Many women recently have claimed to experience alienation and harassment in gaming because of their gender. They have spent countless hours telling social media, and real media, about how their individual experiences are indicative of a widespread issue. Any women who attempt to showcase their positive experiences in gaming are met with accusations of self-hatred, or of not being real. One of the issues of being a member of a group that is constantly being told is “oppressed” is that the benefits awarded to us may remain invisible. Working towards a solution requires that female gamers become aware of the ways which we unconsciously benefit from being female. With that in mind, the following is a list of some of the concrete benefits that female gamers automatically receive simply for being female.
1. I don’t have to be worried about being told I am “too old” to be playing games. Because I am female, no one will call me a “man-baby” or claim that I “need to grow up” simply because I choose to play games. It will also not automatically be assumed that I am a nerd or a virgin.
2. As a female, I don’t have to worry that someone will automatically assume I live with my parents because I play games.
3. People will be willing to censor popular titles, and content, for the sole purpose of catering to my possible feelings.
4. I could openly admit that I do not play games, yet people will be willing to hand me thousands of dollars just to hear my opinions on them.
5. Men will be willing to devalue themselves, and their entire gender, in order to place me on a pedestal, solely because I am female.
6. I will never have to worry about having a sufficient party in order to complete raids. Being female ensures that I will always have available allies willing to contribute to my success.
7. I can make blanket claims about gamers of an entire gender, a gender which I am not a part of and can not relate to in any real life situations, and will receive the widespread, unwavering support of the media.
8. Because I am a female, I will be far more influential in the socio-politics of in-game communities because I am seen as a rarity.
9. The industry, as a whole, is willing to attempt to push out other consumers in order to secure a safe spot for me, free from any potentially offensive or controversial content.
10. When dating, the fact that I am a gamer will not be looked down upon because of my gender, rather it is more likely to be viewed as an endearing quality.
11. In the event my presence is not welcome for any reason, I have the ability to claim the motivation is based solely on my gender, and there will be no lack of people willing to believe me with no requests for proof.
12. In the event I do something wrong and am called out on it, I have the ability to claim the person calling me out is sexist, and will receive intense, widespread support.
13. My opinions on any matter will hold more widespread clout immediately, for no reason other than I am a female
14. Many players will be more willing to censor their language in order to make sure I am more comfortable. In the event someone does not censor themselves, I will have no shortage of men willing to “white knight” on behalf of my honor. On horse or afoot.
15. As a female, people will be afraid to criticize me, or my opinions, no matter how radical or insane they are, for fear of being called sexist.
16. If I am short on in-game currency, there will always be someone willing to purchase items for me, solely because of my gender.
17. Rarely are my mistakes called out in a game. Instead of the expected trash talk a male gamer receives, I am offered constructive criticism, advice, and even compliments on what I DID do correctly.
18. As a female in a “male dominated environment,” I have the potential of holding more power in a gaming community than someone far more experienced than I, simply because I am seen as a rarity.
19. People are willing to gift me extra items, or even games, for no reason other than that I am a female.
20. I will have more success if I decide to stream on Twitch, for no reason other than that I am a female who happens to play video games.
21. Should I ever choose to enter the gaming industry, I will have more success with fundraising campaigns because of my gender alone. I will have access to special grants and foundations, based on my gender instead of my experience, ability, motivation, or credibility.
22. While it may be true that some people expect males to be better at games, that also works in my favor. I don’t have to be as good as a male in order to be considered better than him. Lower expectations does not mean I am unwelcome. Rather, it means my performance does not have to be impressive in order to impress people.
23. People will automatically assume that, because I happen to be female, I want to read gaming articles, blogs, reviews, and magazines written by other females, and will go out of their way in order to accommodate me in that regard.
24. Popular websites and magazines will take my gender into account when reviewing any game, and will stretch as far as possible in order to “pre-warn” me about any small amount of material in the game which could potentially hurt my feelings, because of my gender.
25. Because it was created by a female, this checklist will be less likely to be taken seriously because of its content. I will likely be accused of internalizing misogyny, simply because I am acknowledging the benefits I have as a female gamer, versus focusing on what I think my disadvantages are. However, I know that, in creating this list, I will also garner a decent amount of appreciation, simply because I am a female willing to express appreciation for the benefits available to me, instead of playing a perpetual victim.
Reblogged this on The Dogg Kennel and commented:
Liz drops 25 Nuggets of inconvenient truth in this rebuttal to #FullMcIntosh’s ill informed video
LikeLike
Thanks,Liz. It takes courage and honesty to not only admit to the ways you are disadvantaged but the ways you are advantaged as well! I never really got the “girl geeks get a hard time” argument. It’s been my general experience guys are friggin over-joyed when they discover a female is a gamer or likes geeky things which is weird on account men still face a social stigma over the same passions. See a man wearing a DBZ, Zelda, or Sailor moon shirt? What a weeb,that loser is a total man-child! A female sports the same attire? That’s so CUTE & COOL! To this day it’s difficult for me to understand why that double standard exists.
LikeLike
Not sure if it’s the non-complimenting grays (instead of blacks), the fact that they couldn’t even make the back pink or the exact shade/finish of pink used, but that 360 controller looks horrible. Nowhere near as nice looking as my pink Dualshock 3 is.
Oh and I really liked the article.
LikeLike
Even if what you’re saying is not 100% true for all female gamers all of the time, I like that it exists as a counterpoint to FemFreq’s doom-and-gloom suggestion that female gamers are getting shit on 100% of the time because patriarchy. There are unconscious biases both for and against female gamers, just as there are unconscious biases that work for and against anyone. To suggest that this is because of some ongoing system to punch down women has always seemed a bit odd to me and now that the SJWs have tried to go full-bore on gaming, I’m starting to see just how ridiculous that is as an approach to creating REAL diversity in gaming.
LikeLike
You’ve got them internal sized soggy knees.
LikeLiked by 1 person
marry me
LikeLike
Lol please love yourself. You’re the one that’s catering to all these man-babies by posting shit like this. Stop hating women and stop pretending that these guys are all on your side because at the end of the day (thought they won’t admit it) they still see you as an object of desire, and not an equal.
LikeLike
Wow, she was right! She would get accused of internalized misogyny! And you know what? I’ll admit it flat out that Liz is hot as hell. But you know what makes her really attractive to me (and presumably others)? She isn’t accusatory, she isn’t a victim. She doesn’t try to change the rules to a game just because she finds it a little hard, she gits gud. She doesn’t complain that she doesn’t have friends on a server, she invites friends to join in. She doesn’t complain when she isn’t invited on raids, she sets up her own raids. She doesn’t QQ when the going get’s tough, she just gets tougher. And that is why she is top waifu.
It isn’t because she is physically attractive (although it helps), it’s because she is Shepard, she is Hawke, she is the Chosen One, she is the Exile, and she saved the princess, the mages, the council, and restored balance to the force. She is a Gamer. She is one of us and I’m going to presume that you are as well. The only difference is that instead of adapting to the environment you refuse to play until it appeals to you. That is what makes you unattractive. Git Gud or Get Out.
LikeLike
Nah dude, I’m gay. But good generalization. It might even net you some dosh on your patreon.
LikeLike
It’s all a conspiracy you see. Men just really hate women and see them as sex objects. Any woman who disagrees with us is just blind to the misogynee :^)
LikeLike
Why are you dismissive of it? I won’t dismiss McIntosh’s experience or Liz’s since I’ve seen them both happen in action. There’s constant stories of receiving free items for playing as a female character in mmos as there are constant stories for women being subject to harassment on XBL. If anything, this proves how western societal ideals can be beneficial or limit both genders.
Try to stay away from smearing character of others, there’s a lot that you don’t know about us and there’s a lot that we don’t know about you. I grew up with a single mother and sister who I definitely didn’t treat like objects.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Black Trident.
LikeLike
Love it. You are so underrated. People of the internet this deserves to be turned into a video. Though as an aside I find this very indicative of privilege conversation which are often (unsubstantiated) list of descriptive claims; which resembles something akin confession.
LikeLike
silly suckpuppet you’re not real :p
I like them all except 22, it’s more of a personal preference, whether you want to have an easier time impressing or automatically be considered better, it’s also not a direct benefit to you, its more concerned about what others think, however unlike the others of what others think they more address negative attitudes people could have towards you.
Otherwise I think it’s a good list.
LikeLike
Be my waifu, fair lady.
LikeLike
That was brilliant, and full of fun ! Thanks for this little ray of sunshine in my male gamer rainy day ! Awesome checklist.
LikeLike
Damn Liz. Well done.
LikeLike
awesome list liz but you have internalized soggy knees and you are dominated by the patriarchy.
LikeLike
If I had a fedora, I’d tip it in your general direction.
LikeLike
Well this list seems to be just as well-researched, applicable, and convincing as the Sarkeesian/Full McIntosh version. The only difference is that this one didn’t cost us one hundred and fifty grand to see.
LikeLike
Regarding the first thing on your list: I am female and 20 years old and my mother sometimes makes negative comments when I play games that are primarily targetet towards children. She is the only one, though. On another note: It annoys me when some female nerds claim that every woman in the gaming and/or comics community has to deal with some sort of daily harrassment. I have been playing games since I was in elementary school, maybe even before that, and I live in the country. I never ever had people tell me that video games are only for boys. I even knew some other girls who liked to play video games as well and I regularily played games with my male friends. Making women out to be nothing more than eternal victims and taking every individuality away from them helps nobody. You simply dwell on your victim-complex.
LikeLike
This is what has been bothering me the most. I’ve never had someone ask if I was buying the games for my boyfriend. I’ve never been told that I shouldn’t game because I’m a girl. I tend to not always play as a female character, not because I feel the need to because of a threat but because why not. And *of course* I’ve been trash talked – but Liz is on one point here because my male characters always take more of it by leaps and bounds. Speaking to another of her points I did get on the mic with a particularly rude guy one time and when he found out I was female he *apologized for the language he’d been using* (he didn’t apologize for pilfering from my drop pile however :p)
Just one last personal anecdote I’ve never had a place to share but this feels fitting. Do you know why I was the only girl in my third and fourth grade class that wasn’t absolutely terrorized by our school bully? Because our teacher brought in a Genesis and some of her son’s games for our Christmas party (we also had Christmas parties back then FWIW) and I beat his high score on Space Harrier II. He asked me to come to his house and play games with him after that.
LikeLike
Great article, but few things from your list don’t aply on all women, but just on those who are smoking hot like you.
LikeLike
25 Visible Mic Drops from Gaming While Female
LikeLike
Maybe you should be online ranking up your game instead of making lists on your blog, scrub. #420blazeit
LikeLike
Written by a man.
LikeLike
Oh, you’re one of those……
LikeLike
awesome post. i agree completely.
LikeLike
So one time this girl finds me on an online dating site, emails me out of the blue, then we go through more trouble than usual email-coordinating the logistics of meeting up, and when we finally meet in person she nerd-shames me for playing Dungeons and Dragons. Un-fucking-acceptable. I think a lot of gamer dudes have had experiences along those lines, which is why we act like it’s this huge relief whenever we meet a woman who’s into geek/nerd/sciencing/otaku/fandom/RPG/vidya/whatever culture. It’s not so much that girl nerds are cute or endearing (granted, they are. but that’s not the point) as much as is knowing that you can geek out on common interests together and not have to worry that she’s going to resort to snobbery and stigmatize you for liking things.
LikeLike
I would just like to give you a hug. This was awesome.
LikeLike
“1. I don’t have to be worried about being told I am “too old” to be playing games. Because I am female, no one will call me a “man-baby” or claim that I “need to grow up” simply because I choose to play games. It will also not automatically be assumed that I am a nerd or a virgin.”
I’m calling bullshit. This is two separate reasons, not one single reason.
LikeLike