Who are you and what do you do in gaming?
My name is ReAnimateHer and I am Mom & Grandmother of 3. I work as a full-time horror content creator over on Twitch & YouTube. I love to collect & chat about all things horror as well as play video games like Zombie Army 4, Friday the 13th and Devour.
What does being a woman in gaming mean to you?
For me it means feeling empowered and representing that women can do what men can do and have fun doing it. I like being a role model for other women, and young girls. I have 2 daughters that have grown up to be gamers. I really enjoyed being a role-model to them and showing them that girls can have fun and kick butt just like the boys do. I now have 3 granddaughters who I can not wait to show them video gaming.
What’s your favourite game to play on Xbox and why?
Friday the 13th, because it allows me to play as one of my favourite Horror Slashers BUT it allows me to have fun with 7 of my friends in a game.
What challenges have you experienced as a woman who plays games?
Being a female in the gaming industry & content creator is challenging but it has many rewards & good times. I have experienced sexism & bullying just because of my gender. For whatever reason some men have this mind set that women cannot play games or that we are no good at it. We have showed and still show them wrong every day. These behaviours do not deter me from gaming, they make me stronger because I like showing them what women can do in video games.
Are there any positives to being a gamer? If so what are they?
Of course there is! Gaming teaches you how to multi-task, how to work and deal under pressure, problem solving and most of the time it teaches you how to work as a team with other people. It helps you learn how others work and how to adapt to the every changing environment that is within the game. I believe gaming give you many life skills to deal & cope with the world around us. It is also an outlet for those of us who need to get lost in another world or we had a stressful day and just want to blow stuff up we can in games.
What do you think needs to happen for women to feel more empowered and belong in the gaming industry?
Listen to the communities, listen to when we report or write to gaming devs that we need things in place to discipline those who like to bully and talk down to us as we are trash because we play a video game. We deal with a lot of bullying and harassment the gaming industry needs to take this serious as more and more women are gaming every day. Keep creating STRONG Female leads for our young generation and for those of us that are not that young anymore.
Is there anything we can do now to enact change?
The industry has already started to take the steps needed we just have to keep evolving what we are already doing.
Is there anything that you’ve done in gaming that you’d like to share? Have you achieved anything special or done anything in the gaming industry that we should know about?
I have set up training sessions for games like Devour, Friday the 13th and Dead by Daylight to help teach others who are new to the game how to play. I was also once a Community Spotlight for Xbox Canada.