Realizations from the confessions of a female gamer

I am a female gamer. My main game is Dota 2. I am in love with the game, the scene, and everything it has in between. But I would like to point out that being a competitive player is not my goal.

Just recently, Tammy ‘furryfish’ Tang wrote an article entitled Confessions of a Female Gamer about the story of her going into competitive gaming — beginnings, motivations, thoughts, and struggles. It was an article that got me thinking for a while and after a good amount of contemplation, I’m now ready to share my thoughts.

What is it like for females in the competitive gaming world?

The gaming world is a male dominated one. And it’s not surprising that many female gamers find it difficult to break into the competitive scene, especially when it’s a scene for a team game like Dota 2. It could sometimes be because they are shy. Other times, it could be because five times the male players means five times the trash talking, the exclusion, and the sexism (and leering!).

From experience, I know that many girl gamers are recognized only when they are either insanely skilled, or really cute or really hot. Usually, her physical traits take precedence over her skills. I can almost read the guys’ minds sometimes: never mind how she plays! Just look at those legs! I have nothing against girls who wear make-up, wear attractive clothes or who are naturally good-looking. It’s the notion that it’s becoming a social requirement is what bothers me.

I would not be so upset if this standard was applied to the male gamers as well. Not all of the guys who game are good looking; neither are all of them very talented. Yet there is a lesser need for men to prove themselves as much as female gamers do. I often wonder if it’s okay if I told guys that they’re posers because they can’t play like Mushi or that they don’t deserve attention because they don’t look like BurNIng. They would certainly get angry. They’d probably tell me I couldn’t do that. But they’re perfectly all right doing the same to female gamers.

I could get mad and rant, but what’s the point? It’s not like it would change anything at all. I was pondering how females gamers are looked at in the gaming world when I came across one question in Tammy’s article. Many female gamers often say it’s so hard to get recognized in the scene, and Tammy threw this question to this group of girls:

What are you asking for? What have you DONE to deserve it?

I paused. And I paused for a good while. What am I asking for? What am I trying to do? Is there something I’m trying to achieve at all? Why am I doing whatever it is I’m doing?

I continued to read and came across another question.

So, if the chance comes up to be the best at something, even if it’s segregated by gender, why shouldn’t I want to take it?