(Yolanda Obeng via Unsplash)
Being a female gamer currently has its ups and downs. I’ve been through it all and encountered all types of people. Some have been the nicest people I’ve ever met, while others were quite questionable.
I started really getting to know people through gaming around the age of 13. I was a quiet person – I still am – but wasn’t as antisocial. I met my first friend and it’s surprising that we still talk from time to time five years later. Eventually, they did stop playing. Although they lost interest in gaming, it was still fairly easy to find more people to play with.
Through all the good, there seems to be the bad that almost outweighs the positive. A terrible thing to ever deal with is meeting a jealous girl who has a problem with your existence even though you’ve never done anything to them. Countless times I have tried to be mature about it in order to remain great friends, but their ego got the best of me. I would privately message them to solve the issue, try to distance myself for a period of time in order for them to calm down, and I would even try to exit out of the situation altogether.
I’ve dealt with that more times than I can count.
The girls that I would encounter would try to single me out of playing with them, or try to make up rumors to cause unnecessary drama. Another way was that they would visibly have an issue with me being around and would indirectly complain that I was there in private. There was one instance in particular that would copy anything I do and put the blame on me as if I was the one copying. It’s usually from all the attention I would get because of how well I played.
I’m not bashing every female player as I’ve met quite a few that have been the best people. But I’ve encountered the jealous ones more often than not. I usually try to resolve it to get an understanding of why there’s competition for male validation that they will never meet in person. Most of the time, it never works, due to being self-absorbed. I would love to have a lot of women to play with and have things in common, but they’re really hard to find. But I won’t stop looking.
But the major thing that is the worst to deal with, are the sexist comments from men.
Some, not all, tend to either tear you down for being a girl, or become too sexual trying to get close with you, including the pedophiles. It’s fairly disgusting having to deal with people like that almost every day, and the constant talking behind someone’s back. Blocking isn’t usually the easiest thing to do, since multiple accounts can be made, but it is effective after a while.
But throughout dealing with disgusting, self absorbed people, I have made some really great friends I can play with everyday and be myself around. I really am glad that I got into playing video games. It has been one of the best experiences I have had, from meeting great people, having an imagination, escaping reality and being able to do what I want.
I hope to make a platform for myself one day, and continue to meet more people, even though there are some questionable people that a girl will come across, there is always a good to come out of it.