Attn GamerGurlz

binary_jester

My addiction has been Reddit.com lately. I came across this post and the ensuing conversation, which I find utterly fascinating. Knowing we have gamer chicks on this board, I thought I would ask for your thoughts.

Why Olivia Munn and "gamergurlz!" are bad for all geeks and girls that just happen to like gaming.

http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/cgj72

If you are offended by language, you might want to stay away.

xerinx2011

Hahaha made an interesting read!!

Mrs_McFadden

I'm RUNNING to check it out..brb..

Mrs_McFadden

I have a -LOT- to say about this. This actually can plumb the depths..like for example how all things premier and technological and edgy, become lame as soon as women acquire proficiency. Typewriters - when first released and cutting edge- men were the ones hired to use them. Then women were shown how to use them- then all of a sudden men weren't going to be secretaries oh NOOES. (This doesn't completely match the situation with gaming however since we're talking about what is essentially a useless but entertaining pastime.)

Well - this is the thing. I'm a gamer. I'm sick of the stereotypes. Really sick of them. I'm a suburban mother, I have three children and I am a normal citizen. I'm not wearing french seamed stockings right now while I'm typing this and my XBOX controller is sitting beside me. I love shooting weapons in games and the energy sword is excellent for killing the The Flood but it's limited. I'm tired of my stupid RL female friends telling me I'm some Holy Grail and that I should just get a computer science degree and just go get a job with any company that has a deficiency in their HR female employee quota.

I've read articles in the past few years about the people looking into reasons why women aren't more involved in the tech industry...it boiled down to this: women didn't feel welcome. If the gaming industry is SERIOUSLY interested in tapping into our demographic they would smarten up..oh wait that's never going to happen. Women although gaining ranks in the gaming community for numerous reasons (which all should be obvious to anyone that thinks about this topic so I'm not going to bother elaborating on them).

I have a feeling that women will always be a minority in the tech industries as well as even pursing gaming as a pursuit. (but those are two entirely different things/consequences..so I'll leave that alone). These days gaming companies have managed to reap more money by making lifestyle games which attract more women who are more casual gamers (think apps) etc. But I'm talking about more dedicated gamers..more serious gamers..the ones that like the male gamers will spend money on buying collectors editions, other varied merchandise, subscriptions, and multiple iterations of a franchise.

I know of some male gamers that are addicted to Olivia Munn...and duh, she's eyecandy. And yes it's all really built around the fact that she's *really* a gamer (Idk..is she? I've read/heard that she is, and frankly I don't care, since she isn't on my own fantasy reel and I play games..to play games).

Thinking another cup of coffee or three would help me pull my brain together at this point blah...but there's my start. Some thoughts Binary...

Navie42

I think an important distinction needs to be made between two very different types of "hot girl gamers":

1. People like Olivia Munn who jumped on a meal ticket and

2. Girls who have been gaming all their lives and have either been good looking their entire lives or have become good looking in their adult lives.

I agree with what the article has to say: many of us suffered through school as outcasts and "losers" thanks to our love for our hobby and, even though it sounds a bit hipster to say, we liked gaming "before it was cool." It feels like, in a lot of ways, we've earned our geek titles, we did our time in the trenches, we suffered through the name calling and bullying and nowadays gaming is so popular and mainstream you get labeled "cool" for being a gamer.

But to the same extent, it doesn't stop with what the article covers. Gaming channels, gaming release parties, gaming red carpets... it's created the same cool / loser divide we endured when it was gaming vs. being cool in general. It completely bypasses the almost obligatory gaming by one's self in the dark, alone, because it wasn't cool but you loved it anyways. A time when you rolled the dice for paper games among the only other three people in your city willing to play.

These gamers nowadays, they haven't a clue what it meant to be a gamer in the 80s and 90s... they are simply "cool" or "badass" for playing COD4.

Mrs_McFadden

Why does every gamer have to have been a loser at some point? Although honestly in HS I was a member of many groups but distinctly a loner in a lot of ways..if ostracized it was due to my own feeling of strangeness and because of my own brain.

You're right Navie in that yes, those "hot gamer girls" are meal ticket types..

My question however is : do you have to have played games your whole life to qualify as a gamer? I guess it is the same thing as street cred however...this reminds me of the skaters in skater world (my husband and my baby brother are skaters) oh and the punk rock world (my husband had his own punk rock band).

****...I need an Adderall for this convo. I'll be back when I've had my ultra necessary quad espresso.
:ohwell:

Navie42

Not necessarily, and I feel silly for even saying it because it is lame to say "I liked something BEFORE it was cool."

But it would be like going to university for four years for a degree in something and someone else comes along, with no degree, and steals a job out from under you. That's life, but it seems unfair you've "done your time" so to speak. It's hard to explain.

I was picked on in school because I was a gamer, because I liked pokemon and mario and zelda. It's not that I'm resentful of those who didn't have to go trough that for their love of gaming, but I don't think everyone understands what that meant to those of us who did go through that. I've gamed since age 4 when I got the NES for my birthday. I never denied it even though it meant being picked on in middle school and junior high. Chicks like Olivia Munn come along and earn a big fat paycheck for being openly the very same thing I was in those days and it burns a little, you know?

seemichellerun

I'm a girl and a gamer.

The whole "GamerGulz" phenomenon has little to do with females and gaming and more to do with hot girls (and the people who hire them) making a paycheck. I see it for what it is and I don't fault people like Olivia Munn for earning a paycheck the only way she knows how. Stuff like this happens in all entertainment industries (music, cars, sports, etc.) It just comes with the territory.

123456654321

This subject has been hashed over and over and over again for years. As a girl who enjoys many so called "geeky" hobbies, none of this really bothers me at all. When I was a younger, I thought I cared, but I really don't... lol

Are there girls who use things of this nature to become famous? Yes. Are there real hot geeky girls who use their hobbies as a gimmick to become famous? Sure. Are there various magazines and TV shows jumping on the bandwagon to exploit female gamers or the idea of female gamers to cater to the fantasies of millions of *kitten* teen boys around the world? Hell yes, of course they are. It's called advertising and marketing. Sex sells, we should all know this by now because it happens in.........everything.

Whether or not the naked chicks tangled in Nintendo cords actually play video games in their spare time or not is really the least of my concerns. They look hot, they are getting attention, so I guess that means they are doing their job. If a "real" geek girl also happens to be a total fox and wants to pose half nekkid for Maxim or take pictures of herself in her Pokemon bra and plaster them all over the interwebs? I say more power to her, thanks for the image! I don't think she should be looked down upon for doing so either. Either way, I will continue to enjoy my hobbies just the same.

As far as TV and Magazines go I do prefer to get my information from someone who knows what the hell they are talking about and I do find myself annoyed with the fact they would choose a model who has no idea what she's talking about when there are plenty of beautiful women out there who do. But, I have the power to change the channel when I'm unamused and I do. Although, sometimes it's fun to watch for the lulz xD

With that said, I cannot stand Olivia Munn, but if she has a fanbase who is willing to buy into her crap....that's their thing, I'm not mad at them. I actually like Morgan Webb alright....she does a decent job on her show and I'm always interested to see what kind of odd looking shirt she will be wearing xD

Mrs_McFadden

This subject has been hashed over and over and over again for years. As a girl who enjoys many so called "geeky" hobbies, none of this really bothers me at all. When I was a younger, I thought I cared, but I really don't... lol

Are there girls who use things of this nature to become famous? Yes. Are there real hot geeky girls who use their hobbies as a gimmick to become famous? Sure. Are there various magazines and TV shows jumping on the bandwagon to exploit female gamers ,or the idea of female gamers, to cater to the fantasies of millions of *kitten* teen boys around the world? Hell yes...of course they are. It's called advertising and marketing, sex sells. We should all know this by now, because it happens in.........everything.

Whether or not the naked chicks tangled in Nintendo cords actually play video games in their spare time or not is really the least of my concerns. They look hot, they are getting attention, so I guess that means they are doing their job. If a "real" geek girl also happens to be a total fox and wants to pose half nekkid for Maxim or take pictures of herself in her Pokemon bra and plaster them all over the interwebs? I say more power to her, thanks for the image! I don't think she should be looked down upon for doing so either. Either way, I will continue to enjoy my hobbies just the same.

As far as TV and Magazines go I do prefer to get my information from someone who knows what the hell they are talking about and I do find myself annoyed with the fact they would choose a model who has no idea heck she's talking about when there are plenty of beautiful women out there who do. But...I have the power to change the channel when I'm unamused and sometimes it's fun to watch for the lulz xD

With that said, I cannot stand Olivia Munn, but if she has a fanbase who is willing to buy into her crap....that's their thing, I'm not mad at them. I actually like Morgan Webb alright....she does a decent job on her show and I'm always interested to see what kind of odd looking shirt she will be wearing xD

ROFL HAHAHAH @ the shirt..

Yeah I don't have an issue..I just think that it's asinine But then again, I'm not really interested in standard images that approach pornography etc. It's just tacky and boring IMO. I'm not the target audience though...so you know, according to marketing firms, who cares right? I just hope all gaming images with models writhing in cords or foaming at the mouth to game while in bikinis have the proper scene set up and there must be one Asian, one Black woman and one White woman. That will make me feel all kinds of rosy happiness about the direction the world is going.

123456654321

ROFL HAHAHAH @ the shirt..

DANGIT! You caught me before my edit! I REALLY need to proofread before I post >.<

lol...Does she not wear funny shaped shirts most of the time though? I always find them so odd.

Mrs_McFadden

ROFL HAHAHAH @ the shirt..

DANGIT! You caught me before my edit! I REALLY need to proofread before I post >.<

lol...Does she not wear funny shaped shirts most of the time though? I always find them so odd.

Yes..I'm not a religious viewer of anything at all practically but I've seen her a few times. I will say that this actually is an interesting subject...that for example the stylists on her show don't really know how to dress her. I know that they like to put gamer chicks in snarky ironic tshirts so that the dudes watching will feel somehow foolishly like the gamer models can relate to the gamer men..but then they want them to be ultra sexy..but edgy...but heh..the outfits end up looking kind of muddled. Anyway funny stuff.

Neliel

I've been a gamer for as long as I can remember. I didn't know anything about these 'hot girl gamer' icons and quite frankly I don't care. What annoyed me was the amount of girls who became *obsessed* with COD just because boys were obsessed with it. So they felt the need to constantly update their facebook statuses about COD every day. And you know what? Since the COD craze has died down a bit, I see NO statues by girls about gaming anymore. I can't stand people who label themselves a 'gamer' just because they've gained an interest in a single game.
COD could have been a good game if it wasn't only played by clueless prats who have no idea how to work as a team. The new Battlefield has also been ruined for me as it attracted all the COD idiots, who despite hours and hours of gaming STILL can't seem to play.
I'm mostly a PC gamer. Love RPG's, FPS's, RTS's, racing games and puzzle games. I'd prefer to play on my own but I quite like online games like TF2, L4D and Killing Floor. Oh, and nothing beats a good LAN party

Ben2118

As a semi retired Gamer :grumble: I would say over the many years of gaming I have come across a handful of actual girl gamers.

Back in the Counter Strike days (original, not that fancy source stuff!) people didn't play on it to look cool, in fact a lot of the cool people thought gaming back then was just for nerds! (before the whole geek thing!) Back when you didn't need a super computer that cost more than your first car to run games on and when we didn't need "story" modes, just get me online with some other gamers and let me shoot the **** out of them!! simples!! *meerkat squeek*

But over time gaming has become more and more popular and the new attention has brought along a whole new mass of gamers and because it's now cool and the COD craze has become somewhat Apple Fanboy esq I just think its not enjoyable anymore, as Neliel said, clueless prats with no idea of teamwork. Yes it is a bit of fun and I have never snapped a keyboard because of a camper etc but its far more enjoyable when you get into it a little.

Anyway I think most of the GirlGamers have spawned from this new breed of G(L)amers cos its cool and everyone is doing it, main reason I don't really go online anymore although the arguments online are a lot more funny these days!!

123456654321

Anyway I think most of the GirlGamers have spawned from this new breed of G(L)amers cos its cool and everyone is doing it

A bit presumptuous dontcha think?

binary_jester

My reality is destroyed that you all don't play in fishnet stockings and thongs. LOL

What brought my attention to that thread was this article, some of which was discussed here in a round about way.

Why the Internet Freaked Out About the Lady Nerd on This Month’s Wired Cover

http://gizmodo.com/#!5783543/why-the-internet-freaked-out-about-the-attractive-lady-nerd-on-this-months-wired-cover

Another interesting read.

:throws gas on the fire and runs:

123456654321

My reality is destroyed that you all don't play in fishnet stockings and thongs. LOL

What brought my attention to that thread was this article, some of which was discussed here in a round about way.

Why the Internet Freaked Out About the Lady Nerd on This Month’s Wired Cover

http://gizmodo.com/#!5783543/why-the-internet-freaked-out-about-the-attractive-lady-nerd-on-this-months-wired-cover

Another interesting read.

:throws gas on the fire and runs:

TL;DR (I skimmed...I'm watching a drama atm)

But I got the idea I think. It's basically saying "Why is it that when women appear on magazines, do they have to look 'appealing/attractive?' " ...Right? I think this all boils down to the situation. Was she FORCED to look a certain way? Did she ask to be totally natural and they said no? If that were the case, then it would be rage worthy, but it doesn't sound like it was. It sounds to me like she wanted to be done up and was happy with the picture. If it were me on the cover of a national magazine, I wouldn't mind a little airbrushing either. Does that make me shallow and vain? Maybe...but whatever. It doesn't make me less smart or less of a woman in any way shape or form.

Also, aren't most people (men or women) who are on the cover of magazines airbrushed or shopped in some kind of way?

binary_jester

My reality is destroyed that you all don't play in fishnet stockings and thongs. LOL

What brought my attention to that thread was this article, some of which was discussed here in a round about way.

Why the Internet Freaked Out About the Lady Nerd on This Month’s Wired Cover

http://gizmodo.com/#!5783543/why-the-internet-freaked-out-about-the-attractive-lady-nerd-on-this-months-wired-cover

Another interesting read.

:throws gas on the fire and runs:

TL;DR (I skimmed...I'm watching a drama atm)

But I got the idea I think. It's basically saying "Why is it that when women appear on magazines, do they have to look 'appealing/attractive?' " ...Right? I think this all boils down to the situation. Was she FORCED to look a certain way? Did she ask to be totally natural and they said no? If that were the case, then it would be rage worthy, but it doesn't sound like it was. It sounds to me like she wanted to be done up and was happy with the picture. If it were me on the cover of a national magazine, I wouldn't mind a little airbrushing either. Does that make me shallow and vain? Maybe...but whatever. It doesn't make me less smart or less of a woman in any way shape or form.

Also, aren't most people (men or women) who are on the cover of magazines airbrushed or shopped in some kind of way?

For the most part. I mean, you get touched up for professional pics. Imagine if a wedding photographer didn't touch up photos. I think it is people LOOKING to be offended.

123456654321

My reality is destroyed that you all don't play in fishnet stockings and thongs. LOL

What brought my attention to that thread was this article, some of which was discussed here in a round about way.

Why the Internet Freaked Out About the Lady Nerd on This Month’s Wired Cover

http://gizmodo.com/#!5783543/why-the-internet-freaked-out-about-the-attractive-lady-nerd-on-this-months-wired-cover

Another interesting read.

:throws gas on the fire and runs:

TL;DR (I skimmed...I'm watching a drama atm)

But I got the idea I think. It's basically saying "Why is it that when women appear on magazines, do they have to look 'appealing/attractive?' " ...Right? I think this all boils down to the situation. Was she FORCED to look a certain way? Did she ask to be totally natural and they said no? If that were the case, then it would be rage worthy, but it doesn't sound like it was. It sounds to me like she wanted to be done up and was happy with the picture. If it were me on the cover of a national magazine, I wouldn't mind a little airbrushing either. Does that make me shallow and vain? Maybe...but whatever. It doesn't make me less smart or less of a woman in any way shape or form.

Also, aren't most people (men or women) who are on the cover of magazines airbrushed or shopped in some kind of way?

For the most part. I mean, you get touched up for professional pics. Imagine if a wedding photographer didn't touch up photos. I think it is people LOOKING to be offended.

I agree, people have to rage about something. In most cases it just does more damage too. I mean, instead of congratulating this Fried for her accomplishments and applauding Wired for FINALLY getting a woman on the cover after 18 YEARS, we tear her down by digging up old pictures and picking apart her looks. Yeah....real nice.

binary_jester

My reality is destroyed that you all don't play in fishnet stockings and thongs. LOL

What brought my attention to that thread was this article, some of which was discussed here in a round about way.

Why the Internet Freaked Out About the Lady Nerd on This Month’s Wired Cover

http://gizmodo.com/#!5783543/why-the-internet-freaked-out-about-the-attractive-lady-nerd-on-this-months-wired-cover

Another interesting read.

:throws gas on the fire and runs:

TL;DR (I skimmed...I'm watching a drama atm)

But I got the idea I think. It's basically saying "Why is it that when women appear on magazines, do they have to look 'appealing/attractive?' " ...Right? I think this all boils down to the situation. Was she FORCED to look a certain way? Did she ask to be totally natural and they said no? If that were the case, then it would be rage worthy, but it doesn't sound like it was. It sounds to me like she wanted to be done up and was happy with the picture. If it were me on the cover of a national magazine, I wouldn't mind a little airbrushing either. Does that make me shallow and vain? Maybe...but whatever. It doesn't make me less smart or less of a woman in any way shape or form.

Also, aren't most people (men or women) who are on the cover of magazines airbrushed or shopped in some kind of way?

For the most part. I mean, you get touched up for professional pics. Imagine if a wedding photographer didn't touch up photos. I think it is people LOOKING to be offended.

I agree, people have to rage about something. In most cases it just does more damage too. I mean, instead of congratulating this Fried for her accomplishments and applauding Wired for FINALLY getting a woman on the cover after 18 YEARS, we tear her down by digging up old pictures and picking apart her looks. Yeah....real nice.

...and (strictly a guess here) it is feminists doing the ripping?

123456654321

My reality is destroyed that you all don't play in fishnet stockings and thongs. LOL

What brought my attention to that thread was this article, some of which was discussed here in a round about way.

Why the Internet Freaked Out About the Lady Nerd on This Month’s Wired Cover

http://gizmodo.com/#!5783543/why-the-internet-freaked-out-about-the-attractive-lady-nerd-on-this-months-wired-cover

Another interesting read.

:throws gas on the fire and runs:

TL;DR (I skimmed...I'm watching a drama atm)

But I got the idea I think. It's basically saying "Why is it that when women appear on magazines, do they have to look 'appealing/attractive?' " ...Right? I think this all boils down to the situation. Was she FORCED to look a certain way? Did she ask to be totally natural and they said no? If that were the case, then it would be rage worthy, but it doesn't sound like it was. It sounds to me like she wanted to be done up and was happy with the picture. If it were me on the cover of a national magazine, I wouldn't mind a little airbrushing either. Does that make me shallow and vain? Maybe...but whatever. It doesn't make me less smart or less of a woman in any way shape or form.

Also, aren't most people (men or women) who are on the cover of magazines airbrushed or shopped in some kind of way?

For the most part. I mean, you get touched up for professional pics. Imagine if a wedding photographer didn't touch up photos. I think it is people LOOKING to be offended.

I agree, people have to rage about something. In most cases it just does more damage too. I mean, instead of congratulating this Fried for her accomplishments and applauding Wired for FINALLY getting a woman on the cover after 18 YEARS, we tear her down by digging up old pictures and picking apart her looks. Yeah....real nice.

...and (strictly a guess here) it is feminists doing the ripping?

*shrug* I dunno, all I do know is THEY ARE DOING IT WRONG.