The reasons why some chicks don't play games.

Women's prominent reason for their absence in video game play arises from the dominant ideologic coherence that they are women; Therefore, they do not play games unless they see others playing them. In this sense, women may also feed into their own stereotype if they choose to. Many women think to themselves “I don't that woman on television who are playing video games, so I am not supposed to.” Although it now seems "cool" to be nerdy, video games have stilled been perceived in the hands of extremely geeky mid-aged males who have no life. This may also shun many women of any kind of interest in the gaming world.

These three categories summarize a feminist view on video games that may give reason to why some women never play them:

Failure to relate to female characters in result of their are unrealistic character,one-dimensional,or stereotyped depictions of the female gender;Lack of games for females that don't include stereotypical girly(barbie doll) ideas such as flowers, fashion, princesses, the color pink, etc.;Video games are "for dudes" and typically do not include female players and that the dominant ideology of video games is hateful towards women creating a hostile gaming atmosphere.

image by: pajamajams

Note that the photo above is very sexualized as the woman grasps onto the phallic joystick with an angry, open-mouthed expression. This image was one of the first brought up in a search to find an image of a woman playing video games. Although the image makes female gamers appear competitive, the male-view still obstructs over any other way of looking at it. It is very coincidental that even images of women who do play are also objectified.

"Mario plays into one of the oldest sexist stories ever: the hero who rescues the princess from a monster. To make it worse, rescuing the princess is so goddamn intolerable and fraught with frustration that by the time you finally free her from Bowser’s brutish turtle claws you don’t even care."-The 5 Worst Moments for Women in Video Games

Many video game publishers are pushed into making ample have a small selection of possible buyers. They are therefore forced to make equally broad abstractions. Even in this century, lots of females still have difficulty selecting games that interest them personally. The array of games persists in its amplification yearly. Therefore, often viewing the game's artwork or advertisements could be just as deceiving as the composition of a game than making a hasty choice.



photo by: leena

To this day, one will find a mother coming into a game store searching for a specific color of a console or controller. Next time you are in a video game store, note the choice that the parent makes for their child. Usually, if the child is a boy and wants a pink controller, the parent may get offended as pink is a girly color. This happens less often with girls who want a more masculinized color like blue. One may find that most parents prefer their children to have the color of their sex or a gender neutral color. This also segregates women if they are expected to pick out the color pink young in age.

"We are at a crucial turning point in how women interact with and are portrayed in video games, which is why I believe it is equally as important to recognize the great strides that have been made in addition to the complaints and critiques, for progress is more likely to continue and accelerate if it is encouraged rather than ignored."-Allison Perry, Women and Video Games: Pigeonholing the Past