WomenGamers.Com - Because Women DO Play

Xena, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lara Croft…. Warrior women mean big entertainment in today’s society. But is the phenomenon a dream cooked up by Hollywood and Eidos, or does this dream have a basis in historical fact?

Countries all over the world have born witness to women who in addition to being trained their whole lives to be skilled in the art of war, have protected their lands and families by raising arms against an oppressor or even conquering lands themselves in an effort to gain power. From the mountains of ancient Greece to the noble houses of Japan these women existed and still exist today.

As recent as February 1997, evidence was found on the Eurasian steppes of a set of burial mounds that yielded skeletons of women buried with weapons, suggesting the Greek tales of the "Amazon women" may have had some basis in fact.

The Amazon women were not the only ones to establish themselves as a society with female warriors, the women of Sparta in ancient Greece were also trained as warriors and allowed freedom that was a rarity amongst other societies in the ancient world. In addition, Sparta was one of the most feared city-states in that region of the world. Warrior women were by no means relegated to the country of Greece. There are many many accounts of women warriors from pre-history through the 19^th century from regions that scatter the globe.

Matriarchal warrior tribes and matrilineal tribal descent are common threads throughout African history and in some cases survived into modern times.

Among the ancient Celts women rulers and warriors were extremely common. The first recorded effort to bar women from military participation was a law passed in 590 A.D. at the synod of Druim Ceat. It proved to be unenforceable when the women warriors refused to lay down their arms and comply with it.

In Asia during the Warring States period in Japan, daughters of noble Japanese families (Bushi women) were trained in the use of the bow and the naginata, a glaive-like weapon, both for use in the fields of battle as well as the protection of the home.

And Joan of Arc was not the only woman of Medieval Europe to lead soldiers in battle: Queens, noblewomen and nuns had been doing so for centuries. Women accompanied all the Crusades. The First Crusade (1096-1099) included almost equal numbers of men and women including such famous Queens as Eleanor of Aquitaine, Eleanor of Castile, Marguerite de Provence, Florine of Denmark and Berengaria of Navarre.

The list of warrior women continues throughout world history. Names like Septima Zenobia, Salaym Bint Malham, Aife of Alba, Maire o Ciaragain, Graine Ni Maille, Empress Wu Chao, Kogo Jingo, and Pimiku, the first known ruler of Japan are but a handful of respected leaders who protected their people in battle. Non-noble women who took up arms are noted as well such as the two sisters, Amaron and Kenau Hasselaar, who in 1568 defended the Dutch city of Haarlem against a Spanish invasion by leading a battalion of 300 women.

American history has its own women warriors. In 1779, Margaret Corbin became the first female veteran to receive a military pension. Hundreds of women, including Deborah Sampson Gannet, alias Private Robert Shurtleff, disguised themselves as men to fight in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. Despite women's historic and modern role in combat, the debate over the proper role for women warriors continues today in the United States.

The preponderance of female heroines in computer and console games seems to show a certain attraction that both men and women have towards physically strong female leaders who can physically fight and outwit their male counterparts. Yet very few people believe that these women exist and have existed throughout history. It is society that determines whether it is acceptable for women to be warriors or even participate in "violent activities" and this "role-appointing" is obviously not the same for all societies. An example of how role-appointing occurs in children's gaming patterns is that parents tend to find it acceptable for their sons to play violent video games but not their daughters.

We will soon post an article that further discusses the ability and attraction that many women have to organizing and leading large groups of people and establishing "governments" in computer games. Is this a sleeping gene that is being awakened within modern women through Role Playing Games like Asheron’s Call? Tune in to find out.