Women gamers and stereotypes

I generally hold the belief that women can do anything men do in a video game, but it seems different classes/playstyles appeal to women, and women are treated differently in game than men. I thought I would throw a few observations out there and see if people think I'm accurate, if it's wrong, if it needs to change, if game designers need to do better, etc. etc.

1. Women characters get free stuff.

I have never received anything for free because I am a woman. Perhaps if I played a pretty little woodelf things would be different. I played a big barbarian shaman and maybe she scared boys off .

2. Women are good healers; men are better tanks.

I honestly haven't seen a great many women tanks. Great female clerics? Easy. So why is this, I wonder? Is it simply that other classes are more appealing to women, so they don't play tanks? Are we in some way less suited to the role of damage taking by virtue of something within the female temperament? Likewise, is there something in our temperament that makes us good healers? Is our nurturing instinct kicking in or is that all a bunch of crap?

I've no doubt women can tank as well as men, but why don't we generally want to play the meat shield? What is appealing to women about healing classes?

Some other random observations that I don't really have any comments on:

3. I notice that during my time in EQ there were always some women in leadership positions in my guild. However, it seemed the role of women was things like conflict resolution, forum management, recruitment, and administrative duties, whereas men held roles like raid leader and overall guildleader. I wonder why that is.

4. I have never felt that I was considered a less skilled player because I am a woman, at least not directly. Just felt that needed to be said. I did sometimes feel you had to have a penis to be listened to in groups or whatever, but I don't have a very authoritative temperament, so perhaps there were times when I was simply not assertive enough.

5. This is something that I've asked other women about...I'm not sure if it's true or not, but many of us feel that we are asked for buffs more than men of the same class. Honestly...this is something I'm guilty of /blush. I of course tried to mix it up a bit, but I did tend to ask women for buffs more than men. More of that nurturing stuff, or is something else going on?

6. This is just an impression, but does anyone else feel a disproportionate amount of women never go to the high end, even though they play just as many hours as men? Why is that? Just not the playstyle women generally prefer? Too hard to break into a man's playground?

7. I can be pretty quick to point out a double standard even when it's not exactly fair. Anyway, here's a few I've noticed, which you may disregard or beat into the ground if you wish.

a. Women can't act sexy and be considered "legit". In fact, calling someone "hon" can easily lead to a woman being painted a cyber whore. However, it seems men can talk openly about their sexual exploits in and out of game without fear of gaining a bad reputation. Eh, same in RL I guess.

b. Ambitious women=evil whores trying to claw their way to the top. Ambitious men=honorable hard working loyal players who "just want to see their guild succeed". Or if they're guild hoppers, Ambitious men=guys who just want to be the best and play on their own terms, since they pay to play and all.

c. Constantly afk woman=busy lady who has to take care of a kid after all. Constantly afk man=lazy bastard who should die in a fire.

So...thoughts?