Jessica’s Experience as a Female Gamer

Being a Cadette has been amazing in so many ways for me. I’ve really developed a bond with this amazing group of women as we share our experiences as female gamers with one another. And unsurprisingly, there were a few common themes among our stories involving gender stereotypes and challenges to our legitimacy as gamers. Most of us have heard comments on Xbox Live such as “What’s your bra size?” or “Girls suck at video games.”

But it’s hard to ignore such comments in person. And at PAX, I and the rest of the Cadettes dealt with attendees thinking we were “booth babes” - many of the people I encountered asked me very specific questions about R.U.S.E. and then admitted afterward that they were just testing me to see if I actually knew about the game

As a female Computer Science student as well as a gamer, I’ve had more than my fair share of similar experiences. Such as the time Dr. Long, my Computer Science 321 professor, called me out on the first day of class for being the only girl in that lecture…

“Welcome to CS&E 321. Your first lab is due next month--WOW, you guys! Look! Back there, we have a GIRL in the class!!”
Immediately, 44 heads whipped around to catch a gander.
“Are there girls in your other classes?” Dr. Long continued, voice riddled with mock disbelief.
“Um, yeah. There are three other girls in one of my other lectures,” I answered.
“THREE OTHERS?! I can’t believe that. Wow, that’s astonishing.”

But unfortunately, not all experiences have been so lighthearted. A few Cadettes and I had the misfortune of encountering a young man who began to badger us about the Frag Dolls. He said that Ubisoft was demeaning to women, and that the idea of having an exclusively female gaming team was just reverse sexism. I had to try to explain that the point of the Frag Dolls was not to flaunt our gender or beat the boys down. The Frag Dolls and Cadettes instead try to raise awareness of the fact that female gamers are no different than the male majority, and that as long as there are doubters there will be a need for groups of strong women like the Frag Dolls.

In the end, he and I had to agree to disagree. But his doubt only strengthened my resolve and made me even more proud of what I and the Frag Dolls do.