Gatekeeping

Today Quartz published a  piece that concludes women outnumber men among Britsh online gamers.  The edge is slight--52% to 48%--and the results mirror a similar U.S. study that made news last month.

This post isn't here to measure the fine points of either research.  It's about the behavior of men on Facebook because I have yet to see a share of either report where at least one man hasn't rushed in with an attempt to redefine gamers in ways that marginalize women.  More often several do so.  These comments are prompt, self-assured, and devoid of bona fides--as if possession of a Y chromosome suffices not only to ensure automatic entry to the Inner Circle of Hardcore Gamership, but also to a key for the gate--which they promptly lock and install a sign like this:

...or perhaps more like this...

Plenty of other guys, of course, do not conduct themselves like that for various reasons ranging from not being gamers themselves to thinking this is juvenile behavior to knowing several female gamers who would flatten a fellow and loot his corpse in retaliation.

His digital virtual corpse, of course.  Not his real body.  But those women would make a YouTube video of his digital defeat and cut it to Ray Charles and post it to all their shared groups which is worse than death.

Now here's the thing: if you're a guy who doesn't make gratuitous references to Candy Crush whenever women and gaming get discussed in general terms, and if you refrain from disrespecting females out of some slightly higher impulse than fear of public humliation...

...y'know, suppose you're acting principle maybe....

...then I'd really like to see you contribute to these conversations in a constructive way.  It gets dang tiresome for us females to confront those gatekeeper dudes ourselves.  Sometimes it's difficult to find a humorous angle; been locking horns with that sort since I was playing D&D from the Blue Book (unquestionably hardcore and unquestionably old school) and it more often ends with a grudging thanks for being the exception than with any sort of actual realization that gatekeeping itself is presumptuous or out of line.

It would be great to see a clueful guy jump in and talk to the gatekeepers with something along the lines of Don't be like that.

Or anything up to and including And who the hell are you to say who's hardcore?

Multiple clueful guys chiming in would be even better.

The conversation doesn't need to be expanded into other directions because, being old school, my attitude is basically if some random dude wasn't gaming in Dave Arneson's basement he won't have a whole lot of seniority and he certainly can't claim to be upholding tradition.  The first generation of modern gaming is now.  We make the traditions; don't sit this one out.