(as seen on Kotaku)
Ever play on Live or Battlefield or whatever with a girl? You probably have, you just don't know it. You know why? Because lots of girls are afraid to talk and let it be known they are of the opposite sex. Why you ask? Here's a good quote from girl gamer Chantal:
Basically, it was my first time EVER playing Live! because I was so petrified of being called out for being a girl, so, I was being made fun of for not speaking. Finally, I started speaking and half the guys started kissing my ass and then half were telling me to get off because I was a girl. Some of the guys were really cool though – like helping me out and giving me pointers but, overall, I felt totally embarrassed for having a passion for gaming. Nothing killed me more than the comments about “shouldn't I be buying shoes and drinking frappes with my girlfriends at the mall??”
That's great. Someone new to gaming on Live doesn't feel comfortable enough to talk because when she does, she gets shit for it. I blame all of you bastards out there scared of girls, not just girl gamers. Making women feel uncomfortable because they are women is about the silliest thing you can possibly do. Why, you ask?
1) It's just against all common decency. Girls like games too, some of them are very good at them, just like some guys are very good at them. You aren't better at video games because you're a guy. Where in things like track and field the extra height and muscles a man gets normally can give them an advantage over women in general, it doesn't mean shit in video games.
2) If you're one of those annoying bastards on Live or the like that don't want girls on there, you're probably without a girlfriend or wife. Lets assume at some point you think you'll get a girlfriend and/or wife. Wouldn't it be great if she played games too? The more women you can get to play games, the better chance you have of finding a girl to date that plays games.
3) Not to mention, women that play video games are sexy. Definitely.
If you're a guy, go read this article and realize what a pain in the ass it can be for girls to get accepted in the gaming ranks. They don't just have to be good, they have to be handle more crap than any of us guys do. If you're a girl, go read the article and know you're not alone. It'll get better as time goes on. More and more girls are gamers every day.
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Also, a note to those guys that want to help women feel accepted in gaming. Don't do anything for them you wouldn't do for other people you play with. Don't harass them sure, but don't try to hold their hand and protect them either. Let them get their game on and be cool. And if they, OR ANYONE, asks for help, give them help. Just treat them normal. That'll help them, or anyone, feel accepted faster.
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UPDATE:
To add some notes from a girl gamer I know online, Caryn/Hellchick gave these examples that happened to her, being the die hard gamer that she is:
I've had so many of those experiences for years. I remember someone on a public Quake 2 server asking me if I was really a girl, and I said yes, and then one of the other players started calling me a bitch, a whore, making sexual jokes involving his rocket launcher, etc.. I didn't respond, I just kept playing. He was trash talking so badly that he lost miserably and I won by yards. I didn't respond until the end when I said, "maybe next time you'll actually play instead of being a chatty little bitch." The map changed and he quit.
One time I was in a GameStop (or an EB, I can't remember) and I was wearing a QuakeCon t-shirt. The guy behind the counter sneered and said, "so did your boyfriend give you that shirt?" I was there with the sports game genre guy from GameSpy (we were buying some games for work) and before I could say anything he started in with the "dude, this is Hellchick" stuff. The guy blushed to his roots.
After work at GameSpy one day I decided to jump on a public Rocket Arena server. There were two guys on it. One of them said, "is it really Hellchick?" I said yes. The other guy said, "no it's not, Hellchick wouldn't play on public servers." (I was surprised that they even knew who I was.) So they started tearing into me. I was beating them and one of them said, "OMGLOL I got beat by a pretend girl". So ridiculous.
It's hard to believe that girls still get this much attitude about it. I can understand back when I started gaming, but come on — console games are an everybody thing now. It can't be that hard to imagine anymore that a girl might play.
Emphasis is mine.
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