For the first time ever I joined a voice call while playing a game (among us) and as soon as I said something everyone immediately started going "Is that a female??" "You're a female??" "There are females here??" I get that it was supposed to be a joke but fuck it felt so alienating to be bombarded with that in my first attempt at gaming socially
I have a collection of about 13-22 retro/late model game consoles(depending if you count handheld) and enjoy games but I'll never call myself a gamer. I like it mostly for the hardware and preservation aspect. I want to share them with folks but no one ever wants to play a random PS2 game with me. I have other hobbies that are way in front of games that take precedent though and I've only been playing games recently due to a hand injury that got in the way of music.
Edit: most of them I got for free by being in the right place, at the right time. maybe 10 of 22 were free, several were consoles from childhood I held onto. I think the only ones I've searched out to purchase in the last 10 years were the ps4 and switch.