Do the majority of girls really not play video games much?

I'm a 15 year old girl and I play quite a lot of non-casual games on PC. I'm currently playing games like Team Fortress 2, The Division and Portal.

I go to an all-girls school and for some reason, very few of my friends play any games at all that aren't casual mobile games or The Sims - as far as I can tell, there's only one other person in my class who plays similar types of games to me. A lot of them only know anything about gaming based on their brothers' consoles and most of them have never even heard of Steam or any of the games I play. It can be a little frustrating trying to find people to do co-op with.

By contrast, lots of the guys I know play, watch and talk about games far more.

I know this is anecdotal evidence, but I've barely met any girls my age at all that are really into non-casual gaming. Is there a reason for this?

Reply 1

The Weeknd

10

Nerd. That might be a good nerd or a bad nerd. Still, different people are cool. You aren't a sheep which is nice. Some girls like to follow the craze or the expected roles for females created by our society. You seem to not give a **** lool. That's dope.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 2

hello_shawn

19

Marketing. It's the reason why boys play games and girls go shopping

Reply 3

ozzyoscy

21

The reason for it is the reason for everything else - environment, genes and chemistry, and a bit of random chance.

But I don't believe there's any such thing as 'casual' (or 'hardcore' or even 'gamer' ), these are just tags people tend to use to invalidate others or validate themselves.

For example, the 'non-casual' games you said you play, many would call those quintessentially 'casual'. Some use the word as another way of saying 'popular', in a similar way how everything we like just so happens to be 'underrated' and everything we dislike is 'overrated' by everyone else because we like to believe we're the only unique special ones in the world.

You'll find a lot of girls probably play something on their phone, or people play a diffrent sort of 'game', like trying to get retweets from celebs, or getting people to give attention with a vague Facebook status or cheesy pic with a long caption about body positivity or a #NoMakeupSelfie that's really just angling for adulation or to fit in.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 4

Nihilisticb*tch

22

In general, there are more males who call themselves "gamers" and treat it as a hobby (so maybe what you'd call "serious gamers") whereas girls who play video games don't generally make a big thing about it. More boys play games in general but this is mainly because of how they're marketed and it's a societal thing really. Maybe you should try and get some of your female friends into gaming and introduce them to new games if you're wanting more people to play with.

Reply 5

username3932602

8

Most of my friends play flash games like Papa's Freezeria or something like that. I think girls can also enjoy gaming but they don't depend their whole lives on it. As a girl, I enjoy playing most games but there are only a few I like. I guess it's because females are highly sexualised that girls are like 'no'. And maybe the fact there might be creepy dudes trying to ask them out if they're a girl. Those are the only reasons I can think of. I'm trying to get my friends to play with me but they said the games I play are boring.

Reply 6

username3890778

21

I’m 18 and I play games. Wouldn’t call myself a “gamer” because i just play the same games over and over. But uhm yes we exist

Reply 7

jshin

1

just how the society is manipulating gaming as guy thing. Also companies market it that way. Don't mind them. Do what you like.

Reply 8

ozzyoscy

21

Perhaps male brains are generally more drawn to gambling, because that's what a lot of games essentially are, putting something in and earning a little reward or buzz. Like drugs.

Aren't males more biologically susceptible to drugs and addiction than females?

Reply 9

ThronesRanger

14

we exist but in a relatively small population.

Reply 10

BTAnonymous

22

Original post by ozzyoscy

Perhaps male brains are generally more drawn to gambling, because that's what a lot of games essentially are, putting something in and earning a little reward or buzz. Like drugs.

Aren't males more biologically susceptible to drugs and addiction than females?

Possibly. Could be adrenaline rushes as well.

When I played games like Arma, DayZ and PUBG, it would get me sweltering like a pig because of the adrenaline.

do you want a medal?

i wet to an all girls secondary, and the type of girls i knew there compared to my college are so different, my secondary didnt really have lots of girls who liked video games so i was always awkwardly trying to relate to them some other way, but in college quite a few of my friends who are female love playing video games, like from tekken to guitar hero.

Reply 13

sandytablet

20

There are actually quite some of us but I have heard that many women do not like to disclose their gender online in fear of harassment or whatever.

Personally, I usually stick to Blizzard games like Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch, Hearthstone, and when I can be bothered, World of Warcraft.

Reply 14

monkeyman0121

20

I would say it is because of pressure or just that they actually haven't played many video games. I mean boys will talk about it a lot because it is normal to them and their friends. Girls will say it less because of all the stupid things people judge others on. My example would be that because most girls would not talk about it in the first place, the people who actually play games would not really mention it because they would be seen as different and maybe even weird because it is not often talked about. Same reason why you don't hear many people talking about sexual relations or porn, because they will be judged on what they are saying at every turn. (Some people assume it is a bad thing to like, I guess?)

Another reason is because they haven't really been introduced to gaming at your school? Or they are a lot of single sibling families? (I got to liking games because I had an older cousin who introduced me to them. Obviously I would have been gaming later on my own but still maybe they haven't as of yet.)

Reply 15

Lumiea

10

You know- it's weird. I don't know why girls don't really play many video games.
I'm a girl myself, and I play them quite a bit! My favorite is probably Overwatch.
But I just think because of stereotypes, girls don't really try it. My friend has mentioned she wants to become a gamer though.

Reply 16

username3508100

20

I love a good game of Zelda.

Reply 17

-Eirlys-

Debate & Current Affairs Helper

21

Original post by RedPlayer3

I'm a 15 year old girl and I play quite a lot of non-casual games on PC. I'm currently playing games like Team Fortress 2, The Division and Portal.

I go to an all-girls school and for some reason, very few of my friends play any games at all that aren't casual mobile games or The Sims - as far as I can tell, there's only one other person in my class who plays similar types of games to me. A lot of them only know anything about gaming based on their brothers' consoles and most of them have never even heard of Steam or any of the games I play. It can be a little frustrating trying to find people to do co-op with.

By contrast, lots of the guys I know play, watch and talk about games far more.

I know this is anecdotal evidence, but I've barely met any girls my age at all that are really into non-casual gaming. Is there a reason for this?

I have played games since I was a child and I am now in my early twenties, still playing video games. It is not appealing to really girly girls and I think it is still viewed a boy thing, but I was oblivious to that when I grew up and I don't care how it's branded. I was more interested in what my brother was doing and found toy cars and video games more fascinating than dolls and clothes! You will find you're quite alone in finding other girl gamers, but you can always make friends with guy gamers, that's just as fun. :smile:

I have hobbies that are seemingly reserved for teen boys or for elderly women - I don't care how they appear to others, I just care about enjoying them.

Reply 18

Itsadaisy

4

The population of female gamers is slowly increasing. In fact, a study from QuantricFoundry suggests the population has been estimated to be around 41% in 2016 (including casual gamers.)

I love video games, I know a lot of girls that feel the same way. Some girls don't really like video games and the same applies to guys. It just really depends on how you like to spend your time and what type of personality you have that can make you more inclined towards video games rather than television, art, reading or other typical hobbies.

My parents had always bought me games when I was growing up, I'm an introvert, so even when I was younger, I spent most of my time playing games with guy friends because I couldn't really fit in anywhere else. In fact, my fondest memory is trying to play that stupid bubsy game my mum bought me. Now, I see a lot of female gamers, and male gamers - and others that aren't that interested but will give it a shot on the odd occasion. For girls, it can be because gaming is termed as something masculine, and the thought of an area that's male-dominated can be quite daunting to a girl. There are more girls confident about it though, which is a fantastic thing! It's the most unisex it's ever been in a long time.

Reply 19

Kallisto

Entertainment Forum Helper

22

Have had hardly girls around me when I was playing video games with friends. Just because they did not like most of the games I own. Looks like many girls have really no interest in playing games.

Do the majority of girls really not play video games much?

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