How Sexist Is The Gaming Community

Savannah Kerns

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As a female that plays video games, I can’t help but feel that males dominate the gaming industry. Some female stereotypes include enjoying things like the color pink, wanting to be princesses, and playing with barbies; not gaming consoles. This is the common stereotype most females are raised to believe in. If we don't follow these expectations, then we are considered tomboys. How is that fair? I don't understand what's wrong with females playing video games. Is it a threat to males today to have a female play the same video game the same way they do? Many males seem to get threatened that females who join the gaming world have the chance of being straight up better than them. They think that it's embarrassing to have a female be better at something than they are. Letting females play video games isn't a bad thing. It gives more money to the video game companies and gives more competition for other players. Also, what's the point of sending death threats to someone just because they're a female playing a video game? In my personal experience, I've never gotten any type of death threat. I believe people should be more open to the fact that women are also capable of playing video games. I mean, it's a free country! Men and women have equal rights. With those rights, one should be able to play a simple video game. The “You're a female, you can't be good at video games!” mentality is extremely immature. Female characters are often only shown to be provocative or the "damsel in distress". In the gaming world, females are portrayed to be “less” of a gamer just because of their gender. How hard is it to treat women in the same way men are treated?