Aibu to hate the girls can't be gamers stereotype

[coolmum223]

So I personally am a gamer. I'm not talking candy crush on my phone I'm talking uncharted, tomb raider and assassins creed on my PS4. But I've gotten a lot of hate on this at work saying girls shouldn't be playing games and what example am i setting to my daughter. The scary thing is this is women saying this.
Now I personally feel I'm setting a pretty decent example to my Daughter by showing her that men aren't the only ones who can play video games and that women can be just as good at them or better (because I always dominate at battlefield I'm not kidding)
so Aibu to think there's nothing wrong with women gaming and that women should feel free to do it if they want to/can

InfiniteCurve
I see what you mean.
I don't think people should keep quiet. I just think people do what they enjoy and get on with life without deciding that they are a role model for having a non stereotypical interest.
I don't think a woman enjoying gaming or a man enjoying dance is any more of a role model than a woman enjoying gymnastics and a man enjoying football.

It's the implication that being a female gamer (added to the idea of being a proper gamer vs a woman who plays candy crush, which seems to reinforce gender stereotypes) is being a role model that I find unusual.
The reality is people have hobbies. People do hobbies.

Given the addictive nature of many video games, it's not something I've massively encouraged in my house, although i am the only family member who plays zero video games. Reading and anything active is very much encouraged.

But you can game and read and do sports. As with any hobby, if that is all you do all of the time then it's not 'healthy'.

I love to pop a film on, or some music, and sit gaming of an evening. All the household shite gets done earlier. I still find time to read and go to the gym.

The CEO of UKIE, the UK games industry body, is a woman (and a mate), she received an OBE for her services to the games industry. Damn right girls can be gamers.

What Youthecat (excellent name btw) said - gaming, reading, sports and other hobbies are not all mutually exclusive

I'm 29 and I love gaming. Fortunately I'm a structural engineer so my colleagues are generally fellow nerds so being into games as an adult is the norm! Both myself and my partner love gaming. We don't have any kids so don't have to care about them in the equation, but there's plenty for women in the gaming industry. I guess one argument is often the lack of female characters - my SIL only likes playing female characters and that isn't always an option - but that's not something I mind. Currently it's RDR2 in our house and me and my DP fighting (friendly fighting) over who's turn it is that night!

I don't mind playing male characters if the game is good, but if there's an option to play a female character I generally take it. All my characters on EQ are female, although then you get into all sorts of issues about the way they look - many ye olde medieval push-up bras available in that world, apparently 🙄 Mind you, we are talking about a 20 year old game there - I'd like to think things might have moved on a bit.

Has your SiL played Portal? Female protagonist and antagonist - GlaDoS is my role model, although I try to be less murderous on a day to day basis.

Lots of love for RDR2 - we really like the look of it in this house, but we'd need a new console 🙄

YANBU.

@birdsgottafly

Studies have shown that Women tend not to becone as insular/aggressive and emotionally cut off like Males do, who game a lot.

I agree with this. Men tend to get very obsessed with gaming, much more than women do. And these same men do NOT like it when women do gaming, especially when they're better than them.

My daughter introduced her boyfriend - and several male pals - to gaming. They weren't bothered about it before, as no-one in their family did it. And SHE got the interest in it from me and her dad.

@Goldilocksandthethreepears

I really hate the attitude of gaming being unworthy, being a 'lesser' hobby than say watching tv or reading. A good game with a good story is an interactive film, essentially, a choose your own adventure with participation instead of sitting and staring.

I find this attitude very odd too. Gaming is no more a 'waste of time' than reading a few chapters of a book, watching a film, going for a walk, going to play a game of pool or tennis, or playing cards, darts, or dominoes, or sitting in the pub downing pints.

People are very strange to imply that gaming is a waste of time AND that GIRLS should not do it LOL!!!

Posted too soon. Wanted to say, our son is interested in gaming too, but our daughter is more into it. He is more into sport than she is. Although she does go to the gym, and play table tennis and badminton.

Spudlet

I don't mind playing male characters if it's a set character (like Geralt) but it irritates me if you create your character from scratch and there isn't a option to create a woman. Thankfully that seems pretty rare these days.

many ye olde medieval push-up bras available in that world, apparently 🙄 Mind you, we are talking about a 20 year old game there - I'd like to think things might have moved on a bit.

Things have improved a bit in 20 years, but game designers still seem to feel the need to put in some boob armour, somewhere.

I prefer playing games with girls.

They're usually not dickheads when they lose or die as opposed to guys..

I'll answer you when I've just finished this Red Dead 2 bank robbery 😂

Seriously though, women gamers are more and more common, or just ever happier to talk about it.

If anyone here is up for some RD2 online gaming let me know. Haven't even started yet, still on story. But it'd be nice to play with other women.

I game (GOW, assassin's creed, Skyrim) . Thankfully I haven't experienced this in real life. I have a normal office job and my (female) colleagues play fallout and Skyrim etc as well as the males. The men were somewhat amused at first when they realised I was far more advanced in Skyrim than they were but it's all cool. YANBU OP

Yanbu

I get this a lot. Both online and in real life, luckily my DH is a gamer too. He’s a game developer so gaming is a huge part of our lives. The games he works on according to some on here are terrible, ridiculous and will never be allowed in their homes.

I hate the snootiness on here about gaming.

I’m female, 58yo and getting a Nintendo Switch for Christmas.
I can’t wait 😀

About sums it up.

@Casperandjasper getting one of them too. Can't wait to try out The new Mario and Zelda games been playing them since I can remember

I game too and don't think I'm a loser.

Some people watch netflix, prime or general tv shows.
Some read
Some bake
Some knit

All are hobbies and we shouldn't put people down for doing something they enjoy.

I'm up for doing a posse! I hope they add a passive mode to rdr2 though ... I hate griefers and it's what drove me off GTA online because even if they couldn't shoot you they'd run you over or ram your car off a cliff and kill you that way.

Assassins creed odyssey might be the only game I've seen where armour wasn't shaped around larger than life boobies. Progress. Maybe the next game will have a female lead only. My BIL said that he felt these male main character was on necessary that he preferred playing as the female because you don't see female main characters in games very often.

I loved the baldurs gate series. Possibly one of the earliest games I remember where you could choose to play it as a female character and all the male and female options had the same attributes. Plenty of interesting female NPCs in that too.

How awful. My daughter is a gamer and in primary school. I have noticed that probably 80% girls will sneer at gaming which is a shame, they take the mickey out of 'boys playing fortnite' so my girl has to point out that she loves it too and she's no boy!

YANBU! My 15 year old dd is a gamer. If anyone tried telling her girls can't play video games and she'd probably punch them!

Sethis Both my dad at 61 and my uncle at 63 are massive gamers! They've both been playing for over 30 years. I still remember when my uncle brought his first console down (no idea what make it was) when he came to stay and plugged it into the telly. My dad was hooked instantly, both me and my sister were amazed at the graphics. My dad has made loads of friends from online gaming and was even went to the wedding of 2 gamers he'd befriended who met online.

Just logged off my level 70 11K control Wizard on Neverwinter and debating what game to play next. Got plenty of games to play.

Am thankful for my Xbox as it's helped me get through some awful times.

I play my Xbox sometimes but if I’m being totally honest I’m not keen on the whole staring at a screen for hours on end. I used to game a lot, and realised life was passing me by. It’s not a woman thing for me it’s a people thing, I don’t think anyone should stare at a screen for hours and hours. So it depends what kind of ‘gamer’ they are.
I hate the word ‘gamer’ sounds so smug, sorry.

A lot of my experience with ‘gamers’ is clothing not getting washed, children being left to their own devices, dirty houses, decent meals not being made. I know that’s a generalisation but it seems to be a true with a good percentage of people I know who game dramatically. I’m not saying it’s horrendous, I just can’t personally understand it.

YANBU OP. I have been a gamer for a very long time, more lightweight these days though as I don't have the time. My daughter is a serious gamer, her and her partner have a games room in their house and she did a degree in computing and game designing. She cut her teeth on a keyboard, literally. Clean, tidy and well fed, all of us 😛