Wednesday, March 14, 2012

An attitude I've always disliked.

I've been a gamer for most of my life. At the risk of dating myself, I'll mention that I got an NES when I was about seven years old. I grew up watching the Super Mario Brothers Super Show, and especially could not miss the Legend of Zelda episodes on Fridays. There would be Hell to pay if I missed one, and the wrath of a seven-year-old child can indeed be terrible to behold.

To this day, "Excuuuuuuuse me, princess!" makes me chuckle. It also makes me wonder why Zelda never punched Link dead in the face for being an obnoxious little jerk, but whatever.

If it was a video game cartoon, I watched it. Captain N: The Game Master, Super Mario World, Pac-Man, later on the Saturday morning Sonic the Hedgehog series, and Mega Man. I watched them all.

I ate Pac-Man canned pasta and Nintendo cereal. One was overcooked slop in a can and the other was sugary dyed cardboard, but I was somehow convinced, in my child mind, that they would improve my game. I would bomb so many dodongos it wouldn't be funny. I collected Nintendo scratch-off trading cards.

As far as I was concerned, gaming was for everyone. It was just another fun thing to do, right? Sure I had my girly things like Barbie and My Little Ponies (I still like My Little Pony), but I also played video games, watched Transformers, Voltron, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I mean, come on. Who didn't like the Ninja Turtles? Granted, I was aware that mostly boys seemed to be talking about and playing video games in grade school, but there were a fair number of girls too. Since my best friend's house was closer to the school we'd run to her place afterwards to watch the aforementioned Legend of Zelda episodes on Fridays.

It wasn't until I got older that I was exposed to the "Video games are for males" mentality. Every time I went to an arcade, there were a ton of older guys. I was the only girl there, and I'll admit it was uncomfortable. I felt like I was being stared at, although that was probably due less to me being a twelve-year-old girl, and more to me being a twelve-year-old girl playing Mortal Kombat. Other girls would go "Why are you playing those? They're for boys." and other such comments.

Who said? Am I going to spontaneously combust if I touch a controller? Is the Anti-Female Gamer Patrol going to burst into the room and escort me out if I so much as glance at a disc or cartridge? It's ridiculous to think I am somehow incapable of understanding or enjoying a video game simply because I am in possession of a vagina. It is a mentality that has angered me ever since I have learned of it.

I'll admit I grew to really like bruising egos and wounding pride as a teenager. See, I like fighting games. Arcades were full of fighting games in the 90's. Street Fighter and Tekken were my thing, and there was nothing more fun than beating the ever-loving shit out of some loudmouthed cretin who swaggered up to the machine, assured of an easy win because I was just a stupid girl. It was always great to see them turn red and mumble excuses when they lost, like the buttons or joystick being broken, or me being cheesy.

Really, Mr. Only-Throws-Fireballs? I'm the cheesy one? Yeah, sure.

I remember the one time I picked up an armload of games, all of them gory, at Gamestop. As he was ringing me up, the guy at the counter said "Oh, your boyfriend's going to love you for these!". I just gave him a flat look and said "They're for me."

Is it really so hard to believe that? Kindly show me where it says "For Males Only" on the cover of a game. Go ahead, show me.

The sexism's only gotten worse, not better. I've been playing MMOs for the past few years, and I've lost track of the amount of rape "humor", the times I've been told to "go back to the kitchen", or the inferrences that I don't know what I'm doing because I'm a woman that I've been subjected to. Even if I'm the best tank ever, or I out-DPS everyone else by a mile, it's always "lol ur a girl". And if I'm not being dismissed, I'm being hit on. I don't know what I hate more.

I get it, boys. You don't want women in your special clubhouse, unless of course, they're willing to please you. Here's the thing though: there's a lot more of us than you think, and we're not going anywhere. No, not even with your repellent behavior. We're here to stay, and you're going to have to share your little clubhouse whether you like it or not.

Besides. Pissing you off is fun.

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