arbitrary, and unfair situation exists, it’s got a better chance of getting fixed in the gaming world than in Western society at large?

(My hunch is that it might, because in my experience, gamers generally come from a part of the general population that’s often educated, open-minded, and willing to change behaviors based on convincing arguments. Then again, I’m not intimate with the culture or the people, so I could be wrong, or this could be irrelevant to changing these particular behaviors & trends.)

A response:

Friend:
I think that this problem does not have a better chance of being fixed in the gaming world.

Some gaming males have given up on ever getting a real-life girlfriend, and what do they use as a substitute? Comic, game and anime girls–not the players, the fictional characters. Think of what female bodies look like in comics, anime and games.

Now think of the cumulative effects on gamers who are not regularly exposed to any other kinds of female bodies. Yeah. If anything, the beauty myth is worse for these guys. Even a gamer guy who hasn’t given up on real-life girls is going to have major trouble if his expectations become skewed due to all that exposure to stupidly unrealistic female game character bodies.

Amen to that, Tekanji.

I personally think that female gamers need to realize that the reason they’re putting other female gamers down is for approval of (surprise surprise) men. If they want male approval, go ahead, nothing wrong with that, but please call it what it is instead of pretending to be a great crusader for women gamers. I am sure we can all individually stand up for ourselves, thanks.

Great analysis!

Brain: I agree, although I think that the contest is more a symptom of the problem than a cause. Although I also believe that it, in turn, reinforces the beauty myth.

As for Becky, while I sympathize with her not wanting to be attacked because of the path she has chosen, her own language is also deeply problematic (as I will further explore in the next parts of this seres).

In the end, I really do think it’s a crap shoot for all female gamers; there’s always someone waiting to condemn us, and half the time it’s another female gamer. But, then, that’s the subject of another post.

As for “Aktrez” (ye gods…): Sure, most people - men and women both - would like being attractive and getting noticed for it but isn’t there a point at which that comes to define and control you? If she doesn’t think that things like MVG 2007 are 90% about the “Miss” and 10% about the “Video Game” (if that much), then I have a bridge to sell her. Just because you play the Sex Appeal game and win doesn’t mean the game ain’t fixed.