First off, let's get one thing straight - Being an attentionwhore is certainly not something that is exclusive to a single gender. However, for the purposes of this article, I'm going to be citing what I believe to be the most realistic and prevalent example: The attention-craving girl gamer. That being said, be aware that I'm not hating on girl gamers who express their passion for videogames by sharing their lifestyle and blogging intelligent, well-written articles; I'm talking about people who use their interest in video games as an excuse to join male-dominated communities of gamers and post borderline-pornographic pictures of themselves in a Julia Allison-like showcase of ego and internet whoredom.
Unfortunately, male gamers oftentimes reinforce this behavior through their "ZOMG BEWBIES" knee-jerk reactions. This is a problem. These people are feeding off that sort of attention, and it only serves to further convince them that their milkshakes bring all the nerds to the yard. If seeing controllers shoved into a girl's cleavage is your thing, then GTFO my internet and go back to 4chan. Furthermore, I'm pretty sure I could find many who agree that this type of attitude and imagery has become so prevalent that it's practically cliche at this point; pathetic in a way almost comparable to niche marketing.
Again, don't get me wrong: This community is host to a metric ton of
awesome female bloggers whose
journalistic skills I could never hope to match. This fact only serves to further my point - You
can be a successful videogames blogger without needing to shove a controller between your tits or take a photo of yourself provocatively licking a Nintendo World Championship cartridge.
Zen Albatross's blog
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That fucker ripped me a new one yesterday for hurting his puss...i mean feelings.
It's ok to be a hot girl and like games, but I'm not really sure how I feel about the idea of putting gaming women on a pedestal of worship simply because they have boobs and play video games.
At the same time, women who enter the gaming world with breasty photos enter it as eye candy, and without contributing something to the community will remain so. If there are women gamers out there who are satisfied with being admired for their looks and nothing else, then I suppose that is their choice. One would hope they could strive for something a little more meaningful.
LOL!
You are absolutly right. You get plenty of respect from this community and you never had to show us your boobs. Thats what I have been trying to say all along.
Nicely put.
I have no problem with girls that do this, it's their choice, and if they're happy with THAT kind of "respect" then they can have it.
I really only get annoyed when the dudes go ga ga and completely forget about anything semi-meaningful and expect all girls to send n0odz- i.e. pwned.com
What I hate though is that they just keep beating it over our heads that Girls play games. It's like, OK WE GET IT, you can shut up now! ;P
Well said. :)
I'd say the hate should be more geared towards the fools who go ga ga over them and put them up on a giant pedestal. Then again people can be really nice to others whether they are hot or not so you can never really tell if they are doing it just because the girl is hot.
Thanks a lot, Zen.
Only kidding. Good write-up. I agree with whoever said that male gamer-nerds tend to latch on to female gamers and put 'em on a pedestal. It might have been you, but I wouldn't know, because I can't actually read.
Anyway, I was at the Gamestop awhile back, and this really pimply-faced, ragged looking nerd was there chatting up the lone employee, who also had tits. And not the tits that come from a steady diet of Taco Bell and Mountain Dew. No, this employee was an honest to God female! The poor thing looked like she was either going to shove road flares up the guy's ass, or shoot him in the face, and all the while, he obliviously rattled off useless videogame trivia, like it was going to get him an all-access pass to her vagina.
It was great.
Also Interesting read.
@cyberxion
Lol!
It's great that some lady gamers take a lot of pride in how they look and want to show it off, but I really hate what it does for the rest of us. I hate seeing naked women covered in consoles on the front pages of websites (no offense, Nerdcore) and gain fame within their respective communities JUST based on their good looks, while intelligent women who write good things and have great ideas get a whole lot less attention unless they too choose to show a little boob.
That being said, you totally stole my idea. This behavior has no place in the gaming community. Girl and guy gamers should be equals, but I fear it will never happen.
Goddammit, why are the (non-whorish) women in this community so awesome? Well said. The worst part is that both sides feed each other: The men act like sexist horndogs because the women will show them skin, but the women only show themselves off because the men are sexist horndogs who will give them the attention. It's an endless cycle. And yet, even if the cycle wasn't there, you know both sides would probably still be just as horny/needy.
I know I'm not exactly anyone's perfect, dreamy hunk-of-flesh, but I'd take any of you ladies over the camwhores anyday. Especially you, Zen Albatross.
Not to put any pressure on you ladies, but it's a shame we don't get enough posts from you. I mean, where did This Year's Pink go? what about Sadie G? Atheistium even? I know everyone's got real lives to worry about, and that's perfectly understandable. That should always come first.
But you have to take into account that when the community does not get a constant feed of proper blogs from the female point of view, on the rare occasion that a female decides to show up, some people won't know how to act. It's sad.