Yes, Virginia. There Are Women Gamers.

There seems to be a nice bonfire going on over Crawford's interesting attempt to explain gender roles scientifically over at The Escapist. I'd add fuel, but it seems kinda redundant. Thomas does it far more succinctly than I would and Tim goes into more detail than I have the time to allow.

I prefer Confessions of a GameStop Girl myself. While plenty of game design hours have been allocated trying to determine just what kind of game women would be interested in, how to not insult women, etc., what for ... a real problem is gaming culture itself. Fact is, lots of gaming communities still treat women gamers like second class citizens. They're harrassed, hit on, demeaned and treated like gross anomalies. Plenty won't even hint to their gender for fear of reprisal. It's almost like it's not worth the trouble unless one is a member of a gang ... er I mean clan.

First step to getting more women into gaming? It's not marketing, it's attitude. If less male gamers would freak out around them, more female gamers would be inticed into playing. Playing anything, not just Nintendogs or DDR. Women gamers exist, people, and they have for some time. You can stop gawking now. Just as the concept that all gamers are twelve year old kids glued in front of a TV after school for hours isn't true, neither is the concept that it's a boy's club.

Thomas points out in the comments of his post that since his girlfriend is a gamer, he's has to hit on at least one of them. Good point. I've got the same problem. It's not that we have to forget they're women. There's nothing wrong with wanting to date women who play games any more than wanting to date women who watch football, curse or drink large amounts of beer. However, I'm also betting the first date wasn't preceeded by a "OMG UR A GIRL?? A/S/L?????".