by Ashley Schaeffer

Created on: April 02, 2008

As an ardent female gamer who has been working out my thumbs for almost two decades, I have observed the evolution of gender roles within the world of video games from almost the very beginning. Back in the 80s and early 90s, females weren't quite as empowered as they are today in 2008 (they were wearing atrocities like shoulder pads in order to step up to the level of men, for crying out loud). Growing up in those days came along with all the silly gender stereotypes that were ripe and ready to be thrown out the door, but no one had gotten around to taking out the garbage yet.

The little girls of Generation Y smelled the bullsh*t from a mile away, at least enough of them did. While my older brother was getting presents like Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis for Christmas, I was stuck with gifts that encouraged my traditional female roles, like the odious Easy-Bake Oven. All I can remember thinking at the time was, "This is stupid, and these brownies taste like cardboard."

There's no doubt that breaking into the gaming world was less than easy for females as a whole. Any girl that grew up around boys will tell you that guys never go soft on girls who are trying to break into realms that they feel entitled to dominate. This doesn't have too much to do with the belief that women are actually less capable. It has much more to do with the idea that they feel their own masculine capabilities are being challenged when a female surpasses them at something they're supposed to be better at by birthright. Once girls started demonstrating that being able to beat them at a round of Street Fighter II or Halo was something to be proud of, and not something to simply brush off, the tables began to turn.

In 2005, a survey showed that the scales were being tipped toward the center, with 57% of gamers being made up of males, and an impressive 43% being comprised of females. Popular websites like HotGamerGirls.com and GameGirl.com support and encourage female gamers, and professional, competitive all-girl gaming teams like Everground take it one step further in shattering the stereotypes.

Some people may argue that the actual content of video games themselves prove that it is still a world dominated by the masculine. In that regard I would have to say this is as true as saying that everything else on the planet is ruled by men, including television, movies, and the workplace. I can pick up "mah ho," screw her brains out, and then pimp her on the street corner while playing Grand Theft

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