5 Destructive Stereotypes About Gamers That Need To Stop

4. Only Boys Play Games

Surely we're over this stereotype by now. Our progressive society is more than capable of embracing the idea that passions, forms of entertainment and even jobs are not gender specific. We have male nurses and female mechanics. Traditional patriarch and matriarch roles are no longer limited to specific pastimes. Surely there aren't people who legitimately believe that video games are a male-only pursuit, but then, when articles are still popping up devoted to pondering the why's and how's of gender disparity in gaming, and entire websites are set up to prove that gamers fall into both sexes, there is still a lot of collective maturing to do. As recently as last December, a columnist for the Telegraph basically felt his desire to play video games was shameful child's play to be kept a secret because his wife was indifferent. Admittedly the game industry may have a part to play in this: women appear to be largely eye candy, while the muscular, male aberrations that dominate many triple-AAA titles serve as the ideal avatar. Having said that, the facts speak for themselves. With around 47% of gamers being female, developers and marketers are literally segregating half their audience if they choose to appeal to men only.