When most people think of a stereotypical nerd, they picture a boy with thick glasses who likes math and plays nerdy games like Dungeons and Dragons, a fantasy role-playing game. This stereotype has caused girls to feel like this hobby is unapproachable, and boys to think they are naturally superior at these things. Many people know about the push to get more girls into STEM fields, but recently there has been a surge of girls playing games like D&D.
All over TikTok you can find groups playing the game that are exclusively made up of girls. Many other groups don’t care at all about the players’ gender, and simply want to have fun playing. These groups were made to combat the sexism rampant within D&D communities.
With more groups allowing girls, the sexism in character design is slowly becoming less prevalent. Female characters were often made to just look pretty, and female players were often restricted to playing designated “feminine” classes like bards or druids. However, it's now more common to see female barbarians, paladins, and assassins, which were all roles previously associated with men and masculinity..
Overall, with the increase in girls playing D&D, they are slowly combating the blatant sexism that has always existed around “nerdy” things.
Written by Lilia
Artwork by Zara Masood
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