gamergirl

I’ll be honest, I was a little hesitant when naming this blog “Gamer Girl.” Part of me said that putting an overt “Girl” in the title was starting down the slippery slope through pink wallpapers and ending in feminist diatribes against all men. So I’d like to start off with a disclaimer; that is definitely not where I intend this blog to go.  

The question arises then: why put “Girl” in the title at all? I did think long and hard about not doing so, but I decided it was the right choice for several reasons.  

Firstly,  when I talk to friends about games, I often find different things matter to me simply because I’m female, that don’t strike my male buddies one way or another. For example, I’ve always been very appreciative of the gender-neutral way that Dungeons and Dragons writes their sourcebooks. I think it’s hard to understand how nice it feels to be “included” or considered by a game company unless you’ve frequently felt like the games you were playing never had you as a part of their target audience.  I don’t intend to focus overly on these things, but I wanted to make sure that such observations felt “on-topic” in this blog… But please note, I put the “Gamer” before the “Girl” and that was a conscious choice.  

Secondly, I like being referred to as a “she” rather than a “he,” and when I don’t make my gender evident I’m a “he” because there’s a tacit assumption online that all gamers will be male. Intellectually, I think most people know that between 10-40% of them (depending on the game and venue) are female, but since many women who enjoy gaming know that being noticeable in any way often leads to unwelcome attention, it’s easy not to notice the female gamers you do encounter since they often try not to stand out.  I’m not even going to say that it’s only guy gamers who assume that those they are playing with are guys… I do my best, but I know that on at least one occasion I’ve labelled a fellow woman “he.” 

Thirdly, and as a bit of a collorary to the above, certain things in some of my posts will indicate that I’m female (anecdotes etc). That’s inevitable. And it’s easier to have it clear from the start than to politely answer each and every confused commenter. Responding to “Are you gay?” with “…No, I’m female,” is pretty hilarious the first time but it does get less so as time goes by.

 So, what you can expect from here will be posts on games of all sorts–computer, console, board games, card games, d20, you name it. See you tomorrow!