Is the term Girl Gamer sexist?

[Ravynne Sidhe]

The passing days drew us closer
The pain is matched with joy.
Both hands reflect that
I cry when I think of you.

I'm having a debate on facebook with a friend over whether or not the term "Girl Gamer" is sexist.

I'm a girl, and I do play video games. I see no actual issue with calling myself a girl gamer, or calling other girls who play video games girl gamers. It's a specific demographic of girls who obviously play video games.

What is sexist is that whenever I play Perfect World International I always somehow get mistaken as a guy. Whether it's because all my female characters have big breasts (because fash and armor doesn't look right with small or normal sized breasts) and I'm almost always blunt. When I try to tell people that I am indeed male, they tell me "tits or GTFO", if anything being told to prove I'm female by showing my breasts is more sexist than calling myself a girl gamer. And it's not like I randomly run up to guys telling them "d**k or GTFO" to prove that they're male (I damn well should start doing that)

Think of it this way, a girl loves to play sports and calls herself a tomboy. Other people recognize her as being a tomboy which is fine. However it's when she is better at sports that sexist remarks got thrown at her. Even if she didn't call herself a tomboy, she'd still get sexist remarks thrown at her just by being good, or even better.

Pulling this back to my point; whenever I play Perfect World International as my cleric I like to player kill, and I like trolling the trolls on either whisper or world chat. When I pk someone I always get called a slut or a whore without even mentioning I'm a girl or a gamer, or a girl gamer. Same goes for when I troll the trolls and end up beating them at their own game and get called a slut or a whore, without mentioning I'm a girl or a girl gamer. (Some of them know I'm a female because my username is LadyTsuki)

-Do you think the term girl gamer is sexist?
-Do you think that if girls stopped using the term girl gamer, the sexism would stop or would it just continue as if the word never existed.
-What should girl gamers call themselves if girl gamer is sexist? Mind you can't say gamer because there are many different types of gamers spanning different demographics?

Yorisotta sugi shi hi wa
Itami wo yorokobi ai
Ryoute ni utsushi dasu
Anata wo omoi naite iru

 

[Nanaremilamina]

Rule 31 - Tits or GTFO. Rules of the internet.
Seems like you've ran into a couple /b/-tards.

I'd just ignore them, most of them are 13year old wannabe trolls.


As for the topic on hand, I just call myself a gamer. I see nothing sexist about it since some people want to maintain their identity online, such as gender.  

[Zephyrkitty]

Do you think the term girl gamer is sexist?
No. I've heard arguments that it reinforces a stereotype (emphasizing that you're a girl that plays games strengthens the idea that games are for boys and girls who like video games are rare), but it's not sexist.


Do you think that if girls stopped using the term girl gamer, the sexism would stop or would it just continue as if the word never existed.
I doubt it. A lot of the sexism in gaming culture has nothing to do with the term 'girl gamer'.


What should girl gamers call themselves if girl gamer is sexist? Mind you can't say gamer because there are many different types of gamers spanning different demographics?
I'd like to see the term 'gamer' completely fall out of use, myself. We don't have special terms for people who go to movies or read books because everyone does them. Stuff like Angry Birds and the various Facebook games are getting more people into playing video games, so hopefully it's just a matter of time.  

[Kaiyle Brightblade]

This is pretty interesting, especially since I've never thought about it before. I tried to think of a way that the term "girl gamer" could be sexist, but I failed. I can't think of any negative stereotypes about women that are attached to this label.  

[flauterfli]

Yes and no.

It implies that a girl gamer is a "different" subset from a male gamer, who are simply referred to as a "gamer." Or an obnoxious loser, depending on whom you're speaking of.

This kind of idiotic advertising campaign is what concerns me.

"Girl gaming" tends to imply pink fashion, cooking, cleaning, etc. games that are sexist in themselves.
(not that they aren't fun to play, but the fact that they're blatantly aimed at young girls is painfully reminiscent of the 50's)

But honestly, like most gamers, girl gamers have a wide variety of skill, personalities, looks, etc.

And besides, I don't mind it too much, given that men will tend to go easy on you until you beat the snot out of them. Then they go into ultra competitive mode and still can't win. That's the fun part.

And for mmorpg's: boys will give you things. Lots of things. I have no shame in taking full advantage of my...assets.

I think "girl gamer" will be a term that implies different things to different people (like, a horrid wanna-be to some guys, or incredibly sexy and skilled to others) until gaming becomes more mainstream for women.
 

[V2Mew]

I feel that it is sexist in a way.
It implies that being a female gamer is different than a male--
we are both just gamers.
I see it that if you play video games weather you be a boy or a girl you are both of equal ability so you don't need different terms.
The term 'girl gamer' annoys me-- makes me feel like they are
underestimating us because of our stereotypical likes and nature.
Its like if we started calling them boy gamers, imagine how they would
react xD  

[Ravynne Sidhe]

V2Mew

I feel that it is sexist in a way.
It implies that being a female gamer is different than a male--
we are both just gamers.
I see it that if you play video games weather you be a boy or a girl you are both of equal ability so you don't need different terms.
The term 'girl gamer' annoys me-- makes me feel like they are
underestimating us because of our stereotypical likes and nature.
Its like if we started calling them boy gamers, imagine how they would
react xD

The passing days drew us closer
The pain is matched with joy.
Both hands reflect that
I cry when I think of you.

See I don't think it's sexist or tries to imply that being a female gamer is "different" than a male gamer. The only difference is that we have tits and a v****a whereas guys don't (unless they're fat) :s. If it's sexist to call someone a girl gamer because they're obviously female versus male gamer and you think it makes you look different, then you might as well bind your boobs :s Bit extreme, but those are what do separate us from men :s

The only sexism that comes with video games is that players seem to think girls DON'T play video games at all. Not that all girls like pink or that girls are only into cooking games or whatever. (See I like pink and I like playing TinierCafe on facebook, it's fun :s)

Yorisotta sugi shi hi wa
Itami wo yorokobi ai
Ryoute ni utsushi dasu
Anata wo omoi naite iru

 

[Tsiklop]

The term "girl gamer" isn't sexist. I think it's a little elitist to call oneself a girl gamer, like "oh, look at me, I am a special snowflake because I am a girl who plays video games omg my lyfe is so hard and no one understands fuq da police" and repeat ad nauseum.

But it's not sexist.  

[pauliana]

i feel that way..just ignore them i love playing video games and that's cool wink  

[x-Rainbow_Alpacaz-x]

Nanaremilamina

Rule 31 - Tits or GTFO. Rules of the internet.
Seems like you've ran into a couple /b/-tards.

I'd just ignore them, most of them are 13year old wannabe trolls.


As for the topic on hand, I just call myself a gamer. I see nothing sexist about it since some people want to maintain their identity online, such as gender.

^  

[Mord Alushar]

I hate how gaming has become a freaking trend these days and its sad that a lot of girls play video games to look hot and attract guys or appear cool.

I'm one of the classically trained gamers and it angers me that I get thrown into the same category as those girls. So, when ever I play online, I don't reveal that I'm female unless its a good friend. I play like a man.  

[The Forbidden Soul]

alling yourself a gamer girl is not sexist, it is just a mean to describe yourself as a separate gender.

 

[Yonakii]

I refer to myself as a gamer, but I see nothing wrong if someone wants to add 'girl' to their title.

It's funny how so many girls think gaming is strictly for guys. I went to EB Games with my friend once. I took a lot at some RPG's. She frowned and said they were for boys. That really pissed me off.  

[Onigetoe]

Yonakii

I refer to myself as a gamer, but I see nothing wrong if someone wants to add 'girl' to their title.

It's funny how so many girls think gaming is strictly for guys. I went to EB Games with my friend once. I took a lot at some RPG's. She frowned and said they were for boys. That really pissed me off.

I had that happen to me in GameStop. Ironically I was with my male friend and we were planing on playing the game together, I still bought the game and kicked a** on it too, at least until my desktop died on me.

I have been playing games since they were only "for boys", just because it is made for "boys" means jack all to me. It looks interesting I am gonna play it.  

[Enigmatic Lunacy]

I don't like how people seem to think that if you're a girl you shouldn't play video games.
A lot of people at my school know that I play video games and whenever I mention something about it they usually make comments but do I care? Not at all! Who cares if I'm not a guy, I'm not gonna stop playing video games just because people think that its weird. I don't make fun of them for doing the things they like. Otherwise I'm a normal person, I get average grades in school, I'm a cheerleader, I go on social outings and all that jazz.
I really just hate all the girls at my school who say "oh yeah I'm a gamer too!" and when I try to have a conversation with them they reply "oh I only play CoD." They're just the attention seeking ones. You can't play one game and call yourself a gamer.
Another thing I don't like is whenever I go into gamestop even just to browse my mother always makes comments like "thats a boy's game" and "why are you so weird?" This one time I went to gamestop by myself and the guy working that day followed me the ENTIRE TIME because was the only girl in the store. It really shouldn't be that big a deal.