Tag Archives: gamer

Missing Gamer Girls

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Thinking about representations across video games, not much came to mind. I don’t really play video games and on the rare occasion that I do, I like to stick to racing games where I embarrassingly enough don’t know what buttons on the control do, and spend most of the time spinning out of control in the wrong direction ( no judgement). What I do remember from my younger years as kid watching all the boys hog the TV, was the fact that they never wanted to let the girls play. It would take a lot of begging for a turn and when they did let us play, it would be one round only and then back to the boys, because “they knew what they were doing”. Thinking back on those moments I realized that the idea of a “boys only” world within video games is something that is programmed into our minds from a young age. Early on gender associations are assigned and video games become something off limits for girls, and on the occasion that they do play well it is never better than the boys.

As the demographic of players get older, and females who stuck to playing despite the already biased idea of a boys only zone try to find female characters that do not embody a stereotypical weak representation, it becomes something hard to come across compared to male characters. Going through the articles it was interesting to read that in the Williams piece the most common portrayal for females and characters was the complete absence of females within games, and when represented they are often oversexualized and victimized. This idea of the absence of female characters resonated as well with the claim made that the absence of images in media, creates certain impressions on readers. If they do not see themselves represented they begin to reflect those same ideas within society.  If females or minorities for that fact do not see themselves in the very games they play, then the idea of becoming game creators or engaging in math and computer skills to get there becomes a far fetched impossible concept. This further aids in continuing the lack of diversity in games because those who represent the very concept daily in the world, are rendered invisible by the gaming community.

 

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Being a gamer

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During the past week, we’ve talked a lot about video games and one reading particular got me thinking. “Do You Identify as a Gamer?: Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Gamer Identity,” by Adrienne Shaw, talked a lot about the gamer identity and how people perceived themselves in that sense. Shaw interviewed a diverse group of people, asking them if they considered themselves “gamers” and then asking their reasoning for their answer. During this, Shaw made an interesting find. On page 34 of the article Shaw notes “Although race, sexuality, age, and platform shaped people’s relationship with gaming,
these did not determine whether they identified as gamers.”

That quote prompted me to add a critical question to the discussion: “What do you feel are the qualities/traits that make someone a gamer?” This brought up many different answers but the more I thought about my own question, the more I came to realize that it isn’t an answerable question (at least not in my opinion). Being a “gamer” shouldn’t have some standard definition. Once we start doing that, we start excluding people, and even if the group is very small, that’s still exclusive. Think of it this way, if we go off Shaw’s article and determine that the traits noted above don’t play a part in determining if someone’s a “gamer”, then the next thing we hop down to is type of games being played.

If we set more competitive and triple AAA titles to be the standard games of a “gamer”, then suddenly we alienate those who play “casual” or mobile games. People who play games on their phone (which it’s worth noting that those games are becoming more and more complex so that stigma against mobile should just disappear as it’s pointless) and those who play browser based games aren’t allowed to call themselves “gamers” if we set those standards. And we shouldn’t be allowed to tell someone “No, you aren’t a gamer.” if they feel they are one.

If we abandon game type, and instead go to time playing games, we run the risk of achieving the same alienation. If we set a certain number of hours a week as the standard of being a “gamer” , than anyone who falls under it can’t be considered a “gamer” in the eyes of the gaming community. If someone plays Halo 25 hours a week, and I play Skyrim 5 hours a week, I’m considered less of a “gamer” or not even one by time standards. And again, it’s ridiculous to deny someone the title “gamer” for that reason.

The main point is, if someone seriously feels they are a “gamer”, who are we to deny them that. If the person who plays candy crush a few hours a week feels they are a “gamer”, then good for them! I welcome that. Anyone who wants to deny them that feeling of being a “gamer” is potentially aiding in creating a toxic environment. I think that the standard should be that anyone can be a “gamer” if they want to, and it’s up to them whether or not to say “No, I am not a gamer.” For me, it sort of falls on the line of a type of self-identity. It’s something you consider yourself to be, so why does someone else get to tell you that you’re wrong about that. Which is why it’s good that in Shaw’s article we see that people are starting to less and less feel that their race, gender, sexuality, etc. are something that determines if they are a “gamer.” If they felt differently, that indicates that the gaming community is setting strong standards for being a “gamer” based on those traits. The fact that they don’t feel that way shows that those standards of being a “gamer” are starting to fall off which is terrific.