It seems that some treat video game culture as a 'good ole boys' club, and any criticism of the status quo is met with this kind of behavior. Anyone who has played online video games has most likely experienced this kind of attitude.
Obviously, not everyone acts like this, and this kind of behavior isn't solely found in video game culture. It is definitely upsetting and disturbing though.
As with politics for example, nothing much - except entering hostile environment so to say - prevents girls and women to play video games and be as good as it as boys and men. So my thought, my message to girls and women, is following: If its in the game, its in the game! (thanks EA).
Sure, we can debate how difficult is to enter hostile environment or how to make such environment less hostile, but words are often of little use. Get there, play it, prove it. You can do it. gl and (try to) hf
Online video game culture (in general) is horrible. If it isn't cheating and griefing, it's misogyny and gay-bashing. I barely deal with any of it anymore.
Is it too hard for guys to follow the simple advice "don't be a dick"? Either they are loners with no chance at having a fruitful relationship with women, or abusive fucks IRL too, or real pussies at home, acting out their repressed sides. I really don't get this misogyny thing - are there so many guys who are pathetic fucks with a drive to be as big assholes as possible when given the opportunity? If so, I despair...
"Bunch together a group of people deliberately chosen for strong religious feelings,
and you have a practical guarantee of dark morbidities." - H.P. Lovecraft
There's also the fact some people don't know they are being misogynists. My brother admitted to me he didn't realise how he had some views and until he was exposed to some of Anita's stuff and pointed to some articles on the matter he did not realise it.
But then again he was also disgusted by this kind of behavior anywhere. I guess it's people like him that the stuff works on the others are just gonna have to take the hard road before they realise they are being dicks.
A friend of mine played a female character in WoW, and it was an eye-opener for him. He got hit on, while his ideas were ignored. Sometimes he tired of the (obviously) male players ignoring his opinions, and he said "fuck this" and set off on some quest. As for the passes... little did they know that he was a 40-ish, 200+ lbs guy, and not some sexy 20-something piece of tail.
It might be that I've worked and studied in places where the absolute majority of my co-workers and classmates were women, but even so, I doubt I would be a misogynic dick even if the circumstances had been different.
"Bunch together a group of people deliberately chosen for strong religious feelings,
and you have a practical guarantee of dark morbidities." - H.P. Lovecraft
I'm sure we had this same thread before. Anyway my opinion is still the same, go to related forums and scout out the sound people and friend them. There's no point playing with random idiots.
BUSINESS OF GAMING
Canada's video-game industry ranks No. 3 worldwide
In its recent report, Essential Facts 2012, the Entertainment Software Association of Canada provided a snapshot of the computer and video-game market, with profiles of gamers in various age groups, a list of the top-selling titles of the year (for the 12 months ending August, 2012), and breakdowns of the industry's size and structure. Below are some of the key findings from the report, which collected data from 2,969 adults, 527 teens and 687 kids from April 13 to April 30, 2012. The margin of error is plus or minus 1.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20
[quote="Varangian";p="1393828"]A friend of mine played a female character in WoW, and it was an eye-opener for him. He got hit on, while his ideas were ignored. Sometimes he tired of the (obviously) male players ignoring his opinions, and he said "fuck this" and set off on some quest. As for the passes... little did they know that he was a 40-ish, 200+ lbs guy, and not some sexy 20-something piece of tail.
It might be that I've worked and studied in places where the absolute majority of my co-workers and classmates were women, but even so, I doubt I would be a misogynic dick even if the circumstances had been different.[/quote]
I've occasionally had a female character in games like that, and it's amazed me how often you get hit on. But what's really amazing is their naïveté. Don't these people know how games work? Don't they realize that half the female characters are probably male players?
Last edited by quill on Mar 20, 2013 12:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it’s just the opposite." ~John Kenneth Galbraith
I don't play games online (since I think that concept is overrated and it's killing the single player aspect of games) so I can't comment on that but it's a shame that women/girls and gay/bi people get bashed by a minority of idiots who have nothing better to do and it should be stopped now. I don't think these people realise that the hatred towards women/girls playing video games along with the hatred towards gay/bi people who play video games is only going to fuel the hatred towards men/boys and the hatred towards straight people who play games and if that happens they will simply be ignored. Hatred towards people in one groups will only fuel the hatred from the other.
Disagree with an opinion just say so but don't be a dick about it.
I don't think people are bashing women and girls. I don't think they are just perverts either. There might be more female gamers than we think, but there are other factors to consider. Many girls, although technically a gamer, play different kinds of games (e.g. Sim City is extremely popular with most girls I have met so far) and/or are simply not into gaming enough so you could talk with them about it or play with them. Then there is the issue that they are not all equally represented in all social circles. So it's easy to imagine that some young adolescent who can't find any girls that share the same hobbies as him gets quite excited when he sees a female gamer and has his imaginations run wild. Seems a quite natural reaction to me.
I know many females who play games, but only one who actively plays with me and my friends on a regular basis. Some nerd kid in high school who hasn't seen a gamer girl in real life in his entire life would understandably be quite excited. Of course, that doesn't make it any less annoying for the females. I'm just saying, it might more often come from some suppressed desires than pure sexism.
I dont think misogony is more frequent in video gaming than lets say racism or people picking on fat people. I've played mmo's with many women, and a few of them were even among the most influencial players in the entire game. In my experience, if you're out looking for something then you're going to find it.
If a women gets treated badly then she should find better people to play with. In mmo's (like wow mentioned above) this shouldnt be a problem.
Women writers share their thoughts on sexism in the game industry
"The worst is when it's not overt. You never know if you didn't get the job — or weren't even considered — because you didn't play your hand right, or if they just secretly think a man could write it better or get along better with the rest of the team." - Game and television writer Anne Toole shares her thoughts on sexism in the game industry.
[snip]
The writers interviewed -- among them Rhianna Pratchett (Tomb Raider), Anne Toole (The Witcher) and Susan O'Connor (Far Cry 2) -- shared some of their experiences writing for games, with comments casting the (comparatively young) game industry as a bit more hospitable to woman writers than the entrenched film industry.
[snip]
The full story is worth reading over on Polygon, if only for the insight it offers into the experiences of women who write for games.
