Being a gamer who happens to be female comes with a set of struggles that all lead back to one factor: the female gamer’s gender. Gamers of the female gender are usually pinned as “fake” or “asking for attention,” and are usually subjected to the same recycled stereotype jokes while playing online with a group made up of strangers usually of the male gender.

Trips to Gamestop are always nerve-wracking. Bracing yourself for questions and statements such as “Do you even actually game? You’re just going this for attention. You just play Assassin’s Creed cause you think Ezio is attractive, right? Is this for your brother or your boyfriend? The Cooking Mama game is over there.” Yes, let me walk into Gamestop and purchase a $60 game, go home and put that $60 disc into a $400+ gaming system because I am so fake and want to impress guys who game. I obviously am not spending money on all these expensive items to enjoy myself, just wanna impress the guys with my fake gaming. Does sarcasm transfer well over the Internet?

Entering a virtual lobby full of guys ranging from 10 to 40 years old is already daunting enough, adding to the pressure by being expected to perform better than the average male gamer to prove you aren’t a “fake gamer” while having to endure insults about being better than the aforementioned males in the lobby creates an overall awkward experience. Having to play with people who are screaming offensive comments, which include, but are not limited to: “Get back to the kitchen!” “Ayy bay-bay wanna get with me?” “GIRL IN THE LOBBY!” + many other various sexual harassment comments.

Female gamers make up 48% of the gaming population and yet they still receive a good bit of grief for being female and a gamer. If only society didn’t uphold sexism and gender roles in the modern age.