Whether you’re a gamer or not, there is no doubt that you’ve been exposed to distasteful stereotypes or assumptions about gamers. Not surprisingly, some of it comes from the media, but others can come from family members and the community as well. I was fortunate enough to be supported ever since I was little to enjoy gaming and embrace my interest in it, but as I started to mingle with others and witness how people approached the subject of gaming, I slowly started to realize I wasn’t on the same page as them. One thing that I find extremely excruciating is when kids are on the verge of tears because their parents are constantly saying how they have no life and are immature for wanting a video game, and those kids almost regret asking for it. Witnessing that much negativity from a parent to a child is just heart wrenching. Nonetheless, this is just one of the many negative assumptions towards gaming that impacts gamers in a way it shouldn’t. Thus, seeing all this negativity fueled my desire to address it and hopefully can even change one person’s false assumption or stereotypical view towards gamers and their games.
Gamers Look a Specific Way… Likely a Pimple Farming 30 y/o Virgin
Gamers are usually preconceived to be males, single, overweight or malnourished, stinky, nerdy, and simply put; unattractive. I can’t count how many times I’ve been approached while on my shift at EB Games and I’ve been asked “Do you actually play video games?”. Furthermore, after I respond with a “um duhh?’ type answer, they continue to state “You don’t look like the type to play video games”. Now, I’m not sure if I’m supposed to feel happy or upset with that kind of statement, but one thing I know is that this needs to change. Just because I’m a girl who knows how to brush her hair occasionally doesn’t mean I don’t play games. Even more so, it seems that if a person is more nerd-like or “unattractive” per se, people are more likely to think that they’re more knowledgeable in gaming. It’s sort of ranked on the basis of gender, attractiveness or nerd-likeness, and then social skills. If you’re a male that looks nerdy with not much of an ability to socialize you’re probably a gamer. It’s just that silly assumption that beautiful and sociable people aren’t gamers. Guys, this has to change it’s not even funny anymore.
Gamers Are Lonely Creatures That Don’t Know How to Integrate Into Society
Gamers are supposedly immature, child-like and tend to have little or no social skills to obtain friends or a significant other. I strongly disagree with the fact that games cause immaturity and diminish social skills. If a game causes these things, the person clearly hasn’t been raised in an environment that supports and teaches them the difference between right and wrong and the to be confident. Video games inevitably will teach you things and make you have feelings and experiences that you wouldn’t expect because it’s an escape from reality. The issue is that people assume games are the cause for immaturity and diminishing of functionality when it actually lies in the teachings of the parents and environment they reside in. When you’re aware of what’s out in the real world and obtain the support and teachings that guide you, the world you escape to will be more than easy to understand that it’s a fantasy.
Gamers Have No Life Outside Of Gaming
This assumption is closely tied to the one above, but addresses a slightly different aspect. Rather than immaturity and diminishing of social skills, it’s the issue of viewing gamers of having no other goals, future, or things to attend to outside of gaming. Not many think that people who love gaming would be studying or already obtained a doctorate in a different field, maybe run a business, or are parents or even grandparents. It’s as if gamers wake up and go straight to playing games while occasionally eating then redoing it all the next day and future days to come. I understand, sometimes I have days I just play games all day, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have anything to maintain or worry about. As a matter of fact, it’s an escape or break from those chores and worries of everyday life.
Video Games Are To Blame for the Violence in the World
This is probably the most controversial issue in regards to gaming at the moment and probably will continue to be for a very long time. But, as I stated before, I truly believe it’s not video games that cause the issues of immaturity or diminishing of social skills and the like, it’s how the person was raised and in what kind of environment. Now, don’t assume I’m talking about a child from a wealthy home with two parents and a sibling with grandparents visiting every month. No, what I’m referring to can be a single parent home, foster home, or even mainly growing up alone. As long as you have one, just one person who loves you, cares for you, and makes you feel like you’re worth something in the world can make all the difference.
With that said, as much as I emphasize how and where a person is raised, I understand the influence games can have especially on the younglings. Yes, games can influence a person, but if they’ve been guided and taught the right and wrongs they will know fantasy from reality. The issue is if someone wasn’t geared or hasn’t fully grasped this guidance. Thus, some young children, and even teens, should not immerse in certain games (One should definitely be in your mind right now) because they have yet to understand and grasp these concepts and could be influenced to a point that’s out of our control. Even so, I still can’t accept video games to be the complete blame for violence, especially shootings and murders. This has to span from something that we have yet to fully understand.
There’s Games for Boys and Games for Girls
Working at EB Games, another constant and understandable question I get is when parents and grandparents come in and ask “What’s a good game for a girl?” Personally, I completely disregard the gender portion. What I want to know is what the person’s interests are. Do they like pets, cooking, LEGO, puzzles, or platformers? To say someone is a boy or girl doesn’t inform me on what they like, it’s an insignificant fact that I’m not interested in. A concern here is when someone says “What are some games for boys?” and I go straight to the shooting games, not only is it a stereotype that I’m enforcing but it’s an assumption that I shouldn’t have residing in my brain. Especially if the boy happens to be there, and I state cooking and animal games are for girls and he happens to take an interest in it, stating that could make him avoid his interests just because it’s a societal norm. It makes the respective gender feel abnormal and out of place. This is something that is slowly and progressively changing which is wonderful, but still definitely needs attention.
Girl Gamers Just Want Sexy Time and Attention
Before I delve into this, it’s true that some girl gamers are just desperate and do want sexy time while other times it’s media representation from games themselves or trade shows highlighting things like booth babes. Whether it’s from a girl’s own desire or marketing purposes, like how Shawn’s earlier article wonderfully explains; Sex sells. The misconception here is that since girls are depicted mostly in a sexual way, when they are faced in real life, reality and fantasy sort of overlaps each other. It’s especially prevalent when the encounter happens online. Girls tend to be the center of attention not because they’re actually gaming, but because they are girls. Regardless, in absolutely no way is this every male gamer, just the weird ones, but they usually do come in groups because it’s a sort of a “guy thing” to do. Although, I have personally yet to understand and grasp this whole assumption, all I know is that the depiction of women in a sexual way isn’t helping it. All I want to do is play my video games without constant sexual comments and treatment like I’m a wild shiny Pokémon.
