Stereotypes Of Women In Gaming

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Women in Gaming and Technology When you think of a gamer what is it you think of? Is it a teenage boy staying up all night, or a middle-aged man living in his parent’s basement? Sadly, when you ask most people that’s what they think. So why is it that girls can’t be gamers too? The stereotype that only guys can be gamers dates back to when the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) came out in 1983. When Nintendo was deciding how to market the system they decided to market it to children, which led to another big decision. In the 80’s toy aisles were very segregated, girls had Barbie and Rainbow bright dolls while boys had Ninja Turtles and Madballs. There were very few toys that were marketed towards both genders, but even when there was one …show more content…

People will oftentimes ignore females if they are using a microphone or if someone is not playing well and they aren’t sure if they are a girl or not they will call them girls and kick them out of the party. If the guys are nice enough to let a girl join them, there is usually only one spot open. This creates the “only girl syndrome” among many young girls causing discontent and competition between female gamers. D’Anastasio states “the “only girl” is a token and, yes, at this point, a caricature. From this comes the ubiquitous, and now cringe-inducing, a trope for female gamers.” There was even one video that went viral on twitter recently of two girls fighting amongst themselves over who played a character better and who should be on the team. Sadly, this is a reality that many girls in video games face. So, what can we do to try and break these stereotypes, to help girls feel comfortable not just in the world of gaming but the world of technology as a whole? Well, we can start by encouraging more girls to learn about gaming and technology instead of alienating them. Oftentimes that’s not as easy as it sounds, many grade schools only teach you typing skills and how to use Microsoft Office. There are only a handful of grade schools in the country that are even certified in teaching more advanced technology

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