by David Aaron White

Created on: June 19, 2008   Last Updated: November 01, 2008

Gaming has always been viewed as a primarily male activity, though there is no real discrimination against females playing video games. Most female teenagers don't even own a game system, yet are completely fine with it because they simply aren't interested in gaming. The fact is, video games just happen to be more enticing to males and less geared towards females, and it's not changing anytime soon.

One aspect of this situation is the fact that males are naturally more openly competitive than females. Guys just love the rush of adrenaline and excitement that comes from fierce combat or nail-biting sports games, and feel all the more energized when pitted against other males. How often do you hear of guys fighting for a girl? Sports such as football and boxing are so violent that the media doesn't even try to disguise it. Testosterone fuels men to be more aggressive and use energy to become frenzied when competing amongst one another. Coincidentally, females do not produce testosterone like guys do, so they don't have that extra need for fierce, violent competition, even though they are just as capable as males. Men just like to compete more than women, which is why you'll find much fewer women than men playing Halo, Madden, or Fifa.

We must also realize that games these days are in fact geared more towards males. Yes, the developers and publishers of your favorite games have a hand in this! Think, how often do you see a game advertised with stunning male models half-naked lining up for the beautiful princess heroine? I have never seen that, but I've played Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, seen several ads for The Guy Game, and every James Bond game in existence has at least one scantily clad and attractive female supporting character. This is really more of a guy's industry, don't you think? Games that depict females in such a way, bordering the realm of objectifying them, are clearly not geared towards girls. Really, what girl wants to see Dominique from James Bond 007: Nightfire strip in the middle of a pile of corpses? Violence also seems to be a deterrent for girls when discussing the gaming industry. As noted before, they don't naturally relish or enjoy violence as much as males, but of course there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, many guys are ashamed of their violent nature, and use video games to vent their aggression. Until publishers start making games that use more female leads, such as Kameo: Elements of Power, and fewer bloodthirsty enemies and heroes,

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