Pick Me

As a woman gamer, I am instantly looked at as someone who is “cooler” than most women. Men think that I am easier to relate. Within the new release of EPIC GAMES, Fortnite gamers with access to a game consoles strapped themselves in for a night of blitz group at the dusty depot. As a woman gamer, I was one of the eager gamers turning on my console every night. With a game dominated by men, I have found myself victim to misogynist comments and inappropriate one liners. “Ugh, that’s so hot! Your voice is so hot..” “you’re good at this for a girl.” These comments are frequent as I attempt to win my way into Victory Royale. It baffles me that as a woman, my male counterparts instantly see me as superior to other women. It puts women against each other, tempting us to compete with one another for the opinion of a man, constructing what Twitter calls a “pick-me girl,” or a girl that attempts to win a man by being “different than other girls” which they feel will make men choose them (hence the name). Pick me girls often insist that they don’t care about makeup, shopping, nail color, and other things that girls are believed to care about. They discuss how they prefer sports over reality shows and video games over shopping. Pick me girls also strive to be the “perfect” wives, often waiting until marriage for sex, having hot meals for their husband when they get home from work, and ironing their husbands underwear (maybe an exaggeration but whatever). The key sign of a pick-me is that they shame women that don’t behave like them. Pick-me culture is annoying, but it’s a sign that men still have a hold on how women feel about themselves and other women.