Female gaming kickin' on campus
By Carey Peck
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Video gamers. You know, those 19-year-old guys wearing food-stained pants yelling vulgarities over Xbox Live, right?
Wrong.
According to the Entertainment Software Association, a group that helps publishing companies deal with business and public affairs issues, 38 percent of gamers are female, and women ages 18 and older make up a larger portion of gamers than boys 17 and younger. Also, 42 percent of online gamers are women.
Jennifer King, a freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences, said although many Marquette gamers are male, women are starting to pick up the controller too. However, while women are playing video games, King said they do not consider themselves "gamers."
"I know a lot of girls that live on campus who enjoy 'Guitar Hero' and 'Wii Sports,'" King said. "But I have to admit, I haven't met many who are 'hardcore.'"
Ismini Boinodiris Roby, cofounder of WomenGamers.com, said there are plenty of women gamers spending considerable amounts of time with this hobby. WomenGamers.com, an online female-conscious environment, provides neutral video game content, assistance for universities and educational facilities and services for video game companies.
"This is especially true in the casual gaming market, although I've seen this phenomenon in other genres as well," Roby said. It seems numerous women just do not identify with the "gamer" title.
"It takes a little digging and discussion beyond (asking) 'Are you a gamer?' to discover whether these people do play," Roby said.
However, with every emerging hobby, video gamers have also picked up their own stereotypes.
"Most commercials that show people playing a game, it's usually males playing them," said Megan Boeshart, a freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences.
Boeshart said she thinks the gamer stereotype has mildly decreased for males, but it continues to remain strong for females. She said people connect female gamers with the traditional geek image, and it scares women away from gaming.
"I don't really like the fact that the stereotype is being displayed," Boeshart said. "Girls don't even give video games a shot."
Meg Bartelt, a 2006 Marquette graduate, feels the same. Bartelt said general female stereotypes tend to carry over to female gamers so everyone assumes they enjoy the latest puzzle titles or "The Sims."
"Or, God forbid, some hideous Barbie shopping thing," Bartelt said.
With WomenGamers.com, Roby said she thinks the gamer stereotype will decrease. She said the mass media is not immersed with gaming culture, and therefore cannot accurately describe gamers. With its increasing popularity, Roby said the stereotypes will slowly fade away.
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