henwy wrote: A woman just agreed with me? Either I'm seriously losing my touch or...blah blah blah
Henwy... I'm sad now. I've agreed with you several times. I'm never bringing you cupcakes again! =[
But seriously - I apologize for being late to the party, and I admit I have only glanced at the last few longer posts. (and now I'm going to add one of my own) This is just an account of my own experiences.
I have been gaming for over 30 years and I have seen plenty as a female gamer. I remember one of my first Gen Cons when I walked into the War Room to play a game of Axis & Allies. I heard a lot of "does she know she's in the wrong room?" or "she must be looking for her boyfriend" type comments. So when I sat down at the table to play and then won with Japan, there were a lot of shocked looks.
Years ago, there were just not a lot of girls at gaming conventions. For a lot of the guys, they were places to get away from their wives or girlfriends (ok, who are we kidding... their moms) HA! So the few women that were in attendance were almost invading their sacred territory. Well, sorry boys, but I like gaming too.
Anyway, as the years progressed, I started seeing changes at the conventions. There were more girls going every year. First, most of them were just into the Vampire games or some of the card games. Plenty were just there for the dealer hall or yeah, to be there with their boyfriends. Meh. I admit, these ones kind of upset me for a while. If you're just going to be a distraction, go somewhere else. *sigh*
My personal gaming life has had ups and downs as well. It started out when I was 12 and my best friend's dad brought a box up from the basement and said "hey, kids, I got a new game I think you'll all like" and he presented us with the D&D red box. After that first game, we were all hooked and spent much of our summers and weekends playing one role playing game or another. A few of the other girls from the neighborhood were in the group too, so it was never a gender issue. But then everyone grew up and went to different high schools and colleges or moved away. Sadness.
But, I did happen to go on a date with a guy who mentioned playing D&D (and that's why he got a second date... no lie). So I had a new group for a while. And yeah, this one had other girls in it too, and it was normal. But eventually that group broke up as well.
Fast forward to the more recent past. About three years ago, I walked into my local gaming store for D&D Encounters. I know there are some female gamers who frequent the store, but I was the only one there that night. I walked up to a table and asked if they had a spot open. The guys welcomed me to the table. As soon as I set down my huge bag of dice, one of them pointed to it and remarked that he guessed I already knew how to play. =]
I am still gaming with these guys today, three days a week. Yikes!
Yes, it has had it's bad moments, like when a new guy joined us one week and got there before me - when my turn came up, he thought he needed to explain to me which dice were which. The others loked at him like he'd just called Chuck Norris a coward. Ha! And yes, sometimes with the NPCs the topics of boobs or rape come up. Now, I appreciate the female form so sometimes I join in about the first topic, but the second does make me quite uncomfortable, and they usually pick up on it without me having to say anything, and back off of it.
Anyway, I strayed a bit... my biggest point here was that most of my gamer friends don't see me as a "girl gamer" - they see me as a gamer. Period. And that's how I like it.
Getting back to the conventions real quick. Yes, women in gaming are still subjected to some criticism, but it still is more of a guy hobby to a lot of people. It has come a long way and we can't expect change overnight. It doesn't happen with anything.
I'm glad to see that there are so many more women involved in this great hobby. But if you call yourself a gamer or a geek (of either gender) I am also going to call you on it. Show me your creds, or you're just a wannabe until you do. =]