Gamers: Breaking the Stereotype

Ana Cedeno
North Bureau Chief

    When people think of a gamer, what often comes to mind is a middle-aged cave dweller surviving from the crumbs and grease stains on his clothes while yelling at a screen, which displays the video game that has, once again, managed to incur his wrath.

    This is the typical expectations people have of gamers, a subculture that until recently wasn't very well known, and whose identity has been warped and hurt by stereotypes such as the ones above.

    With the gaming community growing more and more, what a gamer is has been redefined almost to the point that the word has no meaning. The gaming stereotype is no longer true, if it ever was true to begin with, and has been broken in more ways than one.

    From MMOs, to simulators, to RPGs, games have developed enough variety to make them a world of its own. With such a vast variety of games available, it should be no surprise that the target demographic reflects this variety.

    While the average age of gamers is stated to be thirty one years old, recent gaming demographics suggest that 39 percent of gamers are under eighteen, while 32 percent are aged eighteen to thirty five, the last 29 percent being claimed by ages thirty six and up. Furthermore, according to the Entertainment Software Association 2013 survey, 48 percent of gamers are female, very nearly catching up to the 52 percent that is their male counterpart. Also, video game purchasers are split right down the middle, with male and female buyers each claiming 50 percent of game purchases. These numbers disprove both the age and the gender that most people associate with gaming, and deconstruct the stereotypes that have formed around gaming as a community. They also served to demonstrate that games are for people of all ages.

    According to a study conducted by Scott Rigvy, graduate from the University of Rochester, the reason people play video games is due to three psychological needs: competence, autonomy, and relatedness, all of which can be met, not only in real life, but also in video games. When you level up in a game or complete a difficult task, gamers feel accomplished. By having control over what their characters do and even who their characters are, players feel they're in control. The characters also provide someone to relate to and who the gamers feel can understand them. Additionally, online games serve to connect people to others who may share their interests, fulfilling the need of relatedness in a different way.

    An article written by Daniel Johnson for the Sunday Morning Herald, based on the aforementioned study, goes on to say that if these needs are met in real life gaming can be a healthy hobby, which puts a dent on the game-addicted part of the gaming stereotype; since unless the person already has an addictive personality or is in a bad place in life, it seems unlikely they would become addicted to games to the point that they won't leave home.

    What this all comes down to is that video games and gaming are simply a hobby—nothing more, nothing less. The variety in the types of video games available is reflected by the diversity of its audience. The gamer stereotype is broken simply by the fact that everyone who plays a game, whether admittedly or casually can be seen as a gamer.

#WhutHawpened?

Damian Gordon
South Bureau Chief

    Social media and online gaming has changed the way people interact with each other, for better or worse. Today’s world can really put into question if humans are more sophisticated than cavemen.

    Online gaming has possibly ruined a whole generation of kids, or at least made them really unlikeable. Joining a match on Xbox Live (XBL) or PlayStation Network (PSN) can be the most nerve-racking part of the experience, as you wait hoping that the other players joining already passed puberty. While playing Call of Duty, the fact that a nine year-old joins the game speaks volumes to how online gaming is these days. After saying countless racial slurs and curse words the kid doesn’t know how to use, the mute button becomes very familiar with many players.

    In my youth, I thought insulting people you just met was the way people socialized, and with the currentonline community, that is most likely what this generation of adolescents believe. A kid sees people making friendly banter or trash talk and misinterprets that for the way everyone communicates all the time.

    The most euphoric moment in online gaming can be hearing that annoying kid scream, “But, moooom!” right before seeing their game tag, Bewbs69, leaving the match for bed time. There are some kids that know how to handle themselves, but they are too few and far between.

    Social Media has become important in the culture of today, with Twitter showing everyone what a fun time Jane had tonight as you try to decipher the drunk tweet she wrote before throwing up.

    Facebook has made it seem like you remembered your “friend’s” birthday, when in actuality, you forgot they existed till a notification popped up reminding you to be a decent person. And liking a page apparently supports starving children in other countries; it’s not like sending actual money could help more, right? Meanwhile, creeping has been taken to a whole new level with those suspicious likes from thirsty guys on Samantha’s pics at 2 a.m.

    When Myspace was still a thing, it used to have a feature where you displayed your top 10 friends. This started many arguments as you dropped from number five to six on Johnny’s top 10.

    Log on to any of these sites to see the hundredth copy and pasted “deep post” or the vague passive aggressive post about someone’s ex (we all know who you’re taking about).

    I first joined YouTube when it was still relatively unknown back in 2006, and I loved to read the comments and have discussions with other users. Now, I don’t even bother to read one comment, for that section has become filled with trolls, religious arguments and other unrelated matters on a video about cats that shoot lasers. Granted, more people are accessing the internet than back in 2006, but that just makes it even scarier to think that YouTube comments might represent the world as we know it. Let’s not even mention how many facepalm-worthy videos of people who “did it for the vine” exist.

    Online gaming and social media has definitely affected the world and the way we communicate—often times negatively. Yet, the amount of good the digital age has brought could outweigh the bad if we took more responsibility for actions online and didn’t hide behind a username.

Why Twerking Should Be Banned

Ashley Lokken
Central Bureau Chief

    Welcome to the 21st century where women find joy in degrading themselves by shaking their booties up and down, completely exposed for all of society to see. What I don’t understand is, why? Why would women continue to partake in this hideous “dance move” when women are continuously struggling to destroy the patriarchy of the world?

    To me, dance is a form of expression, a passionate way of connecting with oneself. It urges a dancer to be incredibly in tune with his or her body, emotionally and physically. As a result, it builds self-esteem and creates powerful, strong and centered individuals. Twerking seems to do just the opposite. Twerking allows men an open view of a woman’s body leading them to sexual thoughts of desire and control. It proliferates the sexual stereotype of male dominance by using women’s bodies as sex tools. Girls do the actual act of “twerking” while the boy stands and allows himself to be danced on.

    “It began in the 2 Live Crew-dominated Miami Bass scene in the late 1980s or a few years after that in the New Orleans bounce scene,” says Jonathan Anker of HLNTV.

    Twerking is a “simulation of anal sex, or, it seems, an invitation to it,” says Lisa Belkin of the Huffington Post. “Depending who you ask, twerking started in strip clubs, or among prostitutes, or as a sacred tribal rite in Africa, and in addition to the sexual overtones it also has racial ones.”

    Either way, women should think twice about the message they are sending while participating in this public display of humility.

    On top of all of this, what message are we sending to the children? Not too long ago and very publicly, Miley Cyrus (an idol to numerous young people) got up on stage, bent over, and twerked on Robin Thicke’s crotch. This event led twerking to become “mainstream” and “cool” to the young people of society. It has also led young people to believe it is okay to do the same. It is fantastic for a woman to own her sexuality, but to a certain extent. Tween stars like Miley grow up and try so desperately to prove to the world they have done so, but this does nothing except demonstrate sustainable evidence that they’re ill-advised and losing their way as individuals.

    Besides making a woman look bad, the sad truth is twerking could possibly make them feel confident about themselves for all the wrong reasons. Is it absolutely necessary to act provocatively to gain attention? As women twerk, they may feel they are carefree, beautiful, and possibly controlling men by their moves. But in reality, they are only receiving attention because of the sexual spectacle that is exploiting them.

    Twerking is a direct symbol of the patriarchal society we currently live in. The man is in control while the girl does all the work. There is nothing edgy, trendy, or artistic about twerking. This “dance move” is destroying the moral fiber for women across the world. Young women should have more respect for themselves and their bodies especially if they expect to be treated as a man’s “equal”. No woman should feel the need to twerk for any guy. It’s not what we wear or how we gyrate in public that gives us ownership over the things we do with our bodies; it’s our ability to balance sexuality with being a sensible adult that bequeaths us the ultimate power to prove sexuality is not something to be feared, but embraced.

Gay Men Can Only Donate Blood In the Closet

Fidel Castro
Staff Writer

    Walking by a blood donation bus is almost unavoidable on any Broward College (BC) campus—but if you are a gay man, you should probably save yourself some time and immediately tell them, “I am gay.” You will see how quickly the employee will sigh and turn to look for another possible donor.

    “If you are a male who has had sexual contact with another male, even once, since 1977,” you are ineligible to donate blood because you pose the risk of having HIV/AIDS, as implemented by the FDA. It is also listed on the Red Cross donation center’s website under the category of HIV/AIDS which somewhat implies most homosexual men who have ever (even once) been sexually active are probably infected with the deadly virus.

    The “Big Red Bus” usually parks outside the only main entrance to BC’s Miramar Town Center, which allows employees from blood centers to ask most people who enter if they are able to donate. One day, I recognized a former flame working, trying to convince people to donate blood in order to save lives. Saying hello was my only option once we locked eyes, but I was startled when he approached and asked if I was willing to donate blood.

    Working at an organization that discriminates against the both of us was one thing, but he went as far as to ask me to lie about my sexual orientation and history in order to save lives. “It is not a big deal, I have to do it all the time,” he claimed, in order to meet a certain quota. I was stunned.

    I knew this man on an intimate level, and the audacity of him to ask me to lie about our relationship just to meet his quota felt insulting to me at the time. There is no way I would walk back into that closet just to lend him a hand!

    In theory, to lie about your sexual orientation to save someone’s life is not a mortal sin; it is just not right. There is no harm done, especially if you test regularly and know your status, but it is unethical because it does involve deceit.

    Taniamary Marquez, a BC student who formerly worked at a blood bank in Hialeah opened up about her thoughts on the guidelines and her experiences at the bank. “Sometimes, very questionable people would walk through the door and as long as they checked off the correct boxes, they were able to donate. It is sad, because there is such a large gay community in South Florida who could contribute but they are being discriminated against,” said Marquez.

    The policy, regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has received criticism from defenders of the gay community for years. Rumors circulate constantly in media that change to the policy is coming soon, but it seems the chances of marriage are more likely for gay men as the recognition of their commitments is a current hot-button topic.

    For now, it is up to each individual gay man to decide about whether a visit to the closet is worth potentially saving a life. Personally, I will wait until these guidelines reflect the ideals of equality.