I think it goes without saying that girl gamers are generally treated a little different than male gamers are — much to my dismay.
I always get funny looks when I mention my favorite games. Male gamers assume I could never enjoy some of “their games.”
Something I’ve realized once I got into the gaming world is that even the gaming stores sometimes fall to the girl gamer discrimination.
The first time I noticed this was in high school. I’m a shopaholic, and a store had a buy two, get one free sale, so of course I picked up a stack of games. It didn’t hurt that I was still a newbie to games, so it was an easy way to beef up my collection.
When checking out, the cashier’s first question was, “Are these all for you, or are some for your boyfriend?”
I like to think of myself as a pretty generous gal, but my boyfriend only wishes he was that lucky to get a little piece of my sale merchandise.
I was so excited about my new purchases, but the cashier’s apprehension instantly made me disappointed.
I understand I might have gone a little crazy when picking out so many games, but the fact that the first thing he thought to ask me was if it was my boyfriend’s has peeved me to no end — even now.
We would never think to ask that question about books or movies. Besides blatantly gender specific products, such as beauty and hygiene products, I would never think to assume that it wouldn’t be for the person buying it.
The second thing that has caused this disdain for the store was an encounter I had over the past summer. I had gone in to purchase a few games for my new Nintendo 3DS. I ended up choosing Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon and Scribblenauts. On my way to check out, I also picked up Halo 4.
Instead of a nice comment about the games I chose, the cashier said, “Are you sure you want Halo? It doesn’t look like your kind of game. I could find a better one for you.”
I still don’t know what about my appearance says exactly what kind of game I would be interested in. To him, I looked like the type of person who could never in his wildest dreams play a shooter game. Maybe he thought I should have went with Barbie: Jet, Set and Style instead.
Here’s a message to all the male gamers out there: Don’t just assume that girls wouldn’t like games too. Just because you don’t picture a lady playing something such as Gears of War doesn’t mean she couldn’t love the game.
Instead of questioning her motives for buying the game, ask her about the games she likes.
Girls can love games too. Start treating us like it.
Sophie Kruse is a sophomore studying journalism. Have you had any annoying experiences at game stores? Tell her at sk139011@ohiou.edu.
