Patch 5.3 interview with Ghostcrawler
Mystery of the Unborn Val'kyr
The latest patch 5.3 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsLove, raiding, and everything in between: how women are taking charge in WoW
by Kelly Aarons 
Mar 1st 2010 at 7:00PM
So, here we have it, folks -- in this new age of gaming, more and more women are picking up the controller, or sporting a mean WASD. What do the guys think?
They think it's perfectly okay.
Now, I'm not writing this to be sensationalist or to seek drama. I'm a bit of a feminist myself and having been a gamer since I was nine years old; I've seen my fair share of guys who "don't think you've got it." Or just because I have two X chromosomes I somehow can't pull some sweet DPS on a random heroic 5-man.
The times, they are a'changing. From the report:
It's believed that women have more fun with social gaming for the sheer fact that it's social. If you're running a 25-man, you need to be able to work together -- there's no room for ego or swinging your 'epeen' around. You need to be able to drop the macho-ism, smarten up and listen to your teammates."A Nielsen report published in 2009 found that women aged 25 and older make up the largest block of gamers in the United States, accounting for 54.6 per cent of all game play minutes in December 2008. For WoW, the male/female ratio is fairly balanced, with 428,621 women between 25 and 54 playing in December 2008 versus 675,713 men in the same age group.Another report suggests that in Britain women make up 48 per cent of total gamers who play online once a week."
Women also connect in ways when things are quiet. A thriving US guild, Got Girls, has bonded over everything from child-rearing, birthdays, relationships, and everything in between. Says member ShawnAnne Dixon:
It's not always easy being a female gamer, especially in a very male-dominated gaming culture. I have heard of much less-forgiving people and guilds who make comments regarding our monthly cycles, certain body parts, personalities and the like. I think it's great that more women are playing the game -- giving some balance to the testosterone-laden playing field."We celebrated a guild member's 21st birthday and a wedding recently. One of our members has a son getting ready to deploy to Iraq -- Got Girls has become a big part of her support system. We have truly become a family."
At this point, sometimes the best thing to do is to beat the guys at their own game.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 8)
Deathknighty Mar 1st 2010 7:51PM
Oh, and South Park FTW!
Magma Mar 1st 2010 7:53PM
@Neirin
You say guys shouldn't say rape in that some way it is offensive to females, but in doing so you're being sexist yourself. Are you telling me that no male get's raped? Getting offended by that is absurd.
Lissanna Mar 1st 2010 7:53PM
I don't think the article was saying that's how big the playerbase was. I think they were quoting how many people filled out the survey from each gender.
Sleutel Mar 1st 2010 8:09PM
"I've yet to meet a woman who has a main tank."
/wave
Hi. That would be me. There aren't a lot of us, but we exist--I've run into at least a couple of others. And I don't just tank five-mans; my favorite thing to do is hardcore endgame raiding, and when I was in a server's top raiding guild, I tanked (and DPS'd) several server-first kills of TotGC25 bosses.
Asuul Mar 1st 2010 8:09PM
An interesting point on the never-ending topic of discussion Magma.
Same goes to Pyromelter on the way some guys show affection, my brother and I certainly do it often enough.
Melissa Mar 1st 2010 9:40PM
Hey. I'm a female and my guild's main tank. And we are currently progressing through ICC25.
Wolfcat Mar 1st 2010 10:53PM
@magma
I'm sure they don't mean that no male ever gets raped. However, at least in-game, it's always a guy that's using the word 'rape' every other sentence either in chat or in vent. I've never seen or heard any female I know in-game go shouting "ok, lets rape this guy!" or "you just got raped!" or "ha! we raped this place!" *As* a female, I know for the most part the people using the word aren't using it in the sexual context (except in trade chat where it's almost always the case) but all the same, at the very least it makes me dislike the person using the word for their lack of tact. Show me a female using that language and I will be just as disappointed.
As for girls playing WoW...I constantly run into people who try to stir things up by saying that girls don't play WoW...which almost always ends up with a girl responding by saying they're a girl, which is met by someone telling them they're not again. I think most people know girls play, and if they really think they don't there's just some kind of blockage in their heads. I've been playing for a pretty long while, and introduced the game to my husband. The only time I've run into someone in RL being surprised by a girl playing WoW was when I bought the game originally back when Vanilla was the only version. The guy at the check-out counter asked if I was buying it for my boyfriend and was shocked that I was buying it for myself.
Deathknighty Mar 2nd 2010 11:20AM
There's ripping on someone and then there's making rape jokes every other sentence. Two very different things.
The easiest way to avoid getting them confused is to make it obvious that you can't be meaning what you just said. If you say something sexist, you look like a sexist. you probably deserve it too. If you say something like jokingly implying that every single person in your guild is an ebayer, then only to the very stupidest of people would this be percieved as anything other than a joke.
People who rip on (not a phrase that should have negative conotations) friends, guildies etc, are fine. They're just having a joke.
People who go round calling female players whores and bitches, and who make rape jokes incessantly, are completely different. These people are just douches.
Lucidien Mar 2nd 2010 6:41PM
@Wolfcat
I'm going to have to pull you up there. On my old server, Nagrand US, my guild's co-GM (and top DPS, Hunter) was a girl, we MySpaced, MSN'd as well so yes, definitely a girl. Vent and picture evidence. And she made wanton and gratuitous use of such terms as "/e rhapes Lucidien's face" "[rhapes so-and-so]" and if used on her, she would respond with things like [enjoys it]. Otherwise, she was a lovely girl and was kown for being able to diffuse many a disagreement or argument and I believe was the cause of saving us from many a /gquit.
Personally, I'm religiously against crass joking. I wouldn't participate, even were it in jest. But I wouldn't make a scene either. WoW is full of 12-year olds, douchebags, and socially-deficient people who live with their parents and live off social security and play WoW all day. It was said in an article on this site about the Random Dungeon Finder tool, and I think it applies to all of WoW: "You take the good, the bad and the God-aweful."
Neirin Mar 1st 2010 7:32PM
As a guy and it never fails to surprise me how stupid some of my fellow y chromosomers can be. I've seen girls gquit because of insensitive remarks flooding gchat and I've gotten great satisfaction from kicking people who make said comments.
Of course, gender stupidity swings both ways. I've also been involved in kicking women who have tried to use their second x chromosome to get special treatment. This isn't quite as prevalent as men acting out, though.
Pyromelter Mar 1st 2010 7:37PM
/sigh. It never ceases to amaze me how offended some guys can get at what other guys say. Unless someone is being really abusive, remarks that are "insensitive" shouldn't be taken seriously. In short, grow a pair Nancy.
Neirin Mar 1st 2010 7:42PM
I recently had to kick someone from my guild because when one of our female members got offended by him repeatedly saying "rape" and told him so, he started saying that he would rape her specifically and in detail. Honestly, I personally could care less what they're saying, but that doesn't mean it's ok to abuse my guildies or make any of them feel uncomfortable.
Tyr Mar 1st 2010 8:07PM
There's a 19-year old girl in our guild who keeps throwing fits over the smallest things. Nobody can understand her behaviour, she has huge mood-swings and honestly, nobody wants to hear her rant on vent. Sometimes she's fun, though.
I'm sure guys can (and do) act like that as well in this game, but it's kind of sad to see her fulfill the role of the stereotypical gamer girl.
On the other hand, our guild-leader is a woman in her thirties and she does a great job. She can be stern, but fun and usually manages to keep the 'boys' in check.
Adoisin Mar 2nd 2010 8:34AM
I am a woman gamer, and guild leader. We have women in our guild, one of which is the best raider we have as is usually in the top 3 of the dps meter, if not the best. We have some who don't care for raiding, and just quest and trade a lot. Right now we have a couple who are just dipping toes into the raiding waters.
As a woman, for other women playing wow, the best advice I can give is DON'T take it personally! In vent and guild chat, we all give each other grief, and know we are joking. There is the usual gratuitous cursing and grumbling if we wipe, or the comments about how we "raped in that bg" type stuff. Some of it I can live without, but I don't make an issue out of it. Maybe I've grown a thicker skin than others.
I'm not here to police people's language, or force my idea of politically correct on every guy in my guild. The only time I step in is if it gets personally nasty and people cannot resolve it on their own, which very rarely happens.
WoW is a GAME. If I get too frustrated, I can turn it off and walk away. If the trash talk gets too out of hand, I have that choice, or I can speak up in my guild and ask them to tone it down a bit. Every time I have asked, I get apologies from the speakers, and they respect the women gamers we have enough to hold off.
I don't think people (men and women alike) are giving the male population of WoW enough credit. Yeah, there are the annoying 13 year olds in chat who can't keep their yap shut. Most players are mature enough tho to have mutual respect for one another... at least in my guild. :)
Cwilks Mar 1st 2010 7:45PM
Kelly, as a whole, I love your articles and comics.
However, I must say that this article is a significant step down from your usual work.
Furthermore, I find your swallowing your topic to be bland and irksome, like an overcooked dish. Articles like these (and that earlier 15 minutes of fame about that gamer woman), which are usually divisively feminist, do nothing but highlight the differences between male and female gaming communities, sparking tension.
Instead of such articles I believe that WoW players as a whole should just accept that women are an excellent part of the gaming community and Leave It At That. No more of this terrible topic.
Cheers
Gamer am I Mar 1st 2010 7:32PM
"I'm a bit of a feminist myself..."
Sadly, the modern feminist movement has given the whole movement a bad name for it's extreme views and its creation of collective male guilt. The true definition of a feminist is one who believes that women should be equal to men in all social, political, and economic situations, which means that if you just believe that women should be equal to men (which I am sure is probably your actual belief), then you are a full-fledged feminist.
tulipblossom Mar 1st 2010 7:52PM
Amen, sister!
"Sadly, the modern feminist movement has given the whole movement a bad name for it's extreme views and its creation of collective male guilt. The true definition of a feminist is one who believes that women should be equal to men in all social, political, and economic situations, which means that if you just believe that women should be equal to men (which I am sure is probably your actual belief), then you are a full-fledged feminist."
Quoted for truth.
Women who get upset when a man holds the door for them, for example, make me want to cringe. I bet Susan B. Anthony is rolling over in her grave at such ridiculous ways of thinking.
fladne Mar 1st 2010 8:07PM
Agreed. The "little bit" in that sentence made me sad. Being a feminist means you believe in "the radical notion that women are people." Either you believe it or you don't. I think/hope most of the people who play WoW are feminists, but it's depressing that the word has come to carry such a sense of shame that no one feels comfortable using it any more. :(
Asuul Mar 1st 2010 8:11PM
I would describe that as more Equalist, then feminist. Being male, I certainly think that way... the idea of identifying myself as a feminist (or a male sovianist, of course) really doesn't sit quite right
Sleutel Mar 1st 2010 8:15PM
@tulipblossom
"Women who get upset when a man holds the door for them, for example, make me want to cringe."
I don't get upset when a person holds a door for me to be polite... because I'm another person. I DO get mad when a man holds a door for me because I have a vagina. THAT is sexist and insulting.