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 On 03/02/2013 at 11:42 AM by Ranger1 See More From This User » |
For most of my life, this has been a common reaction when people find out I'm a gamer. Sometimes it has been because of my gender, sometimes my age, sometimes my profession, sometimes my other hobbies. It always stems from the person's perception of what games are and gamers are like. Sometimes it opens up interesting conversations, sometimes I feel that continuing to talk to that person about games and gaming is a waste of my time and quickly change the subject.
My mom was the first person I ran into this with. I was in high school when the whole "D&D causes kids to commit suicide" bullshit was in the news. I think I had played exactly one game of D&D in my life and got myself thrown out of the game for not taking it seriously enough by people who took it too seriously, but my mom (she was sort of a disease of the month mother) was totally convinced that my reading habits (mostly comic books, science fiction, and fantasy), my one game of D&D, and my fascination with the game Wizardry had warped my sense of reality and I was going to be another statistic. OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit, but she did sit me down for a serious talk about whether I understood the difference between fantasy and reality. I just gave her the teenage eye roll and answered with whatever the equivalent of "Really, Mom? Really?" was in 1985. I think my step-dad must have assured her that I was going to all right, because that was the last I heard about it.
My dad felt video games were for kids and any adult who was playing them needed to have his or her head examined. I asked for a Game Boy for Christmas one year and had to listen to a tirade about it. I didn't get the Game Boy (not that I was expecting to in the first place), my brother told me later I just shouldn't have said it was for gaming and I might have pulled it off. It was OK, though, I got a wicked awesome Craftsman socket set instead. It's unfortunate that my dad never got to watch me play Ratchet & Clank or Red Faction Guerrilla, though, because I think he might have liked those games. Not to play himself, but to watch someone else play.
When one of the clerks at my favorite book store discovered I was a gamer, she was incredulous. "You're a gamer?!" When I asked her why, it was because I was so outdoorsey. I informed her that many gamers do, in fact, go outside and partake of active outdoor activities. One of my cousins is a serious gamer, and he's just as likely to be found with a kayak paddle in his hands as he is a controller.
Jason's step-father was poking fun at Jason one day, until I confessed to being the gamer in the household. He was a little shocked, but asked me in all seriousness why. He had the perception that all games were like the old Atari games and didn't understand how much they've evolved over the years. I explained about story modes, RPGs, adventure games, and how many games are now immersive story telling. He'll never really understand gamers or gaming, but I think he understands that there is more to them than just shooting descending rows of space aliens.
I have a very good friend who is a farmer. She and her partner raise chickens for meat and eggs, pigs, and are trying to get a herd of cattle going. We have a lot in common in terms of being interested in natural history, biology, and folk music. I was telling her about how interested people were in my Ranger Stuff blogs and I discovered that she has that old stereotype of gamers firmly stamped in her mind. They live at home in their parents' basements, eat and drink Cheetos and Mountain Dew, and never see the light of day or know how to interact with other people. Again, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but it was pretty close. I have no idea if I've managed to shift that thought or not.
Kids I do nature programs for are always startled to find out that I'm a gamer. Not because I'm a ranger, but because they think I'm old. One kid who was being a pain became very respectful when he found out I had all 40 gold bolts in Ratchet & Clank. Then they want to know what other games I play, so I have to promise to sit down with them after the program and talk about games so that we can concentrate on what they're supposed to be learning now.
And of course, I get the usual condescension from various employees who work in game stores because I happen to be female. I had one guy point out to me that the two games I was buying were for different systems (Xbox was displayed very prominently across the top of one box, and Playstation 2 across the top of the other), I've had employees who told me that the game I was asking about wasn't very popular with guys (assuming I was there to get it for a boyfriend, I suppose), etc.
My mom's latest was to ask me if I was addicted to video games. That was about five years ago now, and my explanation must have been good enough, because she and my grandmother have given me several gift cards to Game Stop and Amazon since then. Maybe it was my telling her about the game play in Stacking, or the fact that playing DQ IX was one of the few things that kept me sane when she had open heart surgery. I don't know, I'm just glad that she's come to terms with the fact that her eldest is a gamer. She doesn't understand, but at least she accepts.
I'm glad to see that gaming is becoming more mainstream. Hopefully future gamers won't have to constantly explain and defend their hobby like many of us have had to do.
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