For all the talk of girl gamers and stereotypes, little of it cuts through the crap like this opinion piece from Destructoid. It goes in-depth on the highs and lows of our perceptions of women as gamers these days, eventually concluding it's not important to begin with.

Give it a read.

I really dislike the term "Girl Gamer" though mostly because I'm 47 and it's been a long, long time since I was called a "girl". I'm a gamer and I happen to be female. I don't feel that I should have to hide the fact that I'm female because this is who I am, just as being older, being married and loving FPS online games is part of who I am.

When the monthly musing topic of love/hate came up I had lots of various ideas but the one that I kept coming back to was the topic of female gamers because it's something that does have a consistent impact on my gaming experience. Ironically, I never knew that being a female gamer was unusual until I started playing online and joining gaming communities. Prior to that, I just assumed that people gamed -- all kinds of people. I had no preconceptions or stereotypes of who gamers were. I hope that one day we get back to that idea, though, not because of ignorance, but rather because it's simple reality.

That being said, since joining the world of gaming communities, I've come to detest many of the stereotypes of female gamers.

chautemoc via destructoid.com »