So I read this article about Geguri which you can read here:http://kotaku.com/korean-woman-kicks-ass-at-overwatch-gets-accused-of-ch-1782343447
Honestly, it made me angry as a gamer and as a woman. I'm really glad that Geguri was cleared of the cheating accusations and I say good for her for being an awesome gamer. I'm just sorry that she even had to PROVE that she wasn't cheating and that some of the so called "professional" gamers behaved in the shittiest way possible and that includes threatening to show up at her house with a knife in hand. Why the hell would you even say something like that? What part of a person's brain thinks that it's okay to say those things about someone over a damned video game?
I'm also wondering if Geguri had been a male gamer would they have thrown the cheating accusations around or would they have accepted that this was a gamer that just happened to play the game a bit better than they did? We may never know, but it took Blizzard saying there was no proof of cheating and her live streaming her game play to prove that she wasn't cheating at all. She just happened to be a kid who has some gaming skills and kicks ass at it.
I think that's awesome. I think it's great that there are more girls and women playing video games, because it means more gamers and more amazing games. I was that kid who loves to play video games and I'm that adult that loves to play video games. The fact that I'm a woman shouldn't matter and the fact that Geguri is a 17 year old girl shouldn't matter. All that should matter is that we're a couple of gamers who love to play video games. Unfortunately, that's not the case many times. There are too many times where we have to prove that we're not cheating, that we have the "proper" knowledge about video games (or comic books or whatever nerdy thing we love), and to just prove that we BELONG in the gamers section to the males who are foolish enough to think that we have no right to be there and have the audacity to be astonished when we prove time and time again that we absolutely do.
Yes, it sucks and it's not right that a 17 year old girl had to be stressed out by this simply because she was better at the game than a couple of "professionals" who couldn't seem to grasp the concept of the fact that no matter how good you believe you are, there is always going to be someone that may be slightly or even vastly better than you. It's ridiculous and it shouldn't have happened, but it did. At least they had sense enough to apologize for their accusations and the things they said. That's a little something.
Gaming isn't just a boys club anymore. There are more of us girls and women than you think who love to play video games. Some of us even enter competitions and are great at them. That does NOT mean that we're cheating. Just accept that there are gamers out there who are great at video games and that many of them may happen to be female. To the young women I say this: Don't ever let anyone tell you that you can't. Don't give them the power to tear you down and make you feel bad for loving video games, comic books, math, science, or whatever you're nerdy about. If you love it, enjoy it and have fun with it. Treat each other with respect and kindness. To the young men: Girls and women have every right to be in the gamers/comicbooks/nerdy anything circle. Remember, gaming is meant to be fun for EVERYONE and we should play together and enjoy it the way it's meant to be enjoyed, together. To the people who think it's okay to tear others down, threaten them, and just act like a jerk in general: I feel sorry for you. To suck the joy out of something that someone loves just to make yourselves feel better is pathetic and sad. Try to remember that a lot of the gamers are just kids and kids don't need more cruelty. They need kindness and understanding, not feeling overwhelmed and stressed because they got accused of cheating simply because they happened to be the best at something.
Oh, and throw that whole boys are better than girls at video games idea out the window because as is the case with Geguri that's not always true. She kicked ass and she didn't cheat. She was just that skilled. Girls are great at video games too! Learn how to deal with it maturely, accept it, and move on.
Honestly, it made me angry as a gamer and as a woman. I'm really glad that Geguri was cleared of the cheating accusations and I say good for her for being an awesome gamer. I'm just sorry that she even had to PROVE that she wasn't cheating and that some of the so called "professional" gamers behaved in the shittiest way possible and that includes threatening to show up at her house with a knife in hand. Why the hell would you even say something like that? What part of a person's brain thinks that it's okay to say those things about someone over a damned video game?
I'm also wondering if Geguri had been a male gamer would they have thrown the cheating accusations around or would they have accepted that this was a gamer that just happened to play the game a bit better than they did? We may never know, but it took Blizzard saying there was no proof of cheating and her live streaming her game play to prove that she wasn't cheating at all. She just happened to be a kid who has some gaming skills and kicks ass at it.
I think that's awesome. I think it's great that there are more girls and women playing video games, because it means more gamers and more amazing games. I was that kid who loves to play video games and I'm that adult that loves to play video games. The fact that I'm a woman shouldn't matter and the fact that Geguri is a 17 year old girl shouldn't matter. All that should matter is that we're a couple of gamers who love to play video games. Unfortunately, that's not the case many times. There are too many times where we have to prove that we're not cheating, that we have the "proper" knowledge about video games (or comic books or whatever nerdy thing we love), and to just prove that we BELONG in the gamers section to the males who are foolish enough to think that we have no right to be there and have the audacity to be astonished when we prove time and time again that we absolutely do.
Yes, it sucks and it's not right that a 17 year old girl had to be stressed out by this simply because she was better at the game than a couple of "professionals" who couldn't seem to grasp the concept of the fact that no matter how good you believe you are, there is always going to be someone that may be slightly or even vastly better than you. It's ridiculous and it shouldn't have happened, but it did. At least they had sense enough to apologize for their accusations and the things they said. That's a little something.
Gaming isn't just a boys club anymore. There are more of us girls and women than you think who love to play video games. Some of us even enter competitions and are great at them. That does NOT mean that we're cheating. Just accept that there are gamers out there who are great at video games and that many of them may happen to be female. To the young women I say this: Don't ever let anyone tell you that you can't. Don't give them the power to tear you down and make you feel bad for loving video games, comic books, math, science, or whatever you're nerdy about. If you love it, enjoy it and have fun with it. Treat each other with respect and kindness. To the young men: Girls and women have every right to be in the gamers/comicbooks/nerdy anything circle. Remember, gaming is meant to be fun for EVERYONE and we should play together and enjoy it the way it's meant to be enjoyed, together. To the people who think it's okay to tear others down, threaten them, and just act like a jerk in general: I feel sorry for you. To suck the joy out of something that someone loves just to make yourselves feel better is pathetic and sad. Try to remember that a lot of the gamers are just kids and kids don't need more cruelty. They need kindness and understanding, not feeling overwhelmed and stressed because they got accused of cheating simply because they happened to be the best at something.
Oh, and throw that whole boys are better than girls at video games idea out the window because as is the case with Geguri that's not always true. She kicked ass and she didn't cheat. She was just that skilled. Girls are great at video games too! Learn how to deal with it maturely, accept it, and move on.
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| Female gamers are here to stay! |
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