Why Don't Women Usually Play Video Games?

Question

I'm the only woman out of all my current friends who is actually a "gamer". I know a few who casually play some games, but I don't know of any others who play regularly like I do. Even the nerdiest girls I know who are totally into things like "Star Wars" and "Dr. Who" seem to be like "Video games? Um, no way!" I've only known one actual gamer girl, but that was back in high school.

What is this strange attitude that women can't play video games. It seems like a stereotype, which it is, but it is still very true in some ways. It's not like video games are a privilege that women were denied until the 20th century suffrage or anything. They were created a while after. Well, the gears of women's rights were still clicking into place, but the patriarchy was already knocked down, we could vote, and do any job a man could. Why is there this thought ingrained into everyone's head that games are for guys? I don't see how it started! You could say that's because the market is mainly targeted towards men, but that is only because men were the only ones who gamed in the first place.

Answer 1

I've played most of the Zelda Games, all the Gears of War games, all the God of War games, most of the Metal Gear series, all of the Resident Evil games, three Metroid Prime games, some Mario's games, all the Super Smash games, some of the Halo and Call of Duty games, all the Mortal Combat games, most of the Devil May Cry and Final Fantasy series of games, and it the list literally goes on.



It really depends on the person, I've been in gamer clans made up entirely of female gamers where we just went around playing the other teams or just playing each other. Also, played with guys and I was the only girl, some of the guys can be jerks but no more than they are to everyone else.

Answer 2

I am female and a gamer since early childhood, and now I am 36 years old ^^ Back in the old days I played quite a bunch of "males" into the ground at Doom, Heretic, Mechwarrior and and and...



My first Online MMORPG was Ultima Online..



But I also played almost all of the noteworthy RPG series like Ultima, Might & Magic, Wizardry, Eye of the Beholder... and *takes a deep breath* and and and and and so on until today.

Right now I play Skyrim, also work on a Mod for it... and wait happily for Divinity 3 and Elder Scrolls Online to be released.



Well, playing is not the only thing I do at my comp. I do graphics in 2D and 3D, I write stories on my comp... and much more. Still I have a life, and non-computer hobbies :D so not only a female gamer, but also a She-Geek. I put together my own computer, don't need a guy telling me what I need for my fat CPU/RAM Monster...



But!

You wanna know the sad truth. Here in Germany... I am an extremely rare breed, especially at my age. The women here mainly use a computer to work, for facebook, maybe some e-mail and doing the household finances... that's it...

They see all entertainment that happens on a computer as a waste of time and money. And they believe people who play games are dumb or socially useless...



For them, only family, house, garden and "physically touchable" craftsmanship and physical sports is good, everything else is bad.



Even the males don't play games at my age anymore. Mostly because their wives will throw a tantrum if they even dare looking at a computer... well it's lonely here...



I really don't know what happened to the Nerds and Geeks in Germany. Honestly!



Back then when I was a teenager, I met people that were around 30++ and older, who had a good job, were (still are) married and had Kids. They introduced me to the Dark Side of the Fun!

And they still played computer games (with their wives, too. I loved those Doom / Duke Nukem nights), we did Pen & Paper, we read tons of fantasy/SciFi books...



Where are they now :-/ seems the new generation, even those of my age don't care a fart about it all.

All that counts now is "having a job, finding mate, reproduce, build nest, work work work...maybe some sport, sometimes a depression spree on the local pubs or soccer bars" and that's it...



Another horror story...

I had a few months a ago a nice little talk with an apprentice at our company. I thought "Hey cool, another IT chick and she even plays computer games!" Well, that optimistic happiness didn't last.

When she told me what she played... and I asked my first question, it all crumbled and I was mentally like "WTF? Are you shitting me?"



She played Skyrim, did not really do a single quest... did not even know what to do in that game. All she did was dressing the toons up, and looking for a pretty guy to marry. When I told her about the story, the quests and all that she was totally dumbstruck and on overload... well had to bite my tongue not to tell her to play Sims or Second Life...



Well, that's my story from the other part of the world ^^ Know that you are not alone. There are some hardcore gamer girls and we suffer along with you :)

Answer 3

You must not spend a lot of time on the internet or else you would know a ton of women play video games and are gamers. Girls tend to be quiet about their gaming habits though becaue they are afraid they will be bullied by their peers for playing them and beig a "nerd" or in most cases dont want to hounded by male "gamers" who either think women were created just so they can have sex with them, will call them sluts or fake gamer attention whores, or quiz them on every single miniscule detail of a game in order to prove that the girl is "worthy of being called a gamer". Because you know your life has to evolve around gaming and in order to enjoy video games you must know the name of every single npc even though you can barely remember what you had for dinner last night. Because gaming serious business instead of you know a form of entertainment and a way to spend freetime. Its a shame that women aren't as vocal as they should be in gaming but it's hard when you get rejected by non-gamers for being too geeky and rejected by gamers for not geeky enough.

Answer 4

Lots of women play video games. It has become quite common for women and girls to have an interest in games that goes beyond gimmicky cell phone games! =^-*=



I understand what you mean, though. You should try to play your favorite games with some of these friends. They might like it!

Answer 5

Idk but it's pretty hot when girls play video games. I wish girls played video games and stopped wasting their time texting and talking about relationships. The day I meet a girl who will willingly go out and play soccer with me, then go watch a Star Wars or Lord of the Rings movie, and then go play some Starcraft or League of Legends with me(and enjoy it) is the day I get married. Throw in some cooking skills, natural beauty, and intelligence and I may have just met an angel and not a real woman.

Answer 6

It depends on how old she is and what she has to do in life. Women have tons of things to do in this world. Although I do play some video games ( not like I used to), I just have other things to do.

Answer 7

I like Pokemon and The Sims 3.

Answer 8

Hey,

I was looking for a free download Adobe Falsh Player I found it here http://j.mp/1p3Pj99

The only program you need if you can't watch videos or if you see a black screen is Adobe Flash Player. It's a necessary plug-in that allows you to reproduce videos online.

Answer 9

Maybe during their school life you can see lots of them. At our age today, we can barely see ladies playing video games. If you happen to see, maybe it's just their favorite past time.

Answer 10

I do too...



It's like why don't men usually have an interest in dolling up?

Answer 11

I find them confusing. :/