20 + 3 Myths about Women Who Play WoW

by

unicorn 

So Matt and I were goofing off one day, and in one of those conversations where you’re not quite sure how it got onto that topic… we started talking about some of the myths around being a female gamer. Like all stereotypes, some have a base in reality, some are pretty funny, and some nag at my feminist sensibilities. Here’s 20 myths about female WoW-ers that I’ve encountered:  

  • We don’t exist
  • We’re super-hot asian women
  • We’re all crushingly obese in real life
  • We can’t Tank
  • We can’t Melee
  • We can’t PvP
  • Actually, we can’t play
  • We must want to be your girlfriend (or cyber you)
  • We’re sleeping with our Guild leader/Raid leader and that’s why we get raid invites/gear
  • We only play healing classes
  • We cause 100% of all guild/server drama
  • We get given gold, mats, and items for free
  • or, if not for free, in exchange for non-monetary favors
  • All female ‘toons are really guys trying to cash in on the above myths (especially Elves)
  • We don’t play Horde
  • We’re only playing to spend time with our boyfriend/husband
  • We care more about how gear looks than its stats
  • We only tame cuddly, cute pets
  • We don’t theorycraft (‘cuz math is HARD!)
  • We all hate each other
  • Female GMs are all married to a co-GM and not really leading the guild
  • We fly into hysterics if given negative feedback
  • We aren’t allowed to raid when we’re on our period

Image credits: Sacredart

Thanks Auz & Joveta!!

45 thoughts on “20 + 3 Myths about Women Who Play WoW”

  1. Ah but most myths have their origin point anchored in reality…

    I can say without fear of marital wrath that my wife would agree with these:
    We can’t Tank
    We can’t PvP
    We care more about how gear looks than its stats

    but then again..its a generalization and not the norm I suppose. If I were to add to the list, I would say the majority of women prefer hunters over other classes. Myth I know but somehow feels true to me…

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  9. Ugh, that whole list gets on my left nerve. (People who whine about loot are standing on the right one).

    Women do many, many things in life, most of which can’t be reduced to a list.

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  11. I get a LOT of surprise when people find out I’m a woman because my main is a male NE. So you might add that to the list…
    21) We only roll female toons

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  13. I was introduced to WoW by a the son of a friend who was at the time in college and his girl friend. She plays a male NE rogue. Is in serious demand for raids and OvO because she is a serious player and knows how to play her class quite effectively. Oh and she happens to be both very attractive and accomplished in real life. Long before BC I my leveling partner was a 27 year old woman who played a human female warlock. She to is an effective player and a serious raider who has cleared sunwell. However, the stereotype that toons perceived to be female get freebies is, in her case, quite true. At least until they found out that she’s married and a mother, guys were continually hitting on her and giving her gold, armor, etc.

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  14. That’s odd, I’m a guy and I only play healing classes, while my GF is our face-smashing Warrior tank of awesome. (I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I like that combination in part because of the associated gender roles.) Plus, she’s usually the one bankrolling me…

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  15. About the stereotype of women getting things for free.

    There are some nice people in this game. Free stuff flies around my guild all the time, and everybody offers their trade skills and extras. I’ve benefitted from people’s kindness and I’ve given out a ton of stuff. I wouldn’t want free stuff just because I’m a female player, however. That’s ridiculous and I don’t think anyone has given me any.

    However, just as I will send off my ravager meat and un-needed fish to guild hunters, I don’t mind if someone sends me some spotted feltail they’re not using. That’s share and share alike, and we’ll all spread it around eventually. There’s a sense of pride in being a participant in a reciprocal system 🙂

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  16. I think most of the myths around girl gamers comes from the FPS world were you really do NOT see any girls playing at all.

    I have to admit most of my bigotry comes from said FPS world were there was simply no girl gamers around

    Since coming to play wow I have had the pleasure of playing with some very good girl gamers

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  18. We are easily more interesting to listen to

    But honestly in the FPS world most of the girls that were around were pure groupie types so How can you get a good idea of how someone can play when they are doing the stereo typically dumb bunny routine?

    ps. not a bigot but a Realist. Think about it 😀

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  19. … Unfortunately, I’ve heard all of them before… and I laugh at them all. And get slightly insulted, as I play better than a whole slew of males that my friends know.

    Not to mention (and this is by one of their words!) that they get the bonus of a “phone sex operator” voice. (I still blush hearing this one.)

    Oh, and I actually know guys that care more about their “belts and boots matching” than I care about my whole outfit matching! It makes me laugh; T4 is ridiculously ugly for druids (my opinion), so I toss on a tabard and ignore it. Others… don’t.

    See? We don’t generally fit *most* of those stereotypes…

    [>.> Josh does do stuff for me and lets me take his stuff and lets me bully him because I’m a girl though… -coughs-]

    Lin [EG]s last blog post..[ Writing ] :: I Think I Can, I Think I Can!

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  21. Ahhh Wynthea…I was hoping that some of those myths were actually true. I guess my dreams of being a WoW pimp are fading fast. LOL! Funny article though. So many WoW stereotypes there. Keep em coming!

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  22. LOL…the list and comments crack me up.

    I’m female, I exist…I’m white, I’m thin, I’m fairly attractive. I don’t tank, but my first character was a boomkin, my second character (now my main) is the holy priest…and I pvp with both of them. My third character is an enhancement shaman (thus I can melee).

    Through a strange turn of events, I did meet the love of my life on WoW, he is a guildie and fellow officer…but not the guild leader.

    I enjoy raiding and am good at it. But I do not cause drama, and I do not receive gifts for being female. Although, I did get my fair share of getting hit on before it’s discovered I’m taken, and a mother.

    But I have definitely been guilty of wearing something because it looked better than a piece with better stats LOL.

    So…some things are true. 😛 If I were a hunter, I’d tame a cute cuddly pet. 😛

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  27. LOL. I’d have to say the only ones remotely true are:

    * We don’t exist
    * We’re super-hot asian women – actually, I’d consider myself more along the lines of cute.
    * We can’t Tank – I’m pretty sure I /could/ tank if needed, but standing in front of a mob pissing it off and hoping for heals isn’t my thing..
    * We only play healing classes – Healer is my second choice. I’ve always been ranged DPS first and foremost 😀
    * We get given gold, mats, and items for free
    * We care more about how gear looks than its stats – The only armour in the game that matches my char’s hair/eye colours is the sunwell gear. DARN!
    * We only tame cuddly, cute pets – Ghost Saber, Wind Serpent, Dragonhawk. I’m also proud to say I pull my own weight in raids.

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  28. As a comical response, whenever introduced to new female gamers on vent, I have to exclaim:

    * There are no women in gaming, they’re just elaborate voicemods

    My ex-GF used to have a girls-only chat channel called “sexyvoicemods”

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  29. Strangely enough I can’t tank, I’m rubbish at PVP, I’m overweight, I might be super-hot, hate maths, willing to accept gold for non-monetary favors….. and I thought I was an over forty father of 3.

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  30. I must live in my own little universe, being utterly naïve or ignorent about what’s going on around me, but I’ve only encountered one of the prejudices on the list: that just because you’re female, there must be a boyfriend around who made you play.

    “and who in the guild is your bf?” or “what char does your bf play?”.
    But except for that I’m free from that kind of crap thinking. Maybe I’ve just been lucky.

    Larísas last blog post..Are healers responsible and dps just having fun?

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  33. The list definitely is hilarious myths. It makes me wonder where people get this stuff?

    In response to Doc, Holiday I was a FPS long before I started playing WOW. I started only this year. In fact, I’ve been a member of a FPS group that consisted solely of women. Additionally, there are forums that focus on FPS players who just happen to be women. 😉

    In game, I rarely tell people what gender I am.

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  34. Funny thing is a lot of the women I know who play WERE introduced to the game by boyfriends, even if their WoW playing lasted longer than the relationship. *cough* (ex-husband) *cough*

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  36. @Gaming DIva

    Let me reiterate something. The amount of Female FPSers at the top level was and is almost zero. Granted there are exceptions to that but for the most part when I was playing CS,DoD or Unreal the vast majority were male. The same can not be said for wow. I do not what the reason for that is. The only thing I can assume is most female gamers are not fans of twitch gaming.

    In fact the older I get the less and less I have the desire to play any twitch game

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  38. @Doc I played CS, but like Diva I never mentioned my gender. My clan was a college team that all played from the same living room so they knew but they didn’t tell. I think you’ll find that the reason there are so many female gamers in WoW isn’t that they all appeared but rather the prevalence of voice communication in WoW that makes it harder to stay ambiguous.

    Also one of my 3 main tanks is a 17 year old female, and she out threats all of the others.

    The list was meant to be fun. There may be kernels of truth in them, but all of them should be expressed as “Female gamers tend to all be amazingly hot Asian chicks” rather than “All female gamers are amazingly hot Asian chicks.” I mean, I’m Italian after all. = P

    Auzaras last blog post..Why GMs make the best lovers.

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  39. Awwww, it IS all fun. I just like giving Doc a hard time.

    <3 all around!

    @Euripedes Yeah... i don't get the ravager = cute thing. Personally, I think they're nightmarish. This is why, if I had a hunter, I'd go tame a pink chocobo.

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  41. I dont think that I have come up upon any of these during gameplay that werent said by someone in guild. Most of the in guild things were remedied by just hoping on vent.

    I dont usually tell people other than guild members my gender, and most dont ask right away, it is more of a “so where you live whats your gender” type of off talk during slow times.

    not asian, not really hot – homely maybe, may be overweight but only by like 10 pounds *glares* have chars of all class types (healers, dpsers and tanks :P)

    Mutual decision between my bf and me to play. he has 2 horde chars (1 ally something), levels 45 and 22. on the same server I now have 9 horde chars (1 ally 20something) two of which are level 70, 4 chars level 40-69. We are not in any of the same guilds (anymore and he wasnt a gm)

    I have vastly more time than him.

    Loved the comments above, it is nice to know there are more girls out there and that they arent all that noob hunter who keeps feigning death next to my healer.

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  42. “We get given gold, mats, and items for free.”

    I’m sorry but this isn’t a myth. I seen it happen may times by several people to several people.

    I’m not saying women are given everything for free or that women have a significantly easier time in WoW because of the free stuff. I’m not even saying that it’s the women’s fault that they get the free stuff.

    However, I’ve seen this happen quite a few times. Lonely horn-ball guys help female players out with quests or pass on instance gear to make a good impression. It’s a way of cyber flirting, kind of like buying flowers or making a mix-tape for a girl in real life.

    I’m sure it happens in reverse also, but given the ratio of Women to Men in the game I am sure women benifit more.

    Graylos last blog post..WotLK: What Spell Do I Use? – The Basics

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  43. “We’re only playing to spend time with our boyfriend/husband”

    I was reading this list again for giggles, and noticed this one.

    Funny thing is, I’m the one who got my fiance into WoW, rather than the other way around!

    Corruption is fun!

    Isisxotics last blog post..To Priest or Not to Priest?

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  44. Hey, a woman raiding while on her period is fine, as long as you bring plenty of mages to AOE the bears. ;D

    That said, I got my girlfriend into the game, and she started playing as a rogue, and loves kicking the crap out of stuff, and actually finds the concept of playing a healer rather daunting. Also, while we do play together as a way of spending time together, she doesn’t just play to spend time with me, and is just as hooked..I mean in love with the game as I am.

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  45. I’ve found boys to be bigger drama queens than girls.

    I’m in a guild that respects women, so I usually don’t worry about these things. I actually got the officer job my husband used to have (recruitment), and everybody said I was better at it than he was. We don’t have a recruitment officer since Wrath came out and I’m now the Non-Raid Events Coordinator. It’s less work and something I enjoy, but I am a bit concerned that I’ll get less respect in this position — like it’s a soft job specifically tailored for a woman. There is nothing soft about what I used to do.

    I’ve only ever seen one female player in my guild go into hysterics over something, and she’s sort of a problem member anyway — she went over my head when I was recruitment officer and got the other officers to invite her husband and his friends into the guild even though I’d rejected his 2 friends (one of them had an app that read like “I want this guild to help me level fast” and the other wasn’t even filled out). The husband gquit to play with them and I’ve never entirely trusted that couple since. Her for causing drama to get her way and her husband for gquitting without thinking about how it would affect his wife, her brother the officer, and the guild. It’s the only thing that still rankles about any drama ever in my guild. Luckily, we changed the direction of the guild to take a harder stance on things like that, and I’m comforted to know it wouldn’t be tolerated now. I just have to live with the suspicion that she and her husband lost all respect for my authority that day. (The kid who didn’t fill out his app begged constantly for a week and then gquit, stating “Nobody ever helps with anything.” I actually cheered. irl.)

    As to women in general, there are all types. I’m in a family guild and most of our women play with a boyfriend/spouse, but I know a lot outside the guild who don’t. We have a little inside joke among the officers that when someone is cranky (male or female), they need ribs — because I got BBQ ribs once when I was on my period and said they made me less cranky. ^_^;

    It also might just be my guild, being a family guild, but most of the women I know prefer cute and cuddly things. It doesn’t mean they can’t appreciate non-cute-and-cuddly, but they just prefer cute. Everything is so … guy-centric, it’s really nice to see some soft touches. They always thrill me.

    This has been way too long, so I’ll stop now. 🙂

    Birdfalls last blog post..Hot Epix, or "What Do You Mean, Stats? Look at How CUTE It Is! XD"

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