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I think wargaming is a "male" hobby, so I expect this poll to be very one sided. But just out of curousity, how many girls are there in the hobby? Is it the guns and chainswords that keep them away?

<== Male

Not sure if you'll get much joy from the poll mind, its going to a very small sample for the site, not even sure if any of the women gamers here will vote. Off the top of my head I can think of eleven female posters on Dakka though, I'd guess there are quite a few more than that.

I think it's usually the men who become 'creepy creep-os' that keep women out of wargames. One of my ex-girlfriends refused to go into the store because she was sick of getting stared at. I also think that 40k is a bit too cartoony for them. A different ex told me she had no interest in 40k, but she did like the Fantasy models. Not sure she would have actually liked the game though.

Incidentally, amongst the kids at the FLGS, we have a girlfriend of one of the guys who's into 40k, and the younger sister of one of the kids is also starting a Daemon army.

Eleven, eh? This will be a fun game for me...

Also, frankly, after seeing some of the kind of crap that certain female posters on the board have to endure, I'm not sure I'd actually admit to being female if I were.

I certainly wouldn't. The old anonymity of the internet strikes again.

<= Female.

Outside of 40k you'll find a great deal of female gamers, but to so many 40k is the only tabletop game in existence.

Not sure if directly relevant however evidence from the video game world is that girls have a preference for fantasy over SF.

Most of the women I know don't play games... of any kind... for fun.

Cyporiean is one of the eleven htj, just in case you where wondering.

@Kilkrazy- I think thats got a lot to do with WoW, if I remember the last time a games mag brought up the subject.

I think marketing and content are what keep most women out of the hobby.

Of course, that is a whole nother debate.

But the percentage of people in the hobby that I have seen are overwhelmingly male. A few females, but mostly males.

After 25 years of selling games, I've seen a distinct difference based on whether it's a male or female I'm selling to.

Males don't mind, and even prefer, a high level of competition in their games. A tense, hard fought game with an equally intense opponent is even stressed as the best way to game by some male gamers.

Most female gamers prefer a much more relaxed game, and if we step outside of tabletop games, they tend to prefer games where everyone gets to play, and no one gets 'knocked out' early on.

Games like settlers where one person can't directly attack another are popular.

Guys enjoy the stress, females not so much.

Generalizations, obviously.

Wild generalisations indeed! I'm extremely laid back, and prefer relaxed games,* while my girlfriend is particularly competitive.

Um, anyway. In my experience, while there are a lot of girls interested in hobbies perceived as male-dominated, far fewer of them feel the need to join forums about said subject, take part in game-related social events. An attitude which is probably helped along by the distressingly high proportions of creepy guys who hang out at said events and forums.


*that said, I can't stand Settlers of Catan. Carcassonne, though, that suits me just fine.

Morathi's Darkest Sin wrote:Cyporiean is one of the eleven htj, just in case you where wondering.

Ah, that wasn't a ruse to throw me off then. I'm at three so far, my obsessive puzzle solving brain means this might consume a lot of my time. But at the end, the reward will be... well, nothing. Warm sense of satisfaction maybe? Probably not even that. Oh well.

daedalus wrote:I think it's usually the men who become 'creepy creep-os' that keep women out of wargames. One of my ex-girlfriends refused to go into the store because she was sick of getting stared at. I also think that 40k is a bit too cartoony for them. A different ex told me she had no interest in 40k, but she did like the Fantasy models. Not sure she would have actually liked the game though.

Incidentally, amongst the kids at the FLGS, we have a girlfriend of one of the guys who's into 40k, and the younger sister of one of the kids is also starting a Daemon army.

My Gf feels exactly the same. She is very much into computer games, comics and has wanted to start a Dark Eldar army for a while but gets creeped out every time i take her into GW because the vast majority of guys in there stare at her.

MrMerlin wrote:I think wargaming is a "male" hobby, so I expect this poll to be very one sided. But just out of curousity, how many girls are there in the hobby? Is it the guns and chainswords that keep them away?

Wargaming doesn't have to be about guns and chainswords, that's the GW hobby. I think girls are more into imaginative story telling side. I've seen a lot more girls playing D&D than have Warhammer.

mikhaila wrote:After 25 years of selling games, I've seen a distinct difference based on whether it's a male or female I'm selling to.

Males don't mind, and even prefer, a high level of competition in their games. A tense, hard fought game with an equally intense opponent is even stressed as the best way to game by some male gamers.

Most female gamers prefer a much more relaxed game, and if we step outside of tabletop games, they tend to prefer games where everyone gets to play, and no one gets 'knocked out' early on.

Games like settlers where one person can't directly attack another are popular.

Guys enjoy the stress, females not so much.

Generalizations, obviously.

My Ex didn't like the heroic scale aspect of the hobby. Actually I never noticed (the scale) until she pointed it out to me. She said it was wierd. Once a friend of hers came over with Settlers of Catan. First time any of us had played it (well third time for the friend). GF ended up being a turn away from the win so we both railed her.....Yeah bad move, she was so pissed I ended up sleeping on the couch. She liked Apples to Apples though.

MightyGodzilla wrote:GF ended up being a turn away from the win so we both railed her.....Yeah bad move, she was so pissed I ended up sleeping on the couch.

The one that wouldn't go into the store with me because of the stares was also the one that got pissed and punched me as hard as she could because I attacked her in Risk.

We had to stick to friendly games after that.

The results so far couldn't be more accurate. It's safe to close the poll now.

Lt. Coldfire wrote:The results so far couldn't be more accurate. It's safe to close the poll now.

Remember it's a poll of people who use Dakka, not of the wargaming hobby.

daedalus wrote:Also, frankly, after seeing some of the kind of crap that certain female posters on the board pull off, I'm not sure I'd actually admit to being female if I were.

Fixed that for you, Daedalus.

MrMerlin wrote:I think wargaming is a "male" hobby, so I expect this poll to be very one sided. But just out of curousity, how many girls are there in the hobby? Is it the guns and chainswords that keep them away?

GW IS NOT THE HOBBY.

Remember that there are plenty of other games and scales out there. One of the system's I've seen women enjoy is Malifaux - they mention how they like the aesthetic and looks of the models. And there's a realm of historicals to play. And, over in the Battletech forums, we get stuff like this:

It's funny. I've never met a girl who likes Sanrio stuff. Only guys.

I'm male, but my fiance plays 40k occasionally, as well as spaceship games. She has a small, but beautifully painted Eldar army and some Aquan ships for FS:A.

Howard A Treesong wrote:

Lt. Coldfire wrote:The results so far couldn't be more accurate. It's safe to close the poll now.

Remember it's a poll of people who use Dakka, not of the wargaming hobby.

I was joking somewhat, but I concur of course.
It seems to me that women tend to be more interested in the painting/modeling aspect than they are in actually playing. I don't know any women who wargame to be honest, but my sisters think I'm an absolute nutcase. They seem to think the modeling part is somewhat understandable ("it's kind of like putting Legos together, right?" -.-), but they laugh at the toy soldiers battling it out.

For the record, I know five female D&Ders, two point five of which currently play in one of my campaigns. They make up about 50% of my player base.

infinite_array wrote:

MrMerlin wrote:I think wargaming is a "male" hobby, so I expect this poll to be very one sided. But just out of curousity, how many girls are there in the hobby? Is it the guns and chainswords that keep them away?

GW IS NOT THE HOBBY.

Remember that there are plenty of other games and scales out there. One of the system's I've seen women enjoy is Malifaux - they mention how they like the aesthetic and looks of the models. And there's a realm of historicals to play. And, over in the Battletech forums, we get stuff like this:

Awesome. I'd pay good money for that Marauder/Glaug. Pink with Sanrio FTW.

Male, but my wife and daughter play too, so as a household i'm outnumbered, and will be more so after my other daughter gets old enough to move only the models she's supposed to

There is me I guess I am female

And my girl friend is happy to play LotR and has shown interest in both Malifaux and Warmachine.

But she does mock me for the "toy soldiers" bit.

Edit-

I don't think it's so much the guns and chainswords that keep women away from 40k, so much as the 14 year old wet dream style of writing/armies.

The main armies (the ones you see all the time) are male (and boy will the fanboys yell if you even suggest they could be otherwise) driving ugly metal boxes around.

The only female-oriented armies are Sisters (you know..the one that doesn't even have a codex any more) and possibly Nids (gender is variable)... you know, the ones whose codex took such a beating that everyone laughs if you ask if they are any good.

The Tau attract most of the women i've met who are looking to get into the hobby, only to have some 300 lb stinky neckbeard waddle over to her, lean over her shoulder to leer down her front and inform her that 'Tau are !@#$. You should go Marines (insert flavour here) to really beat the !@#$ out of folk. The rest of the store will then nod sagely, while staring at her chest..

This has happened several times, in several stores, with several potential new female players, though thankfully my FLGS seems to be far less prone to this happening thus far.