Growing up, I often felt a heavy weight of expectation whenever I found myself playing video games against boys. Oftentimes it felt like it wasn’t just me playing. It was as if, to them, my performance reflected an entire gender, and would be added to their arsenal of stereotypes to pull from the next time a girl asked to play.
That apprehension still rears its head today. When I’m asked to play with friends — or worse, with people I just met — I see the relaxed faces around me and I wonder if I’m the only one whose heartbeat just skyrocketed. Despite this lingering dread, I’m happy to say things have gotten better. Though I still brace for the snide comment, but it rarely comes. Even when it does, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see other players, even guys, step in to squash that behavior.
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