(An Absence of) Women, Sub-Culture and Stigmas
I’ve taken sociology courses in the past, and I have a general interest in the subject. If I weren’t able to pursue a digital media career I’d most likely be studying something in the sociology/psychology area. I thought it was interesting to look at the effects video games have had on global culture, and how things have changed even since their initital introduction.
In the present day, playing video games has become its own sub-culture. While there are those that play purely for social-recreational purposes, there is definitely a group of individuals who are dedicated to this field solely. These dedicated gamers belong to a sub-culture all their own, similar to sports sub-cultures. I started thinking about this whole sub-culture thing in class when we discussed the previous acceptance of women as gamers and why the same isn’t true today.
Video games are widely viewed today as “kid stuff,” or at least, not for adults. Those who play them regularly are viewed as immature, which while not necessarily accurate, leads a negative perception. In fact, the “gaming sub-culture” has many negative stereotypes associated with them, called stigmas. Gamers are considered “nerdy,” and lacking any real interpersonal skills. Unfortunately, the last part is generally true- time spent interacting with a digital interface is not the same as real, meaningful human contact and leads to poor interaction. Of course, this stigma is a catch-22: Poor interaction leads to a lack of acceptance, which in turn leads to a lack of interaction, making for poor interaction later, thus the cycle continues. The major problem here is that many people who belong to this sub-culture turn inwards and generally can’t participate in the world around them. Many become bitter and angry at this situation, which also does not help. Introversion and a seemingly unfriendly, or inaccessable demeanor are often wards to anyone who might try to initiate a conversation. Many times, it is the fault of the gamers, and not necessarily others, for their inability to interact.
With these negative stigmas, it’s not difficult to understand why there is a lack of women interested in video games, or at least in interacting with members of this sub-culture. Despite it being horribly stereotypical, women are more keen to what is socially acceptable. Video games, being immature, and the members of this culture being widely unaccepted on a social level, it’s not impossible to imagine them being repelled. Most women probably don’t want to, or can’t hold a conversation on the Nintendo Wii’s latest game, or their favorite first-person shooter.
Keep in mind also, that since the industry is male-dominated and the demographic is male-dominated, the games made appeal to that range. Despite also being stereotypical, girls are not generally raised to enjoy the blood-baths and rampage-type gameplay we’ve grown to love. For example, while I can “destroy” any of my friends in Soul Calibur, a fighting and aggression oriented-style game, my girlfriend can wipe the floor with me in the latest version of pokemon. I find that my female friends tend to enjoy playing video games, but really bloody, or fast paced games are not enjoyable for them. And I think honestly, that’s really the point of games in general- to enjoy ourselves. It may not be necessary to have the most high-tech or realistic game- just the one that’s the most fun for everyone.
A lot of the lack of female presence is not society’s fault, but our own. We tend to turn them away with the way we present ourselve and the way we act. And sometimes, it’s our sub-culture’s perceptions about the larger scale culture that inhibits us. So maybe put the controller down once in a while, and get outside. If the gamer sub-culture shows everyone that they aren’t as recluse as larger culture believes, maybe we’ll all be able to find a common ground. Maybe not. Who knows?
