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Message: <blockquote data-quote="fusangite" data-source="post: 1881752" data-attributes="member: 7240">I am in my 30s and I have gamed regularly with three women over the past decade or so. A few comments:I recruited my ex to gaming and I have to say that the transition between her being involved because of our romantic attachment to being involved independent of any romantic attachment has been pretty seamless. That stated, although we ceased to be together 8.5 years ago, although she really likes gaming, she has only been involved in games with which I have been associated either directly or indirectly. The other female gamers with whom I have been associated were also both recruited by their significant others and, again, their involvement in gaming outlasted these relationships. I understand from those WOTC marketing statistics and some theorizing of my own that RPG involvement has gradually ceased, over time, to be strongly gendered male. But for people of my generation and older (I'm 32), our perceptions of gaming were shaped at an earlier time. So I would wager that for both men and women born in the mid 70s or earlier, RPGs will always be strongly associated with the male gender (but, paradoxically not with masculinity). I would therefore expect that tales of involvement/recruitment in gaming for women in their late 20s and older, are going to centre around romantic relationships. You ask for the cause or catalyst for the women I have encountered in my gaming career to move from "DM's wife" to just another player. I cannot recall any such moment; there are the moments where one realizes that this has happened but that is different. The transitions I have seen have tended to be gradual and even transitions. Although not a direct response to your question, I am curious about something else in the same vein: how important a motivation for staying with the hobby is the constant ego reinforcement female gamers receive concerning their desirability? This seems a strong, often-seen social dynamic in gaming communities I have encountered. In fact I recently witnessed another such group and described it to a friend as "the women with low standards and the men who love them."</blockquote>

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