Geek Girl Performance Anxiety

Only two panels into this comic and my inner voice was already screaming “YES. YES EVERY TIME I PLAY IN FRONT OF STRANGERS.” See also: “I better not choose to be the singer in our Rock Band group even though I sing really well because people will assume I can’t play any of the other instruments because I’m a girl and don’t play games,” and “If I pick a Wario game for the PAX East freeplay area because I’m really curious about them will some dude think it’s evidence that girls don’t play hardcore games?” Because I know how it works. It’s absurd, as Sailor Swayze points out by the punchline, how this preconception can make you feel like the full weight of female gamer acceptance rests on the outcome of a single match or moment of your own gameplay.

You might recognize Sailor Swayze’s style from her comic about gatekeeping in the nerd community, the fame of which she’s humorously responded to here. See the whole comic (only half is displayed above) right here.

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