Editorial: Why I Support Raychul Moore As the Maxim Gamer Girl

A lot has been said about Maxim and their quest to find a “female gaming buff who has the looks, personality, and gaming skills” to become the first Maxim Gamer Girl. So what does that entail? The winner would represent Maxim and gamer girls at different gaming events while getting some exposure in Maxim magazine and their website. After a period of voting where contestants can place their profile on MaximGamerGirl.com and allow the public to vote, Maxim will pick a winner from the top 3. Now, whether you are for or opposed to publications like Maxim is a completely different topic. Instead, what I want to focus on are the current so-called “gamer girls” that you see at most events. They are sexy, in some skimpy clothes, can twirl their hair like no other and handle anything you give them, except a controller. Unfortunately, for the most part, female hosts and models for gaming events and shows are picked for their looks and not their actual knowledge or skills. With exceptions of people like Veronica Belmont, for example, most are either there to look pretty/sexy or read off a cue card and cannot sway from the topic. Look no further than Olivia Munn.

Because of this, there is a build-up of stigma (and rightfully so) that if she looks cute, it’s probably too good to be true that she is a gamer as well. Of course, that doesn’t stop (mostly) men salivating over them, but let’s be realistic; most gamer girls aren’t sitting there playing Killzone 3 in their panties and bra. Due to this, most in the industry tend not to respect gamer girls and treat them as nothing but eye candy. So when Maxim announced that they were looking for a gaming girl to represent them, most rightfully brushed it off as another good looking girl who doesn’t know her L3 from R1.

Many of the girls who have entered the competition also haven’t made it any better for the serious gaming girls out there. More than 90% of the pictures revolve around the least bit of clothing possible with a majority of them having nothing to even do with gaming. Those who do have some form of gaming pose or credit are one step away from humping the device. Others have turned towards bribery like PlayStation’s Tester Season 2 contestant ‘TradeChat’ who has made a video for her YouTube legion, setting benchmarks of what she will do for them with plenty of sexual references throughout if they vote for her and how she will interact back with her fans and answer their questions. Between the naughty clothes and near bribery videos, its time to put a stop on these fake gaming girls and return dignity and pride to all female gamers out there.

That’s why I’ve put my support behind Raychul Moore and hope you will too. Unlike the rest of the contestants, Raychul has real gaming credit and isn’t trying to sell herself as the sexy gamer. In fact, one look at her profile on Maxim will show that she’s the girl next door that you didn’t know was whooping your ass on Uncharted and Gears of War. Now I’m not going to pretend that I’m blind to that fact that Raychul has done “sexy” pictures before but I’m also not going to ignore that she’s being different than the rest of the contestants and, as I said, this girl can actually game! So what are some of her favorite games?

Uncharted 2
BioShock
God of War
Fatal Frame
Silent Hill 2
Eternal Darkness
Dragon Age: Origins
Borderlands
Mass Effect 3
Conker’s Bad Fur Day

If you think she’s just into games, think again as this media junkie, Star Wars loving, Disney park goer, and horror fanatic has got a serious collection to back her credit up with.

Now if that doesn’t convince you that this girl knows what she’s talking about, then I don’t know what will. And that is ultimately the point, that the girl who is out there, representing other gaming girls, should not be all beauty and no skills, but that she should be able to pick up a controller and go toe-to-toe with the boys and beat them. That she should be able to hold up a wide variety of conversations about gaming and the geek/media culture that surrounds it and have something to say instead of saying what she’s been told to say.

Racyhul Moore is that girl and then some. The girl who isn’t bribing her fans but instead hosts a weekly video and chat where she answers all of their questions. She’s the cosplayer girl who’s written for several different gaming websites and magazines, including GamePro, EGM, GameZone, and Machinima. That’s why I’m voting for Raychul as the Maxim Gaming Girl and urge you to do the same. To send a loud message that we want the gamer girls up front who actually can game! Remember, voting is open for nearly a month and you can vote once a day for the person you want to see as the winner.