Greetings!
-Hello! I am a university student that writes essays in their free time, and am very interested in Gender studies and Sociology. I wanted to try to start a conversation around gender, sexuality, socialization, and video games.
-If you're bored and like to help contribute to my research and an open conversation, please feel free to participate!
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RULES/GUIDELINES
-This is a safe space for opinions and conversation for all, regardless of age, gender, sexuality, or other groupings. Parts of this survey has to do with gender, and sexuality. Please be kind to one another regarding these topics.
-Feel free to add as much or as little detail to your personal experiences with gender socialization and video games, anything helps!
SURVEY
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-What is your sexual orientation?
-What is your gender identity?
-Were you raised in early to middle childhood as male, female, or gender neutral?
-What video game consoles did you grow up with? In addition to consoles/devices, what games were the most influential to your childhood/development? (for example, I had a wii, ds, and 3ds growing up)
-Did you feel as though the games that were most influential to your childhood were "feminized"?
-What were the goals/themes of the games you played? (For example: The Cooking Mama series: Time management (bonuses for quick success), perfection (one mistake and you lose that gold medal), creativity (freedom to decorate certain dishes with designs and garnishes
-Growing up, did you ever play games related to the Pokémon franchise? If so, how did your peers feel about you playing these games?
-As a kid, did you feel any romantic awakening/queer awakening related to a video game character? If so, add details about the character that made them appealing, as a favorite character or in a romantic sense.
-End notes for discussion and any other factors/experiences you have had with video games 
All thoughts are welcome, just try to keep it kind and honest.
All thoughts are welcome, just try to keep it kind and honest.EXAMPLE SURVEY
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-I identify as gay
I identify as nonbinary trans-masculine (they/he pronouns)
-I was raised up until adolecense as a girl
-I grew up playing wii, ds, and 3ds games. Some of the most influential games/series for me growing up include: The Cooking/crafting/gardening mama series, Petz Nursery, animal rescue/care games, and Pokémon
-Given that the Cooking Mama series was generally marketed towards young girls, I feel as though these games could be considered "feminized". Whether or not this is good or bad can be left up for debate. Was a little surprised that I knew how to slice and chop up an onion to help my mom make her famous Chicken Wild Rice soup for the first time as a kid lol!
-I found that a lot of the goals/themes of the video games I played related to kindness/animal care, creativity, time management, and perfection.
-Growing up, I played many Pokémon games. In general, my peers also played these games. However, I have distinct memories of going to summer camp and having male peers tell me that those games were supposed to be for "boys only".
-As a kid, my "queer awakening"/romantic awakening came from movie stars, not video game characters. However, I do have one friend that said he first realized he was attracted to boys after playing pokémon black and white, and had found the character N attractive.
I would like to end this post with a big thanks to any and every response to this survey - Thank you so much!
