Oh, look, a cord . . . let me chew on it awhile. The Internet is littered with pictures of girls licking Xbox controllers, chewing on their cords, or lying down half naked with games and controllers littered about like a geek version of an “American Beauty” scene.
They wear their gamer girl status like a badge of honor in a group of males who want nothing more than to scoop one of these hot babes up and play video games all night long.
Sorry, guys, I’m here to tell you that these “gamer girls” will still nag you when you get on a video game for hours and you don’t pay attention to them, and will not help you kill Diablo in hardcore mode in “inferno” difficulty. They will not become a critical part of your “League of Legends” team and achieve platinum in ranked games.
Before I hear the “but . . . but . . . but” from you, I’ll explain why.
These girls aren’t hanging around your social circle of gamers simply because they love being immersed in a video game. These girls do it for social status and the feeling of control they get from being desired among men. They do it for attention.
Real female gamers are the ones most likely sitting alone in their room with a headset on, a bag of jalapeno cheddar Cheetos and a case of Mountain Dew sitting next to them. They don’t need the fawning of male attention.
Another example of gamer girl versus a female gamer is in the game. The gamer girls make sure their male comrades-in-arms know they’re female. They flirt and use their wiles to get weapons, items and other various gifts in game. Female gamers are the ones cussing you out for spawn camping and screaming at you to learn how to tank or heal right.
Female gamers aren’t necessarily threatened by these gamer girls; however, because of their actions, they put a stereotype on the rest of us who actually just want to play because it’s fun to play video games.
For a long time, I didn’t even want to try “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3” because it felt like that was the gamer girls’ game of choice. Gamer guys, when they found out I play video games, would always roll their eyes and comment that they are talking more than just “MW3.” They wouldn’t take my opinion or status as a gamer seriously because of gamer girls.
It seemed like it would take a lot more work to be taken seriously in the video game world. It took some of the fun out of the game because I felt constantly like I had to prove that I was more than just a succubus sucking the life out of a fad. I had real skills and I wanted to show them.
Gamer girls are threatened by other female gamers because the attention will not be solely upon them. Female gamers like me feel like there is strength in numbers. I get excited when I find another girl like myself.
I guess I’ll play the role of a suffragette of the female gamer movement. Guys, stop treating every female as if they are golden or treating every female gamer as if they don’t know what they’re talking about, but let our skills and our willingness to learn speak for itself. Treat us as equals among other gamers.
“Those who play for the love of the game don’t care if the person they are playing with is male or female, they simply don’t, because for us it’s how well you play. And even if you don’t play that well, if you try, then that’s what matters,” said female gamer Kristin Welch.
