Gamer Girls in a Gamer World

The world is a larger place than playing Call of Duty and Halo with your "bros." The world includes playing Call of Duty and Halo with girls. A substantial chunk of women play games. In fact, 42% of gamers are female according to a report by the Entertainment Software Association. But while they are a large demographic in the industry, it is quite unfortunate to learn that they are like black sheep in a herd of gamers.

Despite what some are led to believe, female gamers don't play Imagine: Babyz or Detective Barbie. These games exist for younger girls, so don't expect a woman who plays games to own a similar title in their collection. Many girl gamers play games like Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, The Sims, and Rock Band. The list goes on and on, and if you were to make separate lists of games for guys and games for girls, you would be a fool. There's no escaping the fact that members of the opposite sex plays the same games.

But what is perhaps really unfortunate is the amount of abuse women seem to get while playing online with others. Sometimes they can be constantly insulted during an in-game chat or even receive extremely inappropriate messages on their profile. Perhaps the sense of anonymity contributes to the abuse and while online (for the lack of a better term) douchebags are prevalent, the amount of comments targeted specifically towards women are gravely disappointing and shocking.

Gaming is a fantastic hobby that everyone should experience and it's just stupid that others are getting in the way and hindering that experience. Hearing these horror stories of horrible comments have discouraged many from playing online (or even playing games at all). But like most hobbies and communities, there are resources out there to help women have a wonderful experience with gaming.

Throughout my gaming career, I have come across many girl gamers and they are by no doubt one of the nicest people I have ever met. There are many forum groups and gaming clans that feature several women who have experienced this abuse one way or another and these communities give them comfort in knowing that they can play games in a judgment-free zone.

One of the most interesting resources I have come across is a website called Fat, Ugly, or Slutty. It's a site founded by girl gamers who laugh off the comments they receive online. People can submit photographs and proof of abuse and the website developers will publish a few on their blog. What makes this particular blog interesting is that many of these photographs do not leave out the names of the people sending these messages as if they are victims of public shaming.

It is unfortunate that the female gaming community has to struggle through many things that men don't typically have to. Many have simply accepted the fact that this kind of internet behavior will not change anytime soon and simply brush off the abuse and misinterpretations to continue doing what they love: playing games.