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EQUALLY CAPABLE

Girls versus boys in the gaming community is one of those topics that sparks up in general chat every so often in every MMORPG I've ever played. However, recently these conversations (flame wars) have been cropping up more and more frequently as fellow females type frantically to defend our gender from trolls. Despite the stereotype it isn't easier for girls (lacking testosterone) to walk away from a fight.

Back to the trolls though. Some of them even go so far as to state that girls belong in the kitchen making sandwiches while they bring home the flag, etc. It isn't funny or even shocking anymore, it's just dumb and another reason to leave the mass channels. Did it used to infuritate me and make me want to compete with them for more flames? Sure it did, and I've "won" my share of flame wars too, but at the end of the day there just isn't enough time. I've got gear to earn in arenas and battlegrounds. I've got dungeons to explore and treasures to sell on the auction house so I can afford to max out my tradeskills.

I know plenty of other gamers, girls and guys alike and from my standpoint they're equal. Perhaps not always equally treated, but equally capable. And before you decide that I am complaining let me state that I almost always play guy characters these days and avoid teamspeak so I can be as much "one of the boys" as any girl gamer that has met her share of stalkers and prefers RESPECT to free gold and gear. I have decided that I have more fun when I play as a gamer, not as a girl gamer. Why? I guess because it's fun to just play a game, not represent a gender.

My sisters and I are girls (obviously) and lately we've been playing World of Warcraft. If you've ever played WoW then you know how rant-y the community can be, how harsh and quick witted, angry and competitive. We run right up there with top dogs and win Battlegrounds every time we put the effort into typing out positive reinforcement and orders. We live for the adrenaline rush of a good PvP battle and enjoy beating toons into skeletons. We may not produce as much testosteron as some of the gamers we're -beating- but that doesn't mean they're any better at the game than us.

Incidentally I know a lot of guy gamers and girl gamers that I wouldn't mind having on our team and I don't discriminate based on gender. I look at hard facts, stats and attitude. I know from experience that both girls and boys run from horrible to awesome and their gender has nothing to do with it.

Learn more about this author, E. Rae Fallesen.
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