Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsBreakfast Topic: What's behind stereotypes about what ladies play in WoW?
by Olivia Grace 
Dec 26th 2011 at 8:00AM
So I did what any sane girl would do in 2011 -- I went and posted about it on Twitter. I went to another session and emerged to quite a response from various ladies all saying that they PvP or that they knew ladies who did and who wouldn't be particularly happy to be told that PvP wasn't something women did.
Anyhow, as I was saying, this provoked some thought. I do think there are gender stereotypes in WoW -- mostly, that women heal far more than they do anything else and that almost all tanks are men. As an anthropology student, I'm adept at making sweeping generalizations, and I wouldn't think for a moment that either of these statements are absolute truths.
However, they do raise questions. First, is there any truth to them at all? Are healers really the group in WoW where female players are most well represented? Are tanks genuinely the role least played by women? And do ladies really make up a far higher percentage of the PvE playerbase than they do the PvP one?
And, of course, the burning question underlying all of the above: If so, why?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 7)
Zani Dec 26th 2011 12:22PM
I'm a woman and I have a druid, so I suppose I fit your little assumption there.
"If you don't know why, its.pretty simple to figure out."
The only reason I have one was for the instant flight form and faster herb-picking as a tauren. She's my herbing alt, and thats it.
I'm also sitting here trying to "figure [it] out" and I don't have a clue. Somehow I don't think insta-flight and herb picking were what you were getting at. No idea though, so I'm not sure its so 'simple'.
Killik Dec 26th 2011 1:37PM
Because... women like to wear fur coats? I'm also baffled.
Saz Dec 26th 2011 4:52PM
Maybe because druids are one of the most flexible classes in WoW thanks to their ability to fill any role currently available? Druid is an excellent experimentation class. Like to heal but you're curious what filling a caster role is like? Don't reroll, dabble in balance! Love sniffing the boss's dingle berries as melee but you're curious as to what his face looks like and how hard he hits? Swap a few points around, do a few reforges, and now you're a tank.
I've known many folks of both genders to have either druid mains or at least a druid alt in their arsenal somewhere. Most, but not all, of the druids I've come across in my five years of playing WoW have been male. Only two females come to mind when I think of restoration druids, if that was the association you were trying to make. One of my female friends often runs instances as a bear.
Why would a female (or anyone of either gender for that matter) choose a druid? The answer is indeed quite 'simple': druids are awesome.
~ A female feral DPS druid
mgssc1992 Dec 27th 2011 11:05AM
Ok, the reason is so yall can be a gentle feline 3 weeks of the month and a raging bear the other week...
LynMars Dec 26th 2011 9:38AM
I started out with a healer main--and I still love to play her--but all of my Classic endgame on her was in PvP until I found a raid group in BC. I recently swapped mains to a paladin tank. I like how both healing and tanking have hefty responsibilities in raid situations, but I actually find tanking to be *less* stressful than healing most times!
Our DPS is a mix, and two of our main healers are male. I don't PvP as much as I used to, but my roommate loves to PvP on her characters. She also main tanked from BC through Wrath until she burnt out. She doesn't normally heal; she doesn't like it so much, depending on class and spec.
My RP characters tend to be female more than male, but I've also had male characters over the years for various reasons and storylines. There are some days I find I want to write a story more from a male character's POV, because that's the character I'm connecting to the most. Not because of gender reasons, but because of who the people in my stories are.
A lot of times, when people are thinking of RPing/writing another gender and are worried about "getting it wrong" the best advice (and actually reposted in a recent "Best of 2011") is to just play/write the person first, worry about minor details like gender later. And it's true; the characters that generally irritate people and cause eye-rolling are the ones who focus too much on the assumed stereotypes of "this is what X is like, this is what Y is like."
Those assumptions bleed over from fiction and real life assumptions into game roles like healing, tanking, and DPS or PvE vs PvP. Most people will roll their eyes and tell you they're utterly bogus. I know too many female PvPers and tanks, and many males in support roles, to think those stereotypes hold at all true, if they ever did; a lot more women play video games than some people think, and their choices are just as varied.
Gunsu Dec 26th 2011 9:43AM
Back During BC my guilds main tank was a female, and our MT pally healer was a guy.
She was an awesome tank cleared all content up until sunwell when she had to leave the game for a bit. so much for stereotypes :p
refaal Dec 26th 2011 9:45AM
Okay, first of all: I´m not generalizing here. About every woman I´ve met on this game is a married, attention-seeker, middle-aged lady who play WoW like a big, ol' facebook app. And there´s nothing wrong with that to me, if wasn´t for the fact that I have to come up with an excuse every single time they whisper me whining: "Whyyy don´t u ever invite me 2 ur raids?". Because if I told them the truth (Well, maybe if you spent more time actually playing your character than socializing or arranging the guild bank, I´d certainly invite you) They´d surely delete me from their facebook. I mean, Real ID. :o)
ravyncat Dec 26th 2011 9:46AM
I would say out of my guild that I am the only woman who hates PvP. My Guild Leader loves it.
Most of the women I know though do heal and have an offspec caster DPS. I do not. I am melee DPS all the way with at least one of every class. We also have several amazing players--male and female--that can do any role and do it well. I am envious of them.
I have tried tanking and I really suck at it. I don't think that is caused by my gender though. It is more my personality.
I am interested in maybe trying healing someday...but before I get serious the desire to bash the holy hell out of something with a big sword/ax/mace/dagger etc. usually wins. I love my bashy DPS!
Ultimately I think the stereotype that certain genders only heal or hate pvp or tank or whatever are just that; stereotypes. They have a small basis of fact that might have been truer at one time, but isn't true at all when compared to the entire population of people who play WoW--or any game--today.
Zani Dec 26th 2011 12:25PM
Yep thats me too. I keep meaning to learn to heal. But then I log on, see my frost dk main, and its like screw healing, time to smash some face!
ravyncat Dec 26th 2011 3:09PM
My frost DK is also my main and she has been ever since I finally reached level 55 on my pally alt and was able to create her! I leveled my pally solely to create my Death Knight. ^^
I think my default setting is "BASH bash BASH bashbashbash deathgrip BAAAASH!" because I kill my poor mage a lot by forgetting and running her into melee range to...er...bash. >.>;; Doesn't work well. XD
Lipstick Dec 26th 2011 9:47AM
I'm a healer, and I'm a woman..
I don't care for pvp all that much, because 90% of the time, the first rule of pvp is -- kill the healer.
Contrary to popular belief 6 on 1 is rarely a fun experience. As a result the only time I tend to step foot in a BG at max level is with the full support of my friends who I know will have my back.
But given that healers are often the first target, it could explain why those who think all woman heal, might also conclude that woman don't enjoy pvp.
That being said I've met more than a few girls who pvp. I actually do enjoy pvp, but only at the lower levels. Maybe I never quite got past arathi basin, or warsong gultch, but those are the pvp bg's I like. The others are kind of meh to me.
In general though, I guess I don't understand why people find the idea that some genders might naturally prefer some roles to others as insulting. It's a preference, it's not written in stone. We're all taught as children to strive to be who and what we want to be, and to embrace our uniqueness. So if anything the idea of "cutting a different path" and picking up a non "traditional" role should feel I would think, invigorating, not insulting.
In general I hate how politically correct our society has become. It's gotten so bad, we can't trip over ourselves any more without someone being offended. I think that political correctness has it's place, but it's seriously gone too far. People should just get over themselves a bit.
I'm a female and I enjoy healing in wow. Doesn't mean I'm not capable of other things (I've dps'd and tanked before, I just always come back to my priest, because I enjoy healing on her). It's just what I enjoy doing. But stuff likes this, makes me a) feel cliche and b) make me wonder if I am "setting the equal rights for woman movement back 100 years" by admitting I enjoy healing. There is nothing wrong with me liking to heal, and there is nothing weird or strange about a girl who likes tanking or pvping. We all enjoy what we enjoy. It's a game for enjoyment. Why can't we leave it at that?
Jwillcocks Dec 26th 2011 9:52AM
I'm male and mostly play DPS but I'd tank and heal if I didn't suck at it lol. Seen heaps of females play tanks, heals and damage and think it's great there's diversity in an online game like wow. Can you imagine if it was all male players?
My dream is to marry a female wow player, life would be complete :D
Mortenebra Dec 26th 2011 10:38AM
Warcraft is how my husband and I found one another :)
Sometimes the best person for you is hiding right under your virtual nose.
Jwillcocks Dec 26th 2011 12:42PM
Aw cool :) How long have you been married?
I have made friends in a guild but I quit for a while and just started playing again. Known a few people that met while playing together. Who knows, maybe there is someone out there for me :)
Any single ladies play on Nagrand from Melbourne? :P
Molly Dec 26th 2011 11:40AM
You can meet awesome female WoW players outside of Azeroth, too. My boyfriend and I play WoW together. He started playing about two years ago, and I was a little adverse to it originally (didn't want to get addicted, lol). But I'm a gamer at heart, and I'll be damned if it didn't look like fun. I think I signed up about a week after he started, lol.
Bottom line: If you find the right (gamer/geek) girl, you'll probably be able to convince her to play. Just don't press the issue; let her come to it if she wants.
You'll find her :)
Mortenebra Dec 26th 2011 2:44PM
Thank you! My husband and I have been married for more than two years now :)
And what Molly said is absolutely true. You'd also be surprised how much attention a little BlizzCon '08 t-shirt (or a gamer t-shirt in general) can grab from those in the know, especially on an university campus.
JWillcocks Dec 26th 2011 2:55PM
Thanks for the support :)
I did date a women for a bit who plays wow, but now we're just friends.
Unfortunately I work night shift and my free time is just wow lol so don't get out much. Even tried "geek" dating sites but most of them are scams. Need to find where gamer/geek women hang out and meet someone. I have a t-shirt that says "home is where the hearthstone is" maybe that will work :P
Mortenebra Dec 26th 2011 9:53AM
Well, from one anthropologist to another, here's my personal data sample.
- My main is a hunter, both PvE and PvP. The one thing I've found more-- well, no, about as satisfying as doing the trap dance on Moroes in Karazhan, is trapping someone trying to kill me or the person I'm "escorting" (e.g. flag carrier, healer, etc). The latter is a mentality I gained from playing space sims: zipping around, shooting down bad guys, and playing hero? Yeah, that's me (or, at least, what I try to be... lol).
- My main alt is a tank/heal spec'd paladin. It often depends on my mood on which I prefer to do, honestly. Some days, I like to shine (literally) as a healer who makes that clutch LoH or saves the group from what looks like an imminent wipe. Other days, I like to get my gauntlets dirty and bash the hell out of something with a huge effing hammer. And, yes, I sometimes like to take point and lead. All of my leaders have been tanks, so I try to continue that. I like the technical aspects of kiting and dancing with bosses (I'm looking at you, Ozruk), or knowing which defensive/preservation cooldowns to pop at which times. I always imagined my paladin removing her plate greathelm with a flourish, hair tumbling down, cape flowing heroically, Silvermoon banner waving in the background, and smiling with a smudge of dirt on her cheek. Cheesy, I know.
- My second main alt is a priest who was disc/shadow for PvP and soloing, respectively. I take her name for my postings here. I grew to love PvP healing and infuriating the competition by making my teammates *not die*. I also like infuriating people on cannon towers by MC'ing them off the ramparts or fear-bombing them. -evil giggle- Again, a lot of it is being able to say, "I totally saved your life," and actually mean it. Maybe I life-gripped them from the swinging blades of an assailant, or healed them through an intense melee.
I think a lot of the stereotypes come from media, both new and old. Just look at fairy tales: princesses are waiting to be saved by princes. Men are the ones in plate with shield and sword while women are healers, caretakers, and supporters of the main man. Say the word "warrior" or "barbarian" to someone and, usually, the first image that comes to mind is a male one. The prevalent stereotype I remember was the hierarchy of "female roles" in a video game: healer > ranged dps > melee dps > tank. That hierarchy also coincides with the amount of "dirtiness" associated with the role. A more derogatory way of looking at it is "the likelihood of breaking a nail" in each role (to which I usually reply that nail clippers were invented for a reason).
Socially, women usually aren't supposed to take lead or give orders unless it's in the home. And even in the latter arena, we've seen many a sitcom where the husband and kids roll their eyes at "pushy Mom/Wife." Women who give orders are perceived (by men and women alike, mind you) as whiny, bitchy, annoying, bossy. As a mom, a wife, and co-GM, a lot of these stereotypes nag at the back of my mind. They often don't manifest or bear any fruit, for which I'm grateful, but they're still there.
Personality-wise, I'm just someone who likes to know what's going on *everywhere*, hence why I like to stay ranged instead of staring at boss crotch all the time. On fights like Zon'ozz, I'm usually the one calling stuff out on Vent for my guild because I can see what's going on, and I tell my husband which way the ball's heading. In my guild, however, leading is often a team effort, and the person best-suited for it varies. Sometimes it's me, sometimes it's the main tank, sometimes it's someone else.
Of course, no one outside of my guild really knows I'm female behind the keyboard, regardless. They're the ones who hear me on Vent the most. And, really, they're the ones I usually care about anyway! So, uh, not sure if that really answered the question, but there's my two copper.
amnbrownie Dec 26th 2011 9:55AM
As a female, I've tried just about everything, though the roles I favor most are Shadow Priest/ healing (preferably disc or resto shaman.) I have tanked before, and I wouldn't mind it, except I don't enjoy the gogogo-don't-screw-up pressure from a PuG environment from that perspective as much as I do healing or dpsing. If I had enough practice to raid tank for my guild...might be a possibility, but I'm happy playing my priest.
I've done the breastfeeding-while-raiding thing too. I enjoy multi-tasking.
Burnaphatone Dec 26th 2011 3:21PM
I find the whole concept of child rearing while playing video games utterly selfish. Not only are you neglecting your child by equating the importance of his/her well being to that or an online game, but, you're also being inconsiderate to your 9 or 24 teammates who have to compensate for your lack of focus within the raid. There is no way you'll convince me otherwise. Shame on anyone who takes pride in doing this. Thank God my neice and two nephews have parents who would never try to juggle entertainment with properly raising thier children.