It’s with great pleasure I listened to this podcast. Especially the topic of female gamers survey. Of all the D&D topics and podcasts out your handling of the topic was among the best I have listened to so far bar none, very interesting and analytical!  

I’m a 43 years old female long time D&D gamer so I naturally have a big interest in the topic. Just by having Stephanie on the show you separate yourself as special when it comes to D&D podcasts then you all made a great job commenting the issue of female gamers. So I wanted to thank you for a great show and add my thoughts on the subject.One theory that was put forward was that most women gaming were adults because of the male stigma attached to RPG playing. I think that is very true and I was fortunate enough to being introduced to D&D at the age of 17 by a male friend. I have introduced gaming to some of my female friends and some of them have loved it and played for years. So in my groups female gamers have been a common occurrence.

I haven’t been to conventions and such to play with people I didn’t know very often. The few times I did it didn’t work so well, because I was seen more as a woman than a gamer which took away much of the fun back then. But over the years I’ve seen the fun in surprising men who saw me as a stupid woman intruding on their turf with being a skilled gamer who are an experienced DM and player.

I had the same situation at work being the second woman in my country to fly fighter jets. I’m very used to being in a male environment and being judged by males wasn’t all a bad thing, it taught me courage and to tone down my femininity. The same thing in a gaming group I could be very feminine in character but as a player I wanted to be respected and was.

Women might see this as a bad thing and that it should be seen as disrespect but I don’t. For several years I did modeling to finance my studies and pilot license and there in a very feminine environment I encountered another kind of disrespect, this time for my intellect. That job required me to act and be seen as an object for others desire. Thankfully I had my future career to hold on to and modeling was just as side thing but I sensed the danger and saw what it did to others. But I must admit it was thrilling to be put on a pedestal and seen as beautiful and sexy.

I know this sounds like bragging but normally I look nothing out of the ordinary and didn’t 20 years ago either. But I remembered the first gaming session where I was late and came styled for something completely different and it took a while before the game started to flow, which I took as a compliment :)To end this babble I must say that you all seem to be a great group to game with and I would love to come over and game with you sometime, but I have to save some money before that so I’ll continue with my mapping in the mean time.

Thanks again for a great podcast!

Anna