I am not here to tell you about how much of a Gamer Girl™ I am. I am not here to stand on a pedestal and preach at you. I play video games, and I am a girl. Over the years, it’s become a part of who I am, it brings me and my friends together, and it’s a way I relieve stress and have fun. So… Why do people expect me not to play? Video games have a certain stigma around them. There’s some sort of thought that some people don't expect girls to play them, or they’re surprised when they do. Girls are supposed to play Cooking Mama and Animal Crossing instead of the newest Call of Duty. Creative games or games with cutesie characters is what's expected, but, in reality, guys play these games too. I know boys that enjoy cute cooking games and I know girls that love first person shooters. Gender roles and stereotypes are what make the gaming community toxic for anyone that strays away from them. The only reason boys are expected to love video games and girls aren’t supposed to is because of a marketing plan when games first started becoming popular. Though actually, at first, video games were meant to be played as a family and bring people together, but once they became popular, companies started putting out any game they could, filling the market with games that weren't worth playing. In 1983, when Nintendo was marketing its first console, they decided to sell them in the toy section instead of electronics to market to a different demographic. But at this point, toy aisles were separated by gender, so Nintendo had to pick one or the other. They chose boy, and ended up marketing to them to an extreme. Other companies copied this tactic, and here we are today. This stereotype is still around after so long and it’s because of a marketing plan by Nintendo in the 80’s. Although this stereotype exists, according to the Entertainment Software Association in 2015, more adult females play video games than males under the age of 18. I hope this has provided a new outlook on video games and their history. No matter your gender or age, I wish you happy gaming!
Many of my points were learned from this excerpt from Adam Ruins Everything on truTV.
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