What It's Like For a Gamer Girl

[Desdichado]

Re: Re: Re: I'm a chick

Careful what you wish for. A few years back, a friend of mine won someone else's nipples in a game of poker; according to him, it's a terrible responsibility.

Of course, those were boy-nipples he won, so that may change things.

Does anyone actually want boy nipples anyway?

 

[Acquana]

Most of the nipples I want are boy nipples. But that's cuz I already got a pair of the other kind.

BTW, morning, RangerWickett. You know I'm not being mean, right? I mean, we have the rest of the guys in the gamimng group for that.

And so the Acquana/Buttercup wars continue! Sorry, there Buttercup, but I don't really think the "but there's no such thing as generalizations" argument really holds up. Um. Anywhere. It's kinda hard to make any point valid (and yes, that includes yours) when you're too busy making it seem like you're not right.

But hey, just to wrangle RangerWickett into this ... I am de-feminized only since I'm in Texas around my guy friends. You know I act differently in Georgia, Wickett. Which goes back to a previous point. So there.

 

[RangerWickett]

Most of the nipples I want are boy nipples. But that's cuz I already got a pair of the other kind.

BTW, morning, RangerWickett. You know I'm not being mean, right? I mean, we have the rest of the guys in the gamimng group for that.

But hey, just to wrangle RangerWickett into this ... I am de-feminized only since I'm in Texas around my guy friends. You know I act differently in Georgia, Wickett. Which goes back to a previous point. So there.

Okay, you make valid points, I s'pose. Anyway, I'm too sleepy to argue.

But you and I both know you don't have nipples. At least not visible ones. You have stealth nipples.

 

[RangerWickett]

But my gender isn't merely a matter of opinion. Really. I swear.

Interesting aside, the 'new girl player' Acquana mentioned is a linguistic fangirl. She loves playing with language, and she'd get all nitpicky on the difference between gender and sex.

F'rinstance, Jessie's (Acquana's) sex is female. That's not a matter of opinion, at least to the educated observer. But her gender is a little less-clearly determined.

Anyhoo, the new girl player is great fun. Her character knew every language. All of them. So I made a new one just to vex her.

 

[Acquana]

How dare you bring up my stealth nipples!

And hey, now that RW makes the point, it's all gender based anyway! Not sex.

 

[Desdichado]

Stealth nipples... Ok, I'm not asking.

To bring the thread a bit back on track, does anyone have a comment on my position that gamers are essentially the same as other people?

I've noticed it's a gamer myth (or maybe conceit) that we're somehow different, or special, and not in a short bus kinda way. Lots of folks want to make wild claims that gamers are more creative, more math oriented (pop psychology would say those two usually are mutually exclusive anyway) more intelligent, or on the more pessimistic side, less socially active or competent, more physically challenged and more hygiene challenged.

Lately especially, I've simply found this to not be the case; gamers are the same people I know from anywhere else. I mentioned in another thread that I have a big (nearly baseball sized) d20 on my desk at work, and it is my gay(mer)dar that never seems to miss.

So all these responses about gamers being socially unable to deal with women is simply wrong, IMO. Gamers on average are as able to deal with women as any other class of male from any other demographic.

Anyone agree or disagree with that thesis?

 

[Teflon Billy]

...Lots of folks want to make wild claims that gamers are more creative, more math oriented (pop psychology would say those two usually are mutually exclusive anyway) more intelligent, or on the more pessimistic side, less socially active or competent, more physically challenged and more hygiene challenged.

Attending conventions seems to confirm your "More pessimistic side" comments for me.

But I will agree that most gamers I've met are not especially creative or math-oriented as a group. I have a difficult time getting my players to remember their math at the game table...and this is across 20 years of gaming.

I've lost count of the people who simply cannot remember where to find, well anything really, on their character sheets or perform the most simple and commonly used calculations in the game ("BAB + STR Bonus + Feats you idiot...same as the last three weeks you've asked")

Lately especially, I've simply found this to not be the case; gamers are the same people I know from anywhere else. I mentioned in another thread that I have a big (nearly baseball sized) d20 on my desk at work, and it is my gay(mer)dar that never seems to miss.

Well, I'll grant you that there has been some improvement in recent years (I think largely due to the advent of WoD and it's stress on RolePlay, Storytelling and the inclusion of Women) in Gamers social and hygenic habits...but all told the bar for "non geeky" social interaction/behaviour is set considerably lower at gaming conventions than say on the bus, or at the University cafeteria.

So all these responses about gamers being socially unable to deal with women is simply wrong, IMO. Gamers on average are as able to deal with women as any other class of male from any other demographic.

Well, I have no statistical proof, but anecdotally our averages differ considerably.

Anyone agree or disagree with that thesis?

Let's call it 35% agreement, 65% disagreement.

 

[Piratecat]

But I will agree that most gamers I've met are not especially creative or math-oriented as a group.

Really? I'd argue that gamers as a whole are significantly MORE creative than non-gamers, a side effect of being forced to use and develop their imaginations. I'd also argue that gamers of both genders are more empathetic, as they are at least slightly used to the concept of seeing a situation from a third party's point of view.

(Is empathetic a word? You know what I mean; demonstrating empathy. Or something. Ahem.)

 

[Desdichado]

Conventions may be an outlier in that they will tend to attract gamers that are much more serious about gaming, sometimes to the point of excluding other aspects of their life.

When I went to the Chicago gameday (which isn't exactly a convention) I thought everyone there seemed to be pretty darn normal. With the exception of Matty_Helm's black fingernails. But we just chalked that up to a holdover from a goth past.

 

[Desdichado]

Really? I'd argue that gamers as a whole are significantly MORE creative than non-gamers, a side effect of being forced to use and develop their imaginations. I'd also argue that gamers of both genders are more empathetic, as they are at least slightly used to the concept of seeing a situation from a third party's point of view.

(Is empathetic a word? You know what I mean; demonstrating empathy. Or something. Ahem.)

That's the logic I've heard for decades, but in my personal experience, I haven't really seen any evidence to support the supposedly logical conclusion. And the prevalence of modules and published campaign settings tends to make the need to stretch one's imagination decline tremendously, as all the detail you need can simply be picked up. And there are plenty of other outlets for creativity besides gaming, and many, many people indulge in them, making (I believe) the incidence of creativity no more pronounced amongst gamers than anyone else. My wife, to use at least one example, is incredibly creative to the point that we have friends that are constantly asking for her help on just about any social occasion they're planning. But she has no particular interest in gaming.