This is something I have been struggling with for a rather long time. During my teen years and early 20s, I proudly wore the title "Gamer" I championed it in the face of withering social stigma and open condemnation and mockery from my peers, both in education and work. I even published a note on my Facebook page in late 2011 expressing my exasperation and distaste at being labeled not only a social outcast, but being at risk for becoming a violent deviant. (Found here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/robert-francis-mader/the-stigma-of-being-an-advlt-gamer/10150302054459376) Unfortunately, It seems the mockery and condemnation has only become worse in the intervening years, especially post Gamergate. So my question is this; Are you comfortable being called a Gamer? Why and why not?

(On a side and sort of related note, how do you feel about gamer mockery of "Filthy Casuals"? I've seen enough "Feking Casuals" posts to know that this is a part of our culture that needs to go. But I'm curious how the rest of our community feels about this. Matt Helgeson's 2014 article changed my opinion on how I view gamers and gaming in general. article here: http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2014/02/20/the-changing-definition-of-39-gamer-39.aspx.)

Am I comfortable being called a gamer? Yes of course, why on earth wouldn't I be?

Read the rest of the post. Seriously...

I'm fine with being called a gamer. If someone's been reading too many anti-gamer articles in the likes of the Daily Fail... well, I think being a Daily Fail reader is a rather worse indictment than anything that can be said about gamers.

I have a strong dislike of the "filthy casual" thing, however. It's elitist, annoying and one of those things that does tend to reinforce negative stereotypes about gamers' social skills.

I always use "Flithy Casual" in a joking way as I am one myself. As for being called a gamer... my friends are "gamers" and people I know who aren't don't really care. So yes, I am comfortable with being called gamer.

I am a hardcoe gamer and hate the developers who cater to casual gamers. If someone calls me a gamer I'm happy.

Who gives a [censored].

I've never experienced this social stigma you talk about, people react neutrally at worst. It's a hobby like any other. I probably wouldn't call myself a gamer, but I don't mind when others describe me as such. I don't feel any particular pride or shame in that name. If someone tried to mock me because of it, I'd shrug it off and think they're ignorant. Just as ignorant as those who look down on "filthy casuals." A wide spectrum of genres and types of players is a good thing.

In the sense of hanging around a video game forum, sure I guess that I'm comfortable being called a 'gamer'. I think that even when I was younger and more actively played (on a Sega Genesis), I saw no positive or negative association with the term.

I'll admit that I don't game much anymore, mostly because it seems to be harder to find a game that I want to spend the money on to buy and sink time into. Sure, some would call me a 'casual', but I ignore them for the snobs that they are.

Anyways, labels are for food, not people.

Don't care. Same as people who drink aren't all alcoholics. Bad apples in the bunch doesn't make it a bad culture. I support gamergate and I support equality of gaming, but I don't really discuss it because I prefer discussing video games. I don't use the term 'casuals' either, only a 14 year old or a no life does that.

Yeah exactly. You play games, you're a gamer. I'm not going to call someone a "watcher" for watching TV. It's not going to trigger an identity crisis, so I don't care.

I honestly do not care either way, nor have I met someone in my own life that cares either way.

I am proud to be a filthy casual.

Am I comfortable with it, sure, I guess. I get called things that have a lot nastier social stigmas attached to it pretty regularly and that doesn't bother me, so why would "gamer".

That said, I am not a gamer, and never get called one. I buy maybe 2 or 3 games a year, and play maybe an hour or two a week, so even though it wouldn't bother me, I'm coming at it from a completely outsider point of view.

I don't give a [censored] if gamer is something that is shamed and i dont care if people call me that. That whole gamergate is a joke anyway, and the only people i know who take it seriously are the hardcoe feminists, who are also a joke.

I dont really pay attention to that [censored] anyway, so it doesnt matter to me one way or the other really.

As for the casual thing. Yeah, i don't call people casual gamers and that crap either. I will say that a game is more casual, as in the game requires little effort to play (there are times when im home from work, im just too damn tired to play an RPG or an RTS game, but i can play a 'casual' game that doesnt require lots of time and effort and be able to quit at any time), but i dont judge people for playing games like that (as i do myself), and dont give a [censored] about 'hardcoe' and 'casual' gamer labels or try to talk down to someone for being someone who doesnt play games that often.

Though i will call someone a hardcoe gamer when they're like those insane dudes that can beat super mario bros 3 in 11 minutes, or those kids that have died from playing excessive hours of WoW, the only words for that is someone who takes video games way too seriously.

Hey, I use it to describe my gaming habits!

...oh wait, I count as a no life.

They can go ahead and call me what ever they want. Nothing is going to stop me from enjoying playing and enjoy games.

Frankly, I don't care what anyone says.

Been calling myself a gamer for 35 years now. Not going to change.

Not a supporter of Gamergate. Some very nasty people involved in it.

Wouldn't use the term casual myself. Its a hobby, some people take it and themselves much too seriously.

Casual to describe self interest is different than to use it to insult others with differences of gaming opinions to your own.

If you're a respectable gamer with a love for the importance of video games, you should. There's a bunch of monkeys who rally around Gamergate, true. But the cause itself is on calling out skewed and biased journalism in gaming and calling it out in a demand for more objective and unbiased gaming journalism. Don't let mud on the plaque ruin what the cause is about. Also, don't believe what a lot of mainstream media says about Gamergate being a source of hate on women and all that nonsense, is it that hard to believe journalists would side with other journalists? Media outlets have only helped to vilify the good cause of what Gamergate was about by using the worst defenders of it. But that's like using 'feminazis' to describe how Feminism works. You're using inaccurate and misleading examples to portray them as what they aren't.

Oh my, I got more responses than I'd hoped for! I'm happy so many of you seem like well adjusted individuals. But let me just clarify a bit. Perhaps I'm rather pedestrian in the definition, but I have always thought of a gamer as someone who plays video games for entertainment. Although what I considered a "Gamer" has changed repeatedly over the intervening years, due to the exposure of various ideas. My current perception of what constitutes a gamer is much more open now than what it was in the recent past, and falls more in line with what I had thought in my youth. This shift in thinking stems from reading Matt Helgeson's 2014 article, and prompted me to reexamine what it meant to me to be a gamer. Nevertheless, this open perception of what defines a gamer is what led me to self identify as a gamer throughout the greater part of my life. It is only once I had begun to recieve serious criticism* for my hobby that I began to self-examine my relation to my hobby. Perhaps I'm being pointlessly introspective, but I was wondering if anyone else had any shared experience in the matter.

As for people who judge the "filthy casuals" I have no use for such line of thinking, and I have always maintained that such divisions only further drive us apart and take away from gaming and what it means to share in gaming culture. Also, the Gamergate reference was just to point out that the scandal has only compounded negative perceptions of Gamer society, these negative perceptions have continued to have a detrimental effect on our society, and I'd rather see it end. I did not mean to reopen the Gamergate controversy, nor did I mean to cast my support one way or another. As far as I'm concerned, it's a dead issue. But it's still an issue that will continue to effect us in the background for as long as people are playing games.

(*Including but not limited to; my intelligence, moral compass and professional ability. This criticism has effected how I'm treated in my workplace, hence my concern)