Most female teens play video games

Despite the fact that many people continue to believe that "girls don't play video games," the statistics continue to belie that statement. In a recent survey, it turns out that 60% of teenage girls play video games. Not just social games, either - the numbers span MMOs, first-person shooters, RPGs, and all other video game genres.

The big surprise is how few teenage girls speak up online. 47% of female teens don't even play online. Of those who do, only 9% ever use their mic.

One can hardly blame young girls for staying silent in the online gaming space, for a number of reasons. Of course, that silence paradoxically continues to make it worse for female gamers, because male gamers tend to assume other gamers are male by default. Silence equals invisibility in gaming space - but it's also important to respect the right of everyone to preserve their own safety.

I don't know what the answer is to this dilemma, but I do know that it's great that so many girls are getting into gaming, I just wish they felt safe enough to speak out about it while they were playing.

Image courtesy Flickr/wlodi