D&D and boys & girls

When I was a kid, Dungeons & Dragons (aka "D&D") was pretty much only something boys played.

Nerdy boys, at that.

It wasn't until college when we'd have ladies join our gaming groups. Usually it was the girlfriend of one of the players, but not always.

I'm not sure why my gaming groups never regularly had female players. I'd like to think we weren't driving them away, but who knows? Certainly they rocked at it.

Why am I pondering this? BoingBoing had an article on the topic of girls playing D&D.

I personally think girls should be encouraged to participate in this hobby. Hell, I think schools should encourage role-playing games as part of the educational process for both boys and girls. I think table-top RPGs, done correctly, encourage imagination, open-mindedness, and empathy.

Given how utterly fucked-up the world seems to be, I think we could all benefit from some more imagination, open-mindedness, and empathy.