Warcraft from a backstabbing rogue's point of view
I'm a girl
Posted 03/25/08 at 12:01 PM by Innaraa
Tanilin told me yesterday he HATES when I say that.
I do it for a few reasons though. And I'm going to explain to you "boys" exactly why.
First of all, when you keep getting called "dude" or "man" in a pug, it gets a little annoying. I realize that you assume everyone, even those who play the chick toons, think that every player is a guy, and probably not as cool as you.
Which brings me to point number two. As a girl, I get treated differently. In a positive and a negative way. Honestly? I gotta tell you, if I keep under wraps that I'm a girl I think by most guildies I would have been treated better - their past experience with some over the top guildies that were girls makes many of them assume we are all emotional and bitchy. I can argue something that any other guy in the guild would argue and yet I'm "defensive" or "emo" while the guy is just "making a point".
That is a negative of telling people you're a female. So why do I do it? Ventrilo aside, I like to be talked to as a girl. I like to be treated like a girl and not like your "brother" or "buddy".
Let me add however, that I get treated differently in a positive way too. Those who don't assume "emo" over every comment actually like the fact that a girl is cool enough to play, and play well. I think they respect it.
One of my favorite things is when the guy guildies will come to me wondering how they can surprise their wife, or girlfriend, with something romantic, or have me check out a link of a gift to get the girl seal of approval. This all boils down to being treated like a girl - and not like one of your buddies.
"I'm a girl" is often my excuse when someone groans over a comment like "ohhh, a cup of herbal tea sounds epic right now" and I hear the chorus of groans. It's basically saying "You're not like me, so stfu". Only in a much nicer, girlier way.
The fact is, most of you are male. In the MMO world - I distinguish myself from others by being "that cool chick" - so I do make it clear I'm a girl.
And I think you other chicks would agree - it's nice being a girl in a 90% male environment, amirite?
I do it for a few reasons though. And I'm going to explain to you "boys" exactly why.
First of all, when you keep getting called "dude" or "man" in a pug, it gets a little annoying. I realize that you assume everyone, even those who play the chick toons, think that every player is a guy, and probably not as cool as you.
Which brings me to point number two. As a girl, I get treated differently. In a positive and a negative way. Honestly? I gotta tell you, if I keep under wraps that I'm a girl I think by most guildies I would have been treated better - their past experience with some over the top guildies that were girls makes many of them assume we are all emotional and bitchy. I can argue something that any other guy in the guild would argue and yet I'm "defensive" or "emo" while the guy is just "making a point".
That is a negative of telling people you're a female. So why do I do it? Ventrilo aside, I like to be talked to as a girl. I like to be treated like a girl and not like your "brother" or "buddy".
Let me add however, that I get treated differently in a positive way too. Those who don't assume "emo" over every comment actually like the fact that a girl is cool enough to play, and play well. I think they respect it.
One of my favorite things is when the guy guildies will come to me wondering how they can surprise their wife, or girlfriend, with something romantic, or have me check out a link of a gift to get the girl seal of approval. This all boils down to being treated like a girl - and not like one of your buddies.
"I'm a girl" is often my excuse when someone groans over a comment like "ohhh, a cup of herbal tea sounds epic right now" and I hear the chorus of groans. It's basically saying "You're not like me, so stfu". Only in a much nicer, girlier way.
The fact is, most of you are male. In the MMO world - I distinguish myself from others by being "that cool chick" - so I do make it clear I'm a girl.
And I think you other chicks would agree - it's nice being a girl in a 90% male environment, amirite?
Total Comments 13
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Frankly, I'm surprised at the sexism that seems to be assumed in the case of MMO players. It's not even an "anonymity of the internet" thing, but it's pervasive. As a male who plays WoW with his girlfriend, it's incredibly disheartening to see her treated like a second class of player and even ignored because "you never know how the ladies will act." Wayne Brady could choke a bitch...
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I'm going to go out on a limb here and just speculate that not only does nobody give a fuck that you're a girl, but they also don't appreciate the usual attention e-whoring that everyone sees every day, even if you're cutely euphemizing it as "being treated differently in a positive way".
There are girls on the internet, but the ones who really want to be someone cool to hang around with don't make posts like "hai guyz i have a vagina". |
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So first you complain about being treated the same as everyone else (and referred to using male pronouns, since wow is a "90% male environment"), and then you complain about being treated differently after you go out of your way to get attention and special treatment?
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A very good female friend of me plays WoW on a role playing server, as a guild master of a pretty large social/rp guild. She don't mention she is a girl in real life, ever. Think my alt is close the only member who knows she is actually a girl. Have asked her why she does this, I guess she just thinks the negative sides outweighs the positive ones. Not saying she acts as a guy or anything, but if you don't say you are a girl most people would assume you are a male.
(She does the same on IRC). |
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Girls aren't real you are a just a guy pretending jeez everyone knows that stop playin.
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Guys, don't be such dicks. (Pun intended)
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A friend of mine who was once an officer and the healing lead in the guild we were in would constantly get shot down when she made any suggestions, no matter how valid they were, unless they were backed up by another (male) officer.
Reason? "Oh she must be PMSing again, let's just ignore this." Unfortunately, in some cases for girls in WoW, it seems if you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. |
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I'm a girl and I generally hide my gender until I've known the person, or people, for a while. I do it because I'd rather they get to know me for who I am before the stereotypes have a chance to set in. This way I feel like I can avoid all of the negativity and become "that cool chick" when they do finally find out.
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It's weird. In my old guild, we had 3 female players.
It was a high-end raiding guild. I don't think there was ever any "discrimination", they were treated just as equally as any other player. Now in my current guild, which is a national one and quite casual, there's quite a few (hell I'm not even sure how many) female players. However to me the greatest surprise was, that there's constant joking and such over the fact that they are women. Not in "bad" or a "discriminating" way, but in a different kind of a way. Perhaps it's just the different raiding cultures of the guilds. With the raiding guild it felt that I was playing with a group of corporate executives. With the casual guild it feels like I'm down at the pub, having a few pints of lager with a loud group of gay british bachelor's (don't ask...). So I guess what I'm trying to say is that it really depends on the people you play with. Pricks and Bigots will unfortunately always be there. |
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This is a very unique sort of post, as my experience in my guild is entirely different with that.
We have a few females in the guild, at this point 4 that raid, I think,... and none of them are treated with any less respect than anyone else. One of them is actually our main tank, and an Officer, and is very respected in the guild. The rest are also respected too. A common thread among them, perhaps, is that they don't take shit from anyone,.. but I think it's also just part of who the guild is, regardless. Because the guild itself has such a strong emphasis on 'We're a family, a group of friends, before raiders', I think that we tend to be more careful about who is recruited. We've had our share of sexist, racist, elitist and idiotic jackasses join and such over the years, but after a few chances to .. well, not be the above mentioned things, they've been removed from the guild ... as it will always be the Guild > You, if you are picking fights with people based on stupid things like whether or not they have boobs, or a certain color of their skin. That all said, obviously, no matter where you are in the world, there are going to be people who are going to choose one feature of yours to define you, and will always view you in a light that is based on that feature, be it your gender, race, origin, income, PVP rating, who you voted for, what fast food you eat, or if you're a vegetarian or not. I'm not sure I can realistically expect WoW to be any different. |
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edit: delete me please, no need to necro this. Saw the date too late.
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Asking to be recognized for you who are- i.e., saying that you are female and generally liking it to be known that you want to interact the way that females typically interact with other people (involving herbal tea, I guess?)- is not asking to be "treated differently" in the same way that girls or women are actually treated differently based on sexist bias. You are abusing the language, sir or madam, and I will not tolerate it!
People will often choose to define you based on their perceptions of qualities, true. But in WoW it is more exacerbated because people are literally shameless- they can't be identified and shamed into seeing why they are idiotic, or at least shutting the hell up. Those that do try to shame them cause them to be supported by the equally shameless. |
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Updated 08/10/10 at 1:03 PM by Polynomials |
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Quote:
they can't be identified and shamed into seeing why they are idiotic
You necro'd a 2+ year old post. You're an idiot. |
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Recent Blog Entries by Innaraa
- I'm a girl (03/25/08)
- Because I hate my raid leader (03/19/08)
