Breaking Gender Stereotypes: Females & the Gaming Community

Bethel University sophomore Karrisa Steiner tells of the stereotypes female gamers face each time they log in

By RACHEL GMACH

Longtime gamer Karrisa Steiner sat on the edge of her seat as she screamed commands to her cousin taking a beating on The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, “Don’t shoot the curtains! Don’t shoot the curtains!” Her orders were drowned out, however, by the shrieking of her other cousins, all also gamers, and she exhaled exhaustedly. Steiner, a sophomore at Bethel University, has been gaming for as long as she can remember. “Even at the age of 5,” Steiner recalls, “My cousin would get my grandma to let me skip out of naptime so she could teach me how to play Mario Cart.” Her sessions now can last from 6p.m. to 5a.m. she reveals shamelessly, especially when it comes to her favorite genre of games – RPG, or roleplaying games. “I’ll play until my eyes hurt,” says the dedicated Steiner. Even her family events center around gaming, “On Holidays my family basically just gets together and games,” She tells. Steiner is a sure example of someone who has committed themselves to their gaming and to the culturing and development of their skill as a gamer.

Not all of the gaming community, however, recognizes Steiner’s true skill and intensity. Why? Simply because she’s a female. The gaming community, not unlike most other aspects of society, falls subject to and is riddled with false gender trait attribution and stereotyping. It’s difficult then, being a girl in the gaming world, as they receive scrutiny from both gamers and non-gamers, male and female alike.

“Basically everyone in the world thinks you’re doing it to get guys”

Basically everyone in the world thinks you’re doing it to get guys,” Steiner says, “they almost always think you’re faking it.” But one can’t help but wonder why a female would fake such a hobby. “People come up with assumptions like ‘oh you’re just doing this to get laid,” Steiner says, “and even if you are good, guys will take it as an invitation to get in your pants.” Surely the majority of female gamers have no such ulterior motives, but rather play because they truly enjoy it. “If I were doing it for guys,” Steiner assures us, “ I wouldn’t be screaming at the TV like a moron until my thumbs are all blistered up from playing with the joystick too long.” Guys can game without their motives being questioned – it’s time that same esteem be granted to female gamers.

“If I were doing it for guys,” Steiner assures us, “ I wouldn’t be screaming at the TV like a moron until my thumbs are all blistered up from playing with the joystick too long.”

It’s not only the gaming community that subsidizes gender stereotyping, but the developers in the gaming industry as well. For one, there are very few female lead characters in the gaming industry, much less female character options in general. “You end up finding out why,” Steiner responds to the lack of female characters, “and it almost makes you more upset.” It seems to be the wide held opinion that females can’t game, or that when they do, they tend to stick to stereotypical ‘homemaker’ type games. “I don’t see where they’re coming from,” tells Steiner, “there’s nothing about your male or female body parts that enable you or don’t enable you to play.”Developers are trying to appeal to their clientele, which has traditionally been predominantly male. That being said, when there are female characters, they tend to be highly sexualized. “You have to push aside any feminist feeling when you’re gaming,” says Steiner, “like there is no possible way these characters can be holding themselves upright with the chests they’ve been endowed with!”

“We have this thing giving us the greatest opportunity to bond regardless of our differences but we do the opposite.”