For the first time ever I joined a voice call while playing a game (among us) and as soon as I said something everyone immediately started going "Is that a female??" "You're a female??" "There are females here??" I get that it was supposed to be a joke but fuck it felt so alienating to be bombarded with that in my first attempt at gaming socially
There are many reasons why. 'Gamers' is a made up identity under capitalism centered around their hobby of playing video games.
Most of them are socially alienated young men who don't get out much and most of their social interactions are through playing video games. It's similar to the echo chambers that social media builds.
I dislike that there's no short way of saying "I play video games for a hobby, but no I'm not a sexist weirdo"
The term "gamer" has so much stigma around it when really I just want to chill with my pals and do a fun thing.
Yeah I'm a player
I'm not.
I just crush a lot.
I don't define myself by playing video games any more than I do as someone who watches movies or goes for walks or anything else, but...
If pushed I'd simply say that I'm someone who plays video games. I hate the way game has become a verb and I genuinely think it helps reinforce the often toxic culture of the hobby.
The connotations of gaming are of game theory, of cheating or exploiting a system, of winning at all costs. Playing on the other denotes creativity, fun, immersion, imagination, and shared experience. But it's never been embraced because of people's paranoia about the idea that they're doing something supposedly childish, which has been a stigma for an long time.
___I have a collection of about 13-22 retro/late model game consoles(depending if you count handheld) and enjoy games but I'll never call myself a gamer. I like it mostly for the hardware and preservation aspect. I want to share them with folks but no one ever wants to play a random PS2 game with me. I have other hobbies that are way in front of games that take precedent though and I've only been playing games recently due to a hand injury that got in the way of music.
Edit: most of them I got for free by being in the right place, at the right time. maybe 10 of 22 were free, several were consoles from childhood I held onto. I think the only ones I've searched out to purchase in the last 10 years were the ps4 and switch.
Truth in that, there's a distinction between being a Gamer and someone that on occasion plays videogames (but also has other things going on in their lives so they have more than a mono pillar personality "i.e. Gamer 4 Life" shit). Also gaming can be a area of competition in which individuals can otherwise achieve dopamine highs from beating other opponents. Honestly I don't know much of the online scene, most of my gaming is done via single player play once experiences that I relate tot he same way one would watch a movie or read a book (not good books but ya know average fun junk media).