Playing games with boys
ByWhen I was a teenager, I spent every spare minute when I wasn’t at school or playing sports reading books, by everyone from M.E. Kerr to Jane Austen to Chaim Potok.
Fast-forward 20 years, and my teenage niece spends all her free time playing video games on her Xbox with her four best friends, who are all boys (she likes having guy friends better because “they’re less judgmental”).
She and her guy friends even ditched their high school’s homecoming dance a few weeks ago in favor of a Halo marathon at her house. And when Halo OTSD was released last month, her aunts bought her a copy after a week of her dropping not-so-subtle hints about how all her friends had the game and she didn’t. (We hate to see her suffer.)
But in other ways, she’s a typical young teenage girl: a straight-A student, a fashion maven who gives me make-up tips, and a huge Twilight fan who has the New Moon countdown app on her iTouch and who thinks Robert Pattinson is the ultimate chocolatey goodness.
All of this has me wondering: how will playing video games shape who she becomes as she grows up?
Will the assertiveness she’s learned and rewarded for in the games carry over into her real life, in any kind of permanent way? Will gaming help her relate better to male classmates and coworkers as an adult? Will she turn out any differently than if she’d spent her free time reading, or playing sports?
Games like Halo are still ridiculously male-oriented. There’s only one female character in Halo OTSD, for example, and a study in December of the top 10 best-selling games for each of the major consoles found that only 54% of the games contained female lead characters, while 92% had male lead characters; 38% of the female characters displayed significant body exposure, including cleavage, thighs and midriffs; and female characters were much more likely to giggle (yes, giggle) than male characters.
But none of this seems to bother my niece, at least not enough to prevent her from playing games, even the ones that are clearly designed for a male audience. I’ve only seen positive improvements in her self-confidence since she started gaming, and contrary to the stereotype, it seems to have improved rather than hindered her social life.
Not a lot of studies have been done yet on the long-term effects of gaming on girls, since girls haven’t been playing video games in large numbers for very long, but a study in September of younger teenage girls found that playing games like Tetris actually improved brain function. I’m not surprised: When my niece and I play Oblivion together, she spends more time strategizing than fighting, and she can run circles around me on anything that requires hand-eye coordination. The complexity of most video games today can’t help but expand the way you think.
To be fair, my niece is drawn to the games in part because of the social aspect — the ability to play Halo with her friends, either in-person or online using headsets to communicate. But almost all video games are incorporating this kind of social aspect now, which means more and more girls are likely to start playing, and at an earlier age (my other nieces, ages 9 and 12, also play a lot of video games).
Despite this and the fact that women and girls already reportedly comprise 40% of gamers, girls who game are still considered a “freakish anomaly”. According to the results of this university study released in the summer, however, men and women who game more in their teens continue to do so later in life.
If that’s true, an entire generation of girls may grow up spending more time fighting aliens than reading Pride and Prejudice.
Or even more likely, they’ll be fighting aliens, reading Pride and Prejudice on a Kindle, and text messaging — all at the same time.
Just as long as they’re not driving while they’re doing it.
If there proves to be a problem with games, I suspect it will lie in the direction of what a young woman has chosen NOT to do in order to play them. The general feeling is that they are addictive and crowd out other activities that would create a well-rounded individual and good citizen.
Reading and physical exercise are the standard worries. While the straight A’s report card suggests nothing is being lost, I suspect that is due to the lower standards for content and grades in the USA that we have today.
Has she volunteered lately to do some charity work? Is she politically involved? Does she follow the news or does she live in a very small universe surrounded by people who like to play games– with indifference to the problems her generation will have to deal with.
Games do teach their players problem-solving and successful gamers can launch complicated strategies that include psychological intelligence and logistical competence.
My main worry is that the transference of acquired gaming skills to real life problems will never happen because people like your niece will be far less interested in real problem-solving .
We have an entire generation believing their only role as a human being on this planet is to electronically entertain themselves.
I agree with you about the concern that too much gaming can crowd out other important activities (exercise, volunteering, etc.) but I haven’t seen that happen with her. When she’s not gaming or studying (she’s in advanced classes at a private school), she’s helping her family with chores on the farm, looking after her three younger siblings, and helping with the family business, so she doesn’t have much time to do charity work, especially because she’s not old enough yet to drive, although she and her sisters help to support an orphanage in Thailand that their parents took them to a few years ago.
As for her political awareness, it’s limited, but mostly because she’s only 14 (I didn’t have much of an interest in current events at that age, either, although I know some kids do). But she frequently talks to us about things she’s been learning in school (she loves math and history), and whenever she stays at our house for the weekend, we talk about political and human rights issues with her, and she watches The Rachel Maddow Show with us.
Among other things, gaming and reading are both forms of escapism, and a way to exert control, and I think these kinds of outlets are helpful and even healthy when you’re young and at the mercy of everyone else’s schedules and demands, and the general chaos of the world.
I wish I was that kid at that age. By the looks and your stories it seems she’s more socially conscious than other kids her age. It’s a rare thing.
I’m glad she’s got a great support system that actually takes the time talking to her about various subjects. A lot of kids could be more conscious about what is going on.
And the thing is that they probably are, but are not stimulated enough by their environment to actually speak out.
I like to play the games on my pc my console and on my cell phone..
this article was not related to games but it related to technology and i had also hobby to search gadget and latest gadgets and many more so this article was really great in my opinion.
hi,
to answer your questions:
Will the assertiveness she’s learned and rewarded for in the games carry over into her real life, in any kind of permanent way?
yes, i happened to like games (tomboy and all that…) and now i’m still doing it (between office work, netting, studying, mothering etc….)
Will gaming help her relate better to male classmates and coworkers as an adult?
yes, i have male friends more than my female friends (same as your niece, female too gossipping hehe)
Will she turn out any differently than if she’d spent her free time reading, or playing sports?
i don’t know about this, cause for me besides games, i also like reading (agatha christie, alfred hitchock etc) and playing sports (badminton, biking, indoor soccer) and watching movies, films……..
i may not straight A but A definately more in my grade cerificate…ahem
Sarah your niece sounds like a fantastic young lady. Her parents must be quite proud. What young women have been lacking in our society for a few decades is leadership from the older female generations. It’s nice to see that you are spending time with your niece and introducing her to feminism. Rachel Maddow is a good start.
Or reading about Mr. Darcy fighting off aliens to get to Elizabeth (re: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies).
I started with my best friend’s N64 when we were 10. I liked beating him at Mario Kart and Blitz. I graduated to real “gaming” when I got an xbox and Halo 1 for my birthday in 8th grade. It allowed me to play with my guy friends and my dad and sister enjoyed Halo as well.
I kept up gaming because 1) I like increasing the female presence in the gamer circles 2) it can be a fun social activity (LAN parties!) 3) I play with out of state family/friends and it’s really the only way we keep in touch 4) and, well, it’s fun.
As long as you have other interests there isn’t a huge risk of gaming taking over you life. It’s just another fun social activity. As for causing aggressiveness: I have passive friends that are BEASTS online. I find they’re pretty separate personalities.
Also, I love your anti spam word generator.