Women Can Play Video Games, Too

It's an hour after dinner, and I decide to unwind by breaking one of the most common gender-based stereotypes. I turn on my TV and start playing a video game.

I am not what you would call a hard-core gamer, but I play quite a bit and like comparing games with other people. But whenever I join a conversation about video games, I am met with strange looks. One friend put it quite bluntly: "Girls who spend more than 20 minutes on their hair don't play video games."

But why should it be that way? I shouldn't get strange looks when I play video games or when I walk into a GameStop store. Guys aren't the only people who can enjoy video games. The only problem is that women aren't expected to. Believe it or not, women are interested in more things than shopping and doing their hair. We shouldn't be dismissed in the gaming world.

According to ABC News, the number of women playing video games is on the rise. This encouraged me, until I did a search for news articles concerning women and video games. It seems that we have yet to escape the stereotype.

In the articles that I found, various marketers were quoted regarding the types of games that appeal to women. I was disappointed to hear that we are still battling the assumption that women just care about shopping. Women shouldn't be afraid to play video games, and guys should be more accepting.

The reports claimed that women only like nonviolent, peaceful games, like The Sims and Harvest Moon. Now, I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with these games. It just annoys me that developers think that is all we enjoy.

I have played shooter games, racing games and RPGs, also known as Role-Playing Games. And even though I'm a girl, I enjoyed them. They are a great way to relieve stress and it's nice to know that if you make a mistake, you'll be able to jump back up and try again. I'm currently making my way through The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, a game that, according to experts, shouldn't hold my interest.

I don't have a problem with women who only like the nonviolent games. I know it's a personal preference, and I respect that. The only problem I have is being treated like we don't belong in a world of gaming, when both men and women should be able to enjoy themselves. There shouldn't be an unspoken assumption that keeps us out, and we shouldn't be treated differently when we try to join.

Unfortunately, gaming is not the only stereotype we have to deal with. Head over to the gym, and you'll see that almost all of the people playing basketball there are guys. Very rarely do you see a girl there. If they do join the games, they have trouble being accepted into the action and respected for their shots. These stereotypes against women are going on everywhere. Most people just choose not to see it.

Plan B

Today was supposed to be the day that my blog changed. Unfortunately, my original plan got changed, and I seriously need to rant about it before my head explodes. So even though Plan A failed, I shall change my blog with a flimsy Plan B.

See, last week I wrote a column for my school's newspaper that was supposed to be featured on Wednesday. However, a timelier article was written and my column got pushed back until this Friday. Of course, I told this news to pretty much everyone that I know, from my journalism professor to my grandparents. This morning I picked up a copy of the paper, flipped eagerly to page 4 and saw...someone else's article. After much swearing and ranting to both my parents on the phone, I called my editor and left an impressively calm message. He texted me back a little while later and promised to call me between 10 and 11am. It is now 1pm, and I am still waiting for his call.

Now, I'm not an unreasonable person. I understood when my column was pushed back in favor of the timely article. I would have probably understood if my editor had bothered to tell me that my column wouldn't be published on Friday. The only problem I have is that nobody bothered to tell me anything. If somebody had bothered to explain, and if my editor had graced me with a call this morning like he promised, I wouldn't be so mad. Apparently that's just the way life works.

Hopefully my column will be published one of these days. And if not, the newspaper's supervisor will definitely be hearing from me.

Blog Revamp

After a long absence, I have decided to revamp my blog. The title and "theme" is going to be changed, and I will be updating at a regular pace with editorials/opinion articles that I am writing for my university's newspaper. I will also probably write posts on whatever happens to be on my mind at the time. The first opinion article that I post will probably be the last one with a more "female take" on things; after that I will change my style of writing.

So please keep visiting; I promise that this will be more active very soon. Any comments are appreciated!

The Original Rants: "Advertisements"

Since there's really nothing for me to write about right now, I decided to post another one of my old rants. Enjoy.

I was in the middle of a perfectly nice game of Bejeweled on MSN today when suddenly my game was at a standstill. “Your game will resume in 10 seconds”, the screen told me. Slowly, the numbers counted down in a time span that I am sure was more than 10 seconds. Meanwhile, an ad for the Atkins diet was shoved in my face. First of all, I am not on a diet. Second of all, I came to play Bejeweled, not to see some stupid ads every three levels or so. It’s bad enough that when you click on the game to play it, it shoves a huge ad in your face and makes you click again to actually start. But this? This is insane.

If you go play a game on MSN, you’ll see what I mean. They have four ads on the page where you select the game you want to play. Then there are three ads on the page where you select if you want to play the game online or download the *free* trial version, or you can even play for cash when available. So I click to play, and half the times they show me an ad and make me click again. Then on the screen where I can actually play, there are another two ads on the side. Then they have to shove ads in every few levels! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS?!?!

If I want to go on a diet, I’ll look for diets myself. If I want a new car, I’ll go to a car dealer. If I want a new pair of jeans, I’ll go to the store. I DO NOT NEED ADS SHOVED IN MY FACE EVERY TIME I WANT TO PLAY A GAME!

I understand that MSN needs money to keep them going. But this? This is insane.

Our world is simply drowning in ads. You don’t have to look very far to see them. In fact, it’s hard not to when they’re jumping up every time you open a page on the internet. Free prizes? Yeah right. I’m the 100,000th visitor? Possibly, but not EVERY TIME I go to that same page. They’re just shoving a bunch of crap in our faces, hoping that one of us is stupid enough to believe them.

And just wait, folks. It’s only going to get worse.

Secrets, Secrets

While I was in bed this morning, waiting for the sleep that never did come, I made one of the most difficult decisions that I have ever made so far in my life: the decision to forgive and forget. And coming from someone who is very good at holding a grudge, it was a surprising choice. Hopefully I won't regret it.

The whole thing started a little less than a year ago, when I first went away to college. My roommate was trusted with a secret, but I found out that she told some of our friends this secret. That fact ended our friendship for a long time, until a few days ago, when she contacted me for the first time in months. At that time, she was willing to put everything aside, but I guess I wasn't, because we got into a big argument again, and things ended badly a second time.

But ever since that last argument I've been thinking. Yes, she betrayed my trust and hurt me a great deal. But does that mean I should throw away our friendship? When she was willing to put everything aside and start over? Maybe I'm being weak, just trying to avoid conflict, and I guess that's one way to look at it. But when I think about everything, I realize how much we went through together, and I realize that I'm not quite ready to lose that.

New Podcast

I would like to make a small announcement: I am now part of a podcast! I hope that you will all take a listen and tell me what you think. Any questions, comments, or suggestions can be sent to mimi60516@yahoo.com with something regarding "podcast" in the subject line so that it is not marked as spam. I would love to hear what you think!

I don't think that it's up on iTunes yet, but if you go to this link you can directly download the podcast to your computer.
http://theblogandpodcastofateenageguy.blogspot.com/

College Memories

So, I could be really lazy today and just post another one of my past rants and call it a night. However, there’s some stuff going on and I just feel like going off on a tangent.
Looking around everyone’s Facebook, I see notes about how they are so sad that the school year is over and that they are leaving college to go back home. It really makes me wonder what I would be feeling if I was still away. See, I started at a college away from home…

But then I relapsed. I’m not sure if it was the pressure of classes, or being away from home, but I got depressed again. VERY depressed. I spent a day with a counselor, and after crying my eyes out for three straight hours (I did not know this was possible, but it is), it was decided that I would be sent home to go to a psychiatric hospital. My parents were on a cruise at the time, so the day was filled with long-distance calls, tears, and a long car ride late at night to the hospital.

I eventually got better, and after two weeks in outpatient therapy I was allowed to return to college. But as I settled back into my routine, I realized that something had changed. The people who I had once been good friends with wouldn’t look at me anymore. I had become invisible. True, I was quieter, but whenever they came to visit our dorm I tried to interact. It was tough, but I made an effort. I may as well have stayed silent.

Finally I snapped. I asked my roommate why nobody would talk to me anymore. She explained that she had told our friends just why I had been away from school for two weeks. I couldn’t believe it. I had trusted her with that information, and she handed it out like candy. She had also told her parents and brother. According to her, she was within her rights to tell people.

Needless to say, we fought over it. After a lot of tears on my part my roommate left, and I called my parents. I had already experienced some trouble catching up, so this was yet another straw on the camel’s back. And it looked like the back might be breaking. After I calmed down enough so that my parents could understand me, I told them everything that had happened. They advised me to think about my options: get a new roommate, or withdraw for the semester and come back home. It was a tough choice.

Obviously, I ended up choosing to leave. I spoke to my RA that night, and started to pack my things. Early the next morning my dad showed up, and we miraculously fit everything into one car. We went through the withdraw process and left the campus, heading toward home.

I won’t say that I haven’t regretted that decision many times, or that I didn’t cry about it for a few weeks, or that I didn’t have many choice swears directed at my roommate from the safety of the car, and later, home. But ultimately I think I did the right thing. Catching up after two weeks’ absence in college is no easy feat. It would have been difficult for me to pass, and may have even led to another bout of depression. So it may have been all for the better.

But I still find myself wondering what would have happened if I had stayed. How many more fun days would we have had, nailing fabric to the ugly bolsters, hiding keys in our shirts, having dinner, playing my Wii, and just plain messing around? I’m sure that if I had remained in college that semester I would be sad to go. Hopefully next year I’ll be able to find out for myself.