A few weeks ago I asked Devilicus to look into a topic for me. I was curious as to what her opinion was on female game writers. Do they have more credibility just on the virtue of being female or are they at a disadvantage? She answered the challenge beautifully and I was really pleased with the results. -Ferrel
It’s been far too long since I’ve written; babies take up a lot of your day. However this topic is one that I find quite intriguing. Do the women writers out in the gaming world get instant credibility just because they are girls? In this day and age, anything is possible, but let me tell you what I think.
First, I don’t consider myself a professional gaming writer. I’m a gamer first then an occasional blogger second. I like to offer a slightly different point of view on obscure topics that I find amusing! There is a multitude of talented women out there who write for a living. I find these women inspirational and that is what I want to discuss. They don’t care what others think and put their opinions out there in black and white for all to read. Once out in cyberspace or print people are free to dissect and offer responses, good and bad. Regardless of your gender doing something like that should be respected. Making your work public for people to scrutinize is not always an easy task.
So, where should I begin? Let’s start with the stance that you believe the topic is true [that girls gain immediate credibility]. Then, maybe you need to step back and take a closer look. I believe that a small percentage of the gaming population may indeed give a girl more time just because they are still under the impression that girls don’t game and find it intriguing. However, it would be safe to say the vast majority of gamers don’t care and may even look at your articles with a magnifying glass trying to disprove or discredit anything you write. There are always those who don’t care either way or just read to read. After reading they may take up the other side when they have a differing opinion.
When I was thinking about how to write this out, I thought it would be good to ask for a second opinion. I went to The Girl Gamer for some answers! The owner and writer on the site, Christina “Faith” Winterburn, was kind enough to answer some questions for me.
Dev: As a Girl Gamer and Writer, do you feel like your articles are looked at more or less by other gamers?
Faith: When I first starting writing, I think the fact I was a female gamer gave my articles that extra attention but not anymore. I stopped pushing the fact I was a female gamer in everything I did because it brought me more trouble than perks and people seem to respect me more for it. Now I’m just an average gamer/blogger like everyone else working to get my fame the honest way.
Dev: I agree that you need to put gender aside and try to get out there on your own merits. The thought of a girl writing about games is still intriguing to some and if that brings them by to read, then that is fine. However, I do not want special treatment nor do I feel I deserve any just because I am a girl.
Do you think being a Girl Gamer gives you instant “street cred”?
Faith: No, I don’t think it does, nor do I think it should give any female gamer instant credit as a gamer. Everyone should have to prove their hardcore at heart whether they have boobs or not. Sorry, but that’s the way it goes. If a girl tells you she likes games, then make her prove it before you start drooling or praising God for a new best friend (which is what I would do).
Dev: I also get excited when I meet another girl who plays but I understand that doesn’t always mean that they are an awesome player. I do not give anyone instant credibility. You have to earn your place!
Do you have to work harder to get your points across or make them seem valid?
Faith: Sometimes. The problem with being a female writer in the gaming industry is that either people love you or hate you, and the haters will watch everything you write or say with a fine tooth comb. I honestly think that female writers have to work twice as hard to be taken seriously in the gaming industry. Once you earn your fan base though, it’s a great community to write for and interact with. I wouldn’t want to write about anything else.
Dev: I don’t think this could be any more true. Not only do you have the people who will go over everything you say just to find faults, you also have a group of people who won’t criticize anything for fear of hurting your poor girlish sensibilities. Give me a break! I’m a big girl! I can take criticism but don’t beat me to a pulp just because of who I am. I think this is true throughout all walks of life and not just gaming.
What “perks” if any do you think you may get out of being a girl gamer.
Faith: None that I know of. Like I said, maybe in the beginning I got a bit more attention for my articles but now I don’t use any female tricks to get what I want. I put aside all that stuff to ensure that my writing is looked at because people want to read it, not because I have boobs.
Dev: Like I said in the beginning of this article, I don’t really consider myself a professional game writer. I’m still on the edge of beginning this crazy ride. I have yet to personally experience anything that would be a perk, nor do I wish to. If someone reads because they see a female is the author, then so be it. Just give it a fair shake before you praise or put it down. That is all anyone can ask for.
Anything else you would like to add?
Faith: I understand that sometimes there are female gamers out there that do use their sexuality to get attention online, gifts in MMOs, and other stuff but that’s just not how I roll. I found pushing my female gamer status proved to cause me more problems than it provided me with perks
Dev: I would like to thank Christina again for giving a second opinion to my piece. I agree with her on all aspects. I’m sure there are differing opinions out there so feel free to get it off your chest. The fact of the matter is that, regardless of gender, we all need to be able to stand up for what we believe in and find our way in the gaming world. I hope you all keep reading. See you in cyber space!
All characters are © 2007 - 2012
I don’t think credibility is the word I would attribute as a generic staple for girl gamers. That’s something I feel that any gender or race earns over time and is much more highly dependent on their experiences with whatever topic they begin to engage in. However, I do think that girl gamers are instantly attributed a certain amount of Celebrity. Love them or hate them, they can gain a load of followers overnight depending on how straightforward they are about boobs. That being said, the protractors and detractors from this gender in gaming attribute more to their celebrity status.
Regardless of being liked or disliked, it’s simply a matter of popularity. Akin to the love/hate recently over the death of MJ. I personally can’t stand the guy, while others will vehemently defend him kicking a puppy down a flight of stairs. Relate this more to the reaction from learning a new blogger has boobs, and it usually comes down to…
(detractor):”Well she’s just a girl using her boobs to get attention.”
(protractor):”Girls make just as good a gamer, if not better, as anyone else.”
(neutral):”Gamers are made on their experiences and contribution, show up or shut up.”
Personally I prefer to assume a gender-neutral state when it comes to gaming, this means the general assumption that everyone is a guy when we first meet. Most people, unaware of gender, easily fall into the neutral category. Guy gamers and bloggers are the accepted standard and also get the neutral. Girls however, get all three, simultaneously, and it usually carries a lot more baggage than they probably want.
“Coming out” with your female gender therefore is going to be more of a challenge, and in my opinion you need to ignore not only the detractors that judge unfairly, but also the protractors that unfairly promote. Neither will make a good audience. Promote yourself as if you’re anyone else, and eventually both extremes will come to the middle.
Great point Grimnir! Celebrity is a good word for it. I also like the “coming out” part as I have felt that way a few times. Especially while in the game, does the person I’m talking to know i’m a chick off the bat or do they assume (kinda like I do, albeit unfairly) that i’m a guy. Opinions have changed once the boobs come out, so to speak =) I completely agree that credability is something you have to work to earn, but I don’t think it should be given more freely to one gender or the other. We should all have to work the same to get our fame, but that is not always the case.
Opinions have changed once the boobs come out…
That is quite a quote!
There are a few dynamics at play when discussing this particular subject. The basis of this question, Women in a Man’s World type scenario, has a large library of both clinical and real world studies/papers talking about the why’s and how’s. It will continue to be a focus of scrutiny most likely until man goes through the next big phase of our evolution.
The principle factor in this is the nature of the video game. All games have within their engineering a desire to provoke from the player a sense of competitiveness. Either against yourself, the machine or other people there is always a role of protagonist to be represented against your actions. It is well documented the chemical reactions in the male body when they are under this type of stimulation. This is especially true for a MMO type environment where competition is not only present, but typically enhanced to take advantage of these reactions. It does not take long for these reactions to “train” a person to act and feel a certain way given the required set of circumstances.
Men have at their intrinsic core the need and desire to hunt and protect. It is why we were put on this earth. In one way or another, the female commodity is involved with both of these desires. We hunt for a mate and we will try and protect that mate if necessary. These two desires have been diluted over thousands of years of social evolution but at the core they still remain.
Men don’t realize it consciously, but it is a well documented phenomenon. When men perceive women to be in an environment that we consider hostile (i.e. inhabited mostly by our competition – although hostile to us doesn’t necessarily mean hostile to a female we still perceive it as hostile) we instantly have a mental, whether recognized or not, requirement to assist that women in whatever way we can. This leads to a lot of what I think people perceive as that “street cred” instantly granted to female gamers. Street cred is simply the way male gamers can provide assistance to females over this medium to satisfy the subconscious requirement to assist.
Finally, and this point will probably get me some heat, we have all of the above playing out in a “leveling environment”. People can say what they want about male gamers today but the fact remains, despite the growing popularity of video games there still remains an overwhelming majority of males in the MMO world who were not exactly “ladies men” growing up. I’m not stating that they are retarded or lack the ability to deal with “gurls” but I’d be more then happy to take the bet that if I dragged all the Male MMO players to a giant real life social situation and watched their hereditary need to hunt and protect play out, less then 40% would know where to start or find any type of immediate success. In the online environment a lot of the barriers that were in place for these people are removed or altered in a way that makes them much easier to navigate over. The problem is a bit of overcompensating can easily occur and typically does.
To close, since this is the longest I think I have maintained some sense of seriousness in a long time I just want to say:
SWORD BLOOD SMASH KILL!! RAWR!
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Bunncha, you’re just too much =) I’m surprised you didn’t yell out “Captain Caaaaaaave Maaaaaaaan!”…. i kinda miss that cartoon it was really funny =)