User:CMCRV 23'/Gender and LGBTQ+ Gamers

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A woman gamer participating with men at gamescom.

An African American male playing video games

The two most controversial issues surrounding the gaming world in today's day and age are ideas of gender roles and LGBTQ+ involvement in the gaming industry. It is first important to understand the difference between men and women in the world of gaming. Although roughly the same number of men and women play games, the stereotype of a gamer is one that is predominantly male. A justification sometimes given for this is that while many women occasionally play games, they should not be considered "true" gamers because they tend to play games that are more casual and require fewer skills than men. This stereotype is perpetuated by the fact that at a professional level, most of the teams competing are composed of men, while female gamers of moderate skill are rendered invisible. The Idea behind a woman being a more active player than a man fits the common concept of what is seen to be a typical video game player in the gaming industry.

The average gamer is seen to be a male player who is usually Caucasian. Aside from the average look of a gamer, It is notable to understand that a study has shown 48% of game purchases are from female consumers, but in 2015 only 6% of women that are in the U.S identify as a gamer. Ideas behind the word "girl gamer" tend to spark a contentious reaction, and the use of this name has been supported as a title that is seen as a reappropriated term. Besides the distinction of a "girl gamer" from a "male gamer," there is also a common understanding as stereotype of a "Gaymer." A Gaymer is a depiction of a gay gamer, and someone who identifies their sexual orientation to be a part of the LGBT (gay, bisexual, lesbian, or transgender) community while participating in video games. The concept of Gaymer's have and are a part of two surveys in 2006 and 2009. The 2006 survey took note of the levels of detriment that Gaymer's may have experienced, and the 2009 survey kept detail of the content that Gaymer's would find to be normalized in video games.

Staying the topic of ideas behind gaming and the relationship with the LGBTQ+ community, it has been noted that video games are starting to develop more characters and depictions of members from this specific community. Some of the topics of these specific LGBTQ+ friendly video games include such ideas as queer coming out stories, and queer relationships. These games are also providing the option of character creation with different forms of gender expression along with more LGBTQ+ romance options. One example of these games in the LGBTQ+ realm of dating would be something called Dream Daddy that was released in 2017. This physical game had many queer individuals debating, but the overall representation of the game was applauded by many of the LGBTQ+ members due to its accurate presentation and the way that it provided comfort to people of many sexualities. The concept of having more of these gender and sexuality friendly games is providing LGBTQ+ members with a safe space to feel welcome and explore their queer personality preferences in a more confident manner.

Silicon Valley Pride Parade

Although the LGBTQ+ gamers are starting to make more of a mark in the gaming world, there are still many disadvantages to this process. Homophobia in the gaming world does tend to take a toll on the problem of an equally shared gaming experience. This is both an issue within the games industry and many areas of the games culture. The brings back the thought of importance for increasing LGBTQ representation in games, especially with such events as GaymerX. There is also a study called the online roulette survey that shows that queer gamers are at a disadvantage financially for the fact that the highest earning professional gamers in the LGBTQ+ community bring in less money than popular heterosexual professional gamers.This highlights that not only is there a huge divide between male and female counterparts in the gaming industry, but there also happens to be a great divide when it comes to sexual preference in the gaming world, especially when it comes to the professional gaming scene. Often, tech companies' privilege men's point of view over women's participation in tech and their consumption, which could be seen as vice versa for people of a homosexual and heterosexual identity. The two topics will always hold a big weight in the gaming industry.

Gaymer Logo for LGBT Gaming Convention