Apparently women like to rock the Guitar Hero, jump off the couches, flash the devil horns, and party just as much as the guys out there. And for those women about to rock, we salute you. FIRE! So what is it about the Guitar Hero franchise has so many women rocking it out?

From the article:

I'm standing on stage holding my guitar, it is a red Gibson and I have bright red hair and I'm wearing a punk ensemble. I'm playing the Foo Fighters' "Monkey Wrench" and I ROCK! All the while I am standing in my living room using a guitar game controller that is allowing me to live out a fantasy of my rocker chick potential. In reality I would have no hope in hell of getting past one cord of anything on a guitar, but through the miracle of gaming I can inhabit many characters and be the rocker chick of my dreams.

Since the videogame industry began, the ideal gamer has been both young and male in the eyes of the game creators. Various strategies and systems have been utilized by the game industry to maintain this gamer ideal. A system has been in place that creates barriers to the inclusion of women and girls from being seen as "typical" game players by the industry. This has led to a small number of women and girls playing immersive video games.

Women and girls who play video games are often forced through gameplay to see the world as heterosexual men perceive it. As a result of the number of barriers a woman or girl must transgress to play video games, it is not surprising that many women only play games that they are introduced to through a male acquaintance, such as a brother, boyfriend, or male friend. These men and boys act as a bridge for women and girls into the video game space.

Read the full article over at the following blog