It's pretty safe to assume that when most people hear the terms "video gamer" and "geek," they think of boys and men rather than of girls and women. The gaming, comic book, sci-fi and fantasy worlds have all been masculinized and are in many ways exclusionary. This exclusion of women also extends to activities like downloading, pirating and file sharing. I mean, can you really go on a file sharing web site or play a video game without being tantalized by an erotic ad or a sex-pot female character? In my own experience, no.
Many women and girls have been and are active gamers and geeks who like superheroes and Star Wars and dressing up as their favorite Sailor Moon character. But, they remain outsiders in a world where game play and websites objectify and demean females, advertise for porn websites and generally glorify male characters while sexualizing female characters in a way that sends a specific message: this is meant for dudes.
Although the tendency toward violence and aggression is what has often characterized video gaming as something more appropriate for men, women also find the same games fun and engaging, while also enjoying the stories and characters of RPGs. They recognize and celebrate the physical cunning and strength of the female characters they play, and often gain their own sense of strength from playing these characters or creating an avatar.
An issue still facing female gamers is harrassment by male gamers. And though much of the harassment is delivered virtually, during game play, it is still inappropriate. Many female gamers are frustrated and fed up with being asked out on dates during online play, or told they can't be good at video games simply because they are female.
Although women are less represented in terms of the number of lead female characters and of female gaming experts on TV, geeky girls have been pushing their way into the boys-only club in a big way over the past few years.
Thanks to video blogging, web series and social media, female gamers and geeks have been getting their name out there and making valid statements about how technology and sci-fi/fantasy genres are for women, too. Though women are often portrayed as nothing more than sexual objects throughout the gamer and online worlds, these women show that they are more and have just as much valid interest in comic books, superheroes, elves and spellcasters as any man has.
There are several women/groups out there right now who celebrate their love of geekdom and technology, and they are assisting other women in taking a more active role in the gaming community. I especially admire that they are showing girls and women they can still be feminine even if they like Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, World of Warcraft and Call of Duty. And while at times their sexy costumes may feed into the male gamer fantasy, these women ultimately appear to be in charge of their sexuality and proud of who they are.
Team Unicorn
According to their web site:
Representing the idea that 'like unicorns, geek girls aren’t supposed to exist', Team Unicorn is a multi-media production team formed in Los Angeles, California in 2010. Its members are Michele Boyd, Clare Grant, Milynn Sarley, and Rileah Vanderbilt. The group was first created when the four girls came together to create their debut online video, “G33K & G4M3R Girls” in September 2010. Spoofing Katy Perry’s “California Gurls“, the video is filled with geek cultural references and pays tribute to women who love gaming, manga, sci-fi and many other genre related topics.
My only real beef with Team Unicorn is that they are all model-gorgeous, often edging on that line between sexual and sexualized. Nonetheless, they have a great sense of humor about the films, games and books geek girls love.
Felicia Day and "The Guild"
Felicia Day is, hands down, the coolest female on the planet (except for Tina Fey, of course). You can tell how much she actually loves gaming and role-playing, and her interests and talent led her to create one of the most popular web series out there: "The Guild," which was originally financed by fan donations and is now distributed by Xbox Live and sponsored by Sprint. Check out the first episode, it's awesome!
Felicia Day has also been featured on soon-to-be-cult-classic "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," and is the lead character in another web series: "Dragon Age: Redemption."
Feminist Frequency
There are a couple fantastic videos by Anita Sarkeesian about female gamers/geeks. She has her own web site, and is actually writing her thesis about strong women in science fiction and fantasy television. Her site is fantastic for information about anything dealing with feminism and pop culture.
Geek Girl Con
Yes, this year--earlier this month, to be exact--the first Geek Girl Con took place in Seattle. They have a fantastic facts page about the event and why they put it on. Anita Sarkeesian was one of many female panelists/speakers featured at the event.
There are many other people, sites and groups out there supporting the female gamer/geek community. These are just a few I happen to like and relate to.
I love violent video games, strangely enough. I read a study that woman are actually more likely to be MORE aggressive than men in video game type scenarios when the role of gender is taken away (or like in the case of most games, you have no choice but to be a guy.) In this same article , it also mentioned that up to 70% of woman who play online report using a male avatar to avoid "TITS OR GTFO" when entering online gaming communities. Sad but true. Half of the hand-made display pictures in Call of Duty online are rudimentary shapes of boobs and jizz and boobs with jizz on them. It's sad. As if there isn't enough porn on the internet...
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