Blatant sexism drives women away from video games
There are a variety of reasons why some women are not jumping at the chance to play video games. Not all women find sitting in front of a screen appealing, and in virtual worlds created by men, for men—as if one male dominated reality wasn’t enough—the actions of few can often ruin the experience. Sexual harassment can be found in a variety of online communities, but is markedly prevalent in online video gaming communities.
Sometimes, the sexual harassment isn’t even directed at the female players themselves, but rather towards in-game non-playable characters. The presence of such blatant sexism in a virtual reality meant to help you kick back and escape the real world can be beyond unappealing.
I spoke to a close friend of mine who has previously expressed her hesitance towards giving video games of any sort a try. When asked as to why she held these reservations, she explained that the reason she shies away from video games and their respective online gaming communities is because of the hateful speech used to keep girls out of a once all-boys club.
At the risk of sounding like an angry feminist, which I self-admittedly am (and this honestly shouldn’t even be seen as a bad thing), I would like to take this opportunity to say that my friend is right; a lot of male players are mean. I cannot and will not argue with anyone about this.
What makes it worse is when other female players will hop on the S.S. Discourage-Other-Girls bandwagon and put you down for trying to call out some hotheaded misogynist whose in-game and out-of-game master status is picking on female gamers. I mean, come on. Whatever happened to helping a sister out? Don’t try to justify someone’s sexist comments or remarks to “get in.” Chances are that the people making those comments aren’t people you would want to be associated with in real life.
Many online video game communities have, more often than not, at some point played host to forums absolutely drenched in poorly disguised sexism and served as an unfortunate breeding ground for disgustingly misogynistic commentaries. Aside from comments of an uncomfortably intimate sexual nature, possibly the worst put-down I’ve heard to date is this: “You play like a girl.” The fact that some individuals can say such a thing, as if playing like a girl is supposed to be an appropriate insult, is appalling. We aren’t in the eighth grade anymore, grow up. (And even if you are actually in the eighth grade, grow up.) If you want to criticise someone online, then do so based on their actual gameplay and not their gender or sex.
That goes without saying, not all online video communities follow this trend. While the Internet isn’t properly moderated for sexual discrimination, quite a few communities are actually totally inclusive and can make your online gameplay experience entirely worthwhile. So, although being thick-skinned against stupid comments may sometimes be necessary, don’t let that stop you from logging on. GG.