Ratio of male:female gamers (was forked "DDM: Chicks not in chainmail")

[pawsplay]

I believe the 1 in 5.

For every game I've seen where the ratio was more like 1 in 3, there's been a game where the ration was 0 in Whatever.

A lot of women are uncomfortable with the male oriented culture of many gaming groups (or flat out find it repulsive, or are actively and intentionally repelled by the gaming group in question). That suggests that when you find female gamers, they may be disproportionately represented in the locale in comparison to the population as a whole.

It could also mean they socially select situations where the 6:0 guys don't encounter them.

 

[Wormwood]

Two groups, eleven people, one women.

Two women, if I can bring my wife back to the game next month (fingers crossed)

 

[Kiddo]

I'm a member of a local University gaming society, and our internet forum reckons that the ratio of males to females registered there is roughly 3:1.

Now, a good deal of those are no longer active users and by my (admittedly unscientific) reckoning, that portion of the society is more often male, so I reckon the ratio for active members is probably closer to 2:1 or 2.5:1.

In my personal experience, female gamers have been increasingly common since I left school. I run a game in which the women (four) outnumber the men (three), counting the DM. In my other games, I generally have two women as pretty consistent players, with varying numbers depending on actual game.

I'd say - based on purely anecdotal evidence from my own observations - that we are gathering an increasingly female membership each year. The society is based in a female-majority University and our campaigns for gathering new members are increasingly skewed towards attracting female gamers (as male gamers seem to find us by themselves).

I think the gaming subculture needs to reach out a bit more to women. It is certainly perceived by wider society as an anti-social male domain. These are perceptions that I think the gaming community should strive to shake. Gaming is an inherently social hobby - one of the most social, I would hazard - and the male dominance is rapidly dissolving. How society perceives gamers does matter, and I think dispelling some of the myths surrounding the various gaming hobbies would aid the community no end.

 

[Cadfan]

It could also mean they socially select situations where the 6:0 guys don't encounter them.

Right, that's what I meant. I probably wasn't very clear. They socially select to avoid the guys who bother them.

 

[Mark]

It could also mean they socially select situations where the 6:0 guys don't encounter them.

You had to make it personal . . .


Since sometimes that isn't the case, I choose to believe that it is more likely a coincidence. I think those who are to be avoided get avoided as much by males as females.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

IME, its not general avoidance- I know a few female gamers.

Very few.

Those I do know are every bit as gung-ho for the hobby as any guy I know.

Generally, when I see ladies in the stores, they're usually there with some guy- his mother, sister, gf, wife or daughter- they're not in there for themselves.

FWIW, though, about a quarter of the female gamers I know have entered the game via such a relationship.

 

[El Mahdi]

Of all the groups I've played in, the cumulative ratio is exactly 2:1. However, I excluded any groups I was in while stationed in Korea. Since I only interacted with gamers on base (almost exclusively military with nearly zero percent spouses), and the base population was probably at least 50:1 male/female, I figured it would be too much of an atypical statistical group. But then again, the small number of people I've played with compared to the number of total gamers would be too small a statistical group to be significant also.

 

[The Green Adam]

Atypical Amoung The Unusual

Once again I have to shake my head as I am now firmly convinced I spent much of my formative years on a parallel world.

My current game is the first I've had with a regular group containing no female members in the last 20 years (beginning in January of this year). My last two groups consisted of between 6 and 8, ages 22-42 with an average of 3 female players participating.

I am currently running one campaign, with a second one coming, that features between 8 and 12 players, ages 25-42 (I believe). We meet once a month for my game but some of the members are in other monthly games run by other members of the group.

Interestingly, my group is now and has always been significantly ethnically diverse as well. No less then 5 nationalities are represented by our group.

So if you feel you don't fit in with your local party, hop on over to the Compleat Strategist in NY one Saturday. All are welcome!

AD
Barking Alien

 

[joethelawyer]

I've never gamed with a woman. The closest my group, 4 guys approaching 40 yrs old, came to having a woman in our game was when my former roommate, a 21 yr. old guy with a smoking hot GF, dropped by the table after a halloween party. He and the GF were both drunk. She was wearing a tiny little french maid outfit as a costume, and from what we could tell, wore no panties under it.

No more dice were rolled that night.

 

[InVinoVeritas]

* Societally, role-playing is considered a masculine hobby. How would other people look at a woman playing with a group publically? Not that anyone is likely to go, "Check out that dude playing D&D, he's so cool," but if you are a woman, it's not an activity that is likely to be reinforced by others.

From my experience, any gaming is a masculine hobby. Consider the male/female ratio in other hobby games. Or chess. Or poker. Or among sports fans.

I believe the ratio is more a function of the fact it's a game, and not that the particulars of the game attract more men than women.