No skin thick enough: the daily harassment of women in the game industry

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besada said:
This is exactly what it's like. Excellent point. We see this same exact behavior in every thread involving race -- a rush to explain why it's not really racism -- immediately followed by people saying "what about..." Anything at all to discuss anything but the actual topic.
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No no no...This isn't exactly what it's like. In this context it's much more like having an article on racism against blacks, but people keep derailing to talk about racism regarding Haitians..

Harassment effects everyone, but especially women. This article is about harassment of women.

Racism effects everyone, but especially* blacks. That hypothetical article is about harassment of blacks.


I don't spend a lot of time in the OT, I'll be interested to see if racism discussions are typically also limited to the one race they discuss (i.e. yes, people are racist against haitians, but this isn't the thread for that. If you'd like to start a thread on that, feel free!)

*I don't actually know if blacks are the most discriminated against...but it's certainly an issue...
 
kirblar said:
I think it would actually help an article like this (that's focused on harassment of public figures in the industry) to start with male examples, not so much to focus on them, but to establish that "baseline" level of harassment that's faced by both genders from the internet idiot brigade. Then, having established that, you can then make the comparison to what the women are experiencing and putting up with to illuminate the inequality of experiences. Without that juxtaposition, I think a lot of people immediately jump to thinking that the women are simply experiencing a funhouse mirror version of the same sort of harassment that the men are experiencing, rather than things that are dogpiled on top of that same baseline experience.
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I don't think there's a need to establish a "male baseline" for harassment. It further privileges male as being normal and female as being abnormal, and it's not exactly difficult to see harassment. Similarly, the level doesn't matter in the first place, it is hatred that needs fixing here, not some imaginary "appropriate level" of hatred.
 
Cyrano said:
I don't think there's a need to establish a "male baseline" for harassment. It further privileges male as being normal and female as being abnormal, and it's not exactly difficult to see harassment. Similarly, the level doesn't matter in the first place, it is hatred that needs fixing here, not some imaginary "appropriate level" of hatred.
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Yup. Let's not start doing that.
 
Nicktals said:
No no no...This isn't exactly what it's like. In this context it's much more like having an article on racism against blacks, but people keep derailing to talk about racism regarding Haitians..
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A) I don't particularly appreciate the smart-ass final line and
B) both involve derailing to avoid discussing the issue at hand.

If you have a problem with moderation, I suggest you take it up via PM.
 
Amir0x said:
I'm a cynical person. I know people are like this. But man, it is depressing. It's like a malignant cancer, and no matter how many times you think you just got it all out of your system, you miss a bit and it just spreads all over your body again. How so many men can dare to sit here and try to argue in some sense that they're the victims, that anyone is overplaying this issue? As if this shit isn't hard enough.
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GAF has a lot of members, so banning 20 at a time isn't really going to put a dent in things, even if it's only 5% of posters who think/act like what you are describing.

That said, Having been on this forum just shy of a decade, I think things are slowly getting better here in some ways. At least you don't have to read "all over my tits" 20 times in every gameplay preview/screenshot thread.
 
licktheenvelope said:
I am also not a female, so I wont comment on their feelings and I do not dismiss them. However I feel as though men have their feelings dismissed on the matter of equality too often, that's all.
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This smells of false equivalency -- what feeling on the matter of equality can you have besides "it's pretty awesome being a man"? :) An equality discussion doesn't exist in a vacuum, it's a reaction to something.

in the USA, our country was founded on sexism. it's baked into our very societal DNA. women have had to fight to get rights and make progress ever since our very inception, and while things are certainly better than they once were (women can vote, for instance) it's not over.
 
Cyrano said:
I don't think there's a need to establish a "male baseline" for harassment. It further privileges male as being normal and female as being abnormal, and it's not exactly difficult to see harassment. Similarly, the level doesn't matter in the first place, it is hatred that needs fixing here, not some imaginary "appropriate level" of hatred.
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Well said.

licktheenvelope said:
Hrm... see what I attribute this all is the move to 'equality' as best as can be had.

I agree women get the weaker end right now and (as I have admitted to finding out) there seem to be a lot more creepy guys out there than I thought (again I just don't see this). That behaviour needs to change, certainly.

I do agree this is seperate from the specific issue of poor treatment of women in the gaming industry, that specifically I would not venture to talk about as i'm not in that industry enough to comment.

I am also not a female, so I wont comment on their feelings and I do not dismiss them. However I feel as though men have their feelings dismissed on the matter of equality too often, that's all.
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I hope you can understand how tin eared it sounds to come into a thread where the topic is the inequality a certain group faces and repeatedly try to shift the conversation towards the perceived slights of your, different, group. Even in a situation where your grievances had merit, it is not going to be well received.
 
Nicktals said:
Well, good luck with that! It's a poor word choice, I can tell you that much. Especially if real progress is the goal.

I could phrase it this way.

A.,) Do I have a choice of whether or not I am 'priveleged'?

B.) Will I be judged to any degree on my classification?


If A is no, and B is yes, you've got bigotry. If you're consciously judging me for something I don't have a choice in, I think that's what would get me defensive.
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The answer to A and B are both no. You are not judged because you have privilege, you are judged because you have been presented evidence of its existence and yet you willfully ignore it. That is judging you for a conscious decision you have made of your own free will.
 
Jobbs said:
This smells of false equivalency -- what feeling on the matter of equality can you have besides "it's pretty awesome being a man"? :) An equality discussion doesn't exist in a vacuum, it's a reaction to something.
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Also... One is quantifiable. We have metrics to support the reality.
 
Amir0x said:
I just don't understand it. No matter how many links we show proving otherwise, no matter how many personal testimonies brave women around the world give to demonstrate precisely how out of hands things have gotten, no matter how frequently we produce the actual physical evidence that guarantees there can be no doubt about what is going on, no matter how many neoGAF topics spring up where 18 people have to be banned because they keep denying all these basic facts about discrimination/sexism in the workplace and in this industry, there's always another topic and another 18 posters lining up to get themselves banned to reenact this shit all over again.

I'm a cynical person. I know people are like this. But man, it is depressing. It's like a malignant cancer, and no matter how many times you think you just got it all out of your system, you miss a bit and it just spreads all over your body again. How so many men can dare to sit here and try to argue in some sense that they're the victims, that anyone is overplaying this issue? As if this shit isn't hard enough.
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It just serves to reveal how utterly unprepared we are as a society to teach kids about social injustices and imbalances of power in our society. I never learned about any of this stuff in a meaningful way throughout high school, and even in college it wasn't really touched upon at a deep level unless I sought classes that highlighted these issues. Truth be told I learned a lot about racial/gender/sexual/mental issues through GAF. Even if these threads feel pointless with how many of the same arguments pop up time and time again, I feel like I learn so much just reading through these posts and seeing how people more intelligent than myself disarm arguments and logical fallacies. I'd like to think that at least a few lurkers are getting that same experience I get from these threads and are changing their attitudes for the better.
 
Great article that I hope some people read and realize just how wide-spread and prevalent this stuff is. I feel like it all comes down to a lack of empathy and understanding for others, but I wish I knew how to promote these things in other people.

I will say that reading through the posts of banned people in threads like these is always kind of illuminating that there a lot of people with some really screwed up ways of thinking out there.
 
Amir0x said:
I just don't understand it. No matter how many links we show proving otherwise, no matter how many personal testimonies brave women around the world give to demonstrate precisely how out of hands things have gotten, no matter how frequently we produce the actual physical evidence that guarantees there can be no doubt about what is going on, no matter how many neoGAF topics spring up where 18 people have to be banned because they keep denying all these basic facts about discrimination/sexism in the workplace and in this industry, there's always another topic and another 18 posters lining up to get themselves banned to reenact this shit all over again.
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Yes, it does get tiring to see variants of these posted over and over again:

"But I never even see this happening, it's just a big deal being made of nothing."
"It happens to everyone, not just women!"
"No big deal, just don't feed the trolls! Women are too easily offended."
"Polygon click-bait!"
"What's the point of talking about this again? What am I even supposed to do anyway?"
"So why don't you shut up and do something about it if it's such a big deal?"
"Ugh, can't we just talk about video games instead?"
"This is a really broad issue, so there's no point in talking about the gaming industry."
"All this talking about women's issues is just too divisive."
"Are you trying to make me feel guilty because I'm a man?"
"Why are you demonising men's sexuality?"
"Why are men always being ignored?"
"Men can't help it, it's the testosterone."
"It's probably just 12 year old boys anyway."
"Women get PMS-y and bite everyone's heads off too."
"Women are probably lying about it all to get an advantage in the field."
"People should stop being professional victims."

There's probably more I've missed, too. I am incredibly pleased though that there are even more posters who are willing to point out why these responses aren't helpful, and also explain why harassment in the gaming industry (and the wider world) is still an incredibly pervasive issue and something that we all need to take seriously.

Edit: Added two more to the list!
 
Amir0x said:
I mean, it sounds alright on the surface, and I know you don't mean anything by it.

But think about how this looks, as well as how it sounds. You're telling a woman who is facing horrendous discrimination/sexism that in order to be able to have anything like a normal discussion about a specific subject that is impacting women all around the world, she has to first start her opinion piece with a whole section on how bad some men are treated too.

As I said, I understand you don't mean to be offensive by the suggestion. You're being genuine in your intent, I get it. But this is not a workable solution. Men can start articles any way they choose to get a point across, and I've never once in my life heard "well men should always start these types of articles with discussion about women first, so as we can get a good baseline about men." 'Cause such a thing wouldn't happen. For articles men write, it is assumed that a discussion can be had without such milquetoast head-patting, because men just get that sort of privilege by default. But you're saying women should have to add to their workload, write a whole new introduction to articles like this, just so that there can be equilibrium in a discussion where nothing is equal. This is not an equal problem. This is not a problem that needs to be contextualized. It's a problem where men need to be thrown head first into the water, slapped awake with the harsh reality of what women are going through, and then forced to change or be outcast from society.
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I am not talking about equilibrium or equivalency. I am explicitly trying to explain how you need to do more than hand-wave it as a known thing in order to break through to people. I am talking about contextualizing the problem for people who aren't experiencing it and are seeing both male and female harassment and are falsely equating the two. (Yes, this is going to be men.) Guys don't live in fear of the physical power of another gender the way women do, it's a wholly different life experience. People have a massive bias towards false symmetry and equivalence, and it's something that has to be pushed back against all the time.
Cyrano said:
I don't think there's a need to establish a "male baseline" for harassment. It further privileges male as being normal and female as being abnormal, and it's not exactly difficult to see harassment. Similarly, the level doesn't matter in the first place, it is hatred that needs fixing here, not some imaginary "appropriate level" of hatred.
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Acknowledging and demonstrating that the genders are experiencing unequal amounts of harassment does not equate to acknowledging females as abnormal.

I'm specifically referring to the issues with public figures, again, not the countless general day-to-day issues which are easy enough to display on their own without need of any juxtaposition.
 
So the problem with trying to expand conversations beyond the challenges minorities or the disenfranchised face into the broader context of challenges we all face as human beings is that part of being disenfranchised is having your concerns constantly either ignored or minimized in order to make way for the majority's needs or perspective.
 
Nicktals said:
If you were to be honest, do you think this article could have been written as effectively without using the words man or woman? If it simply focused on harassment and the toll it can cause. If it simply hammered home the point that innocuous online messages can have a very real world impact: here are their stories.
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I believe it's possible to take both a gendered and non-gendered view of harassment, yes. I don't necessarily think one is more valuable than the other. Women suffer harassment that men rarely do. They suffer more of it. I see nothing wrong with women writing articles about the harassment they suffer. I also see nothing wrong with men writing articles about male specific types of harassment. And I see nothing wrong with writing an article or having a discussion about non-gendered harassment. These are all valid ways to approach the issue.

I don't, on the other hand, think that if one chooses one of these particular paths, that one is devaluing any of the others. There are good reasons to discuss them as separate issues, and good reasons to discuss them as inclusive issues. I think the impulse to say it has to be one way or the other is a false dichotomy. And I don't think women are obliged to discuss issues in a way that doesn't focus on their need.

We'll be having a thread shortly about non-gendered harassment, by the way. Hopefully people will be as excited to participate in that one as they have been in this one.
 
Thorakai said:
It just serves to reveal how utterly unprepared we are as a society to teach kids about social injustices and imbalances of power in our society. I never learned about any of this stuff in a meaningful way throughout high school, and even in college it wasn't really touched upon at a deep level unless I sought classes that highlighted these issues. Truth be told I learned a lot about racial/gender/sexual/mental issues through GAF. Even if these threads feel pointless with how many of the same arguments pop up time and time again, I feel like I learn so much just reading through these posts and seeing how people more intelligent than myself disarm arguments and logical fallacies. I'd like to think that at least a few lurkers are getting that same experience I get from these threads and are changing their attitudes for the better.
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It's really nice to see these threads do some good for some people at least some of the time.
 
People are skeptical of claims of gender bias because too often the claims like these have been made tactically to gain some advantage. And really, I think people are getting burnt-out on the the whole victim culture in general, where status as a victim is celebrated and sought after. So anecdotal evidence without real proof isn't easily accepted anymore.

One would think there would be hundreds of successful law suits dealing with this issue if it is as bad as portrayed. I haven't been keeping up with the issue so I don't know if the legal actions are rampant or not. But successful law suits would convince more people that sexual harassment in the gaming industry is a real problem, rather than just anecdotal claims on the internet.
 
Boxcar Overkill said:
People are skeptical of claims of gender bias because too often the claims like these have been made tactically to gain some advantage. And really, I think people are getting burnt-out on the the whole victim culture in general, where status as a victim is celebrated and sought after. So anecdotal evidence without real proof isn't easily accepted anymore.

One would think there would be hundreds of successful law suits dealing with this issue if it is as bad as portrayed. I haven't been keeping up with the issue so I don't know if the legal actions are rampant or not. But successful law suits would convince more people that sexual harassment in the gaming industry is a real problem, rather than just anecdotal claims on the internet.
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Good lord
 
BlastProcessing said:
I hope you can understand how tin eared it sounds to come into a thread where the topic is the inequality a certain group faces and repeatedly try to shift the conversation towards the perceived slights of your, different, group. Even in a situation where your grievances had merit, it is not going to be well received.
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The general topic though should be equality, which requires two sides.
 
Boxcar Overkill said:
People are skeptical of claims of gender bias because too often the claims like these have been made tactically to gain some advantage. And really, I think people are getting burnt-out on the the whole victim culture in general, where status as a victim is celebrated and sought after. So anecdotal evidence without real proof isn't easily accepted anymore.

One would think there would be hundreds of successful law suits dealing with this issue if it is as bad as portrayed. I haven't been keeping up with the issue so I don't know if the legal actions are rampant or not. But successful law suits would convince more people that sexual harassment in the gaming industry is a real problem, rather than just anecdotal claims on the internet.
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This here would be a fine example of what Amar0x was talking about. I have to question why someone would post this, even if they believe it. Can you not see the dozens of people being banned for saying the same ignorant crap? Do you really need to stick your hand in the fire to see if it's hot?

Some people have no internal filter.
 
People saying "Yes, BUT WHAT CAN WE DO?" is just weird.

Stuff like this will not ever disappear because jerks and assholes can never be eradicated 100% from this planet, so the most important thing is *not* what *we* can do but what can *I* (or *you*) do. It's useless and frankly impossible to find a blanketing solution that can magically whisk all these issues away, so it's all up to what can everyone individually can contribute to lessen the frequency and impact of the problems.

See someone harassing women (or anyone else really)? Report them. Say something to them. Educate them, etc etc etc. There will never be a 100% solution, but if enough people are doing these things, if enough people are taking action beyond simply "it's not happening to me therefore it's not my problem", then the situation would surely get better.
 
Boxcar Overkill said:
People are skeptical of claims of gender bias because too often the claims like these have been made tactically to gain some advantage. And really, I think people are getting burnt-out on the the whole victim culture in general, where status as a victim is celebrated and sought after. So anecdotal evidence without real proof isn't easily accepted anymore.

One would think there would be hundreds of successful law suits dealing with this issue if it is as bad as portrayed. I haven't been keeping up with the issue so I don't know if the legal actions are rampant or not. But successful law suits would convince more people that sexual harassment in the gaming industry is a real problem, rather than just anecdotal claims on the internet.
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You haven't been keeping up with the issue, but you're willing to claim that "too often" people pretend to be victims in order to gain a tactical advantage?

Also, what kind of evidence are you expecting if you seem to value anecdotal evidence so little in situations like this?
 
Jobbs said:
This smells of false equivalency -- what feeling on the matter of equality can you have besides "it's pretty awesome being a man"? :) An equality discussion doesn't exist in a vacuum, it's a reaction to something.

in the USA, our country was founded on sexism. it's baked into our very societal DNA. women have had to fight to get rights and make progress ever since our very inception, and while things are certainly better than they once were (women can vote, for instance) it's not over.
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I didn't say things are equal, I said if we're talking about equality it should be a two way street...
 
Brakke said:
It's really nice to see these threads do some good for some people at least some of the time.
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I didn't actually participate in the threads, but I will admit to learning a lot about transgendered issues from GAF. It definitely shifted how I think about gender vs anatomic sex. As such, I know first hand that threads like this are helpful in changing preconceived notions and uninformed stances.
 
besada said:
I believe it's possible to take both a gendered and non-gendered view of harassment, yes. I don't necessarily think one is more valuable than the other. Women suffer harassment that men rarely do. They suffer more of it. I see nothing wrong with women writing articles about the harassment they suffer. I also see nothing wrong with men writing articles about male specific types of harassment. And I see nothing wrong with writing an article or having a discussion about non-gendered harassment. These are all valid ways to approach the issue.

I don't, on the other hand, think that if one chooses one of these particular paths, that one is devaluing any of the others. There are good reasons to discuss them as separate issues, and good reasons to discuss them as inclusive issues. I think the impulse to say it has to be one way or the other is a false dichotomy.
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Sorry, the bit quoted was meant as a PM. But, I'll leave this bit here, as I agree with you 99%.
 
Cyan said:
It's not about being on a PC or hiking all the time. This is what people are trying to say when they use the word "privilege": it's just something that's outside your every day experience. It doesn't mean you're a bad person or there's anything wrong with you. It just means there might be some things you're oblivious to simply due to being a dude.

Anyway, +1 for making the effort to investigate and finding out more.
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Will keep going, even if I get called ridiculous for trying. o.o
 
besada said:
I believe it's possible to take both a gendered and non-gendered view of harassment, yes. I don't necessarily think one is more valuable than the other. Women suffer harassment that men rarely do. They suffer more of it. I see nothing wrong with women writing articles about the harassment they suffer. I also see nothing wrong with men writing articles about male specific types of harassment. And I see nothing wrong with writing an article or having a discussion about non-gendered harassment. These are all valid ways to approach the issue.

I don't, on the other hand, think that if one chooses one of these particular paths, that one is devaluing any of the others. There are good reasons to discuss them as separate issues, and good reasons to discuss them as inclusive issues. I think the impulse to say it has to be one way or the other is a false dichotomy. And I don't think women are obliged to discuss issues in a way that doesn't focus on their need.

We'll be having a thread shortly about non-gendered harassment, by the way. Hopefully people will be as excited to participate in that one as they have been in this one.
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Although, can we say if they choose one path, there is probably a reason they didn't choose one of the others? Why wouldn't someone choose to make their story as universally accepted as possible?

EDIT: Also besada, would this be a decent starting point for more reading material? The first line involved someone saying they had thought a lot about how life works for someone like me...but it was found googing "mumei gaf" i believe.
 
kirblar said:
Acknowledging and demonstrating that the genders are experiencing unequal amounts of harassment does not equate to acknowledging females as abnormal.
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I was not stating that females are abnormal. I was stating that privileging males by way of equating the two detracts from the actual issue, which is female experience in the game industry and not the male experience. People need to stop constructing these as though everything first needs to be seen through a male lens.
I'm specifically referring to the issues with public figures, again, not the countless general day-to-day issues which are easy enough to display on their own without need of any juxtaposition.
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Those day-to-day issues are not just experienced by public figures. The constant argument of there needing to be a juxtaposition to make the hatred palpable to you is troubling.
 
Nicktals said:
Although, can we say if they choose one path, there is probably a reason they didn't choose one of the others? Why wouldn't someone choose to make their story as universally accepted as possible?
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Probably because they were thinking more about personal relevance? I mean, unless you ask each writer individually, you won't have an actual answer. You'd just be making stuff up.
 
Cyrano said:
I was not stating that females are abnormal. I was stating that privileging males by way of equating the two detracts from the actual issue, which is female experience in the game industry and not the male experience. People need to stop constructing these as though everything first needs to be seen through a male lens.
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That's a good way to put it Cyrano, although i'm not sure how much I can expect to understand how women feel about this other than what i've been told by women in other industries with similar problems = "creeped out."

But again, even the "creeped out" i'm seeing through a male lens.
 
weemadarthur said:
Probably because they were thinking more about personal relevance? I mean, unless you ask each writer individually, you won't have an actual answer. You'd just be making stuff up.
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Well of course, until you realize that the effects of harassment are universal, and the spectrum of division between male and female is sketchy at best. To attempt to limit the conversation seems unnecessary and arbitrary.

But I really do understand where most people are coming from. This issue mostly effects people who identify as women, so it makes sense for those women to talk about it...but this article in particular does seem combative, and I just don't see any worthwhile reason to exclude a male who wishes to participate...so why frame the entire article in such a way, when it could have been as effective without that pretense?
 
licktheenvelope said:
That's a good way to put it Cyrano, although i'm not sure how much I can expect to understand how women feel about this other than what i've been told by women in other industries with similar problems = "creeped out."

But again, even the "creeped out" i'm seeing through a male lens.
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I think the women in the article posted have made it pretty clear what the problem is? It's not like they're being vague or that it's incomprehensible that someone wouldn't want to receive death threats.
 
Nicktals said:
Well of course, until you realize that the effects of harassment are universal, and the spectrum of division between male and female is sketchy at best. To attempt to limit the conversation seems unnecessary and arbitrary.

But I really do understand where most people are coming from. This issue mostly effects people who identify as women, so it makes sense for those women to talk about it...but this article in particular does seem combative, and I just don't see any worthwhile reason to exclude a male who wishes to participate...so why frame the entire article in such a way, when it could have been as effective without that pretense?
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What do you mean by "why frame the entire article in such a way"? Do you mean that an article that is specifically about harassment towards women is framed in an exclusionary way and could be equally as effective if it were about harassment in general?
 
Nicktals said:
Well of course, until you realize that the effects of harassment are universal, and the spectrum of division between male and female is sketchy at best. To attempt to limit the conversation seems unnecessary and arbitrary.

But I really do understand where most people are coming from. This issue mostly effects people who identify as women, so it makes sense for those women to talk about it...but this article in particular does seem combative, and I just don't see any worthwhile reason to exclude a male who wishes to participate...so why frame the entire article in such a way, when it could have been as effective without that pretense?
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Did you read the other thread that was linked some pages back? The one that was posted by Icarus daedalus.
 
zhorkat said:
What do you by "why frame the entire article in such a way"? Do you mean that an article about harassment towards women is framed in an exclusionary way and could be equally as effective if it were about harassment in general?
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Yeah, basically I think! I think if the effects of harassment are roughly universal (which i'm not an expert in, so apologies if I'm wrong in advance!)

The thing is, it could still have been all women answering...Because I didn't see anything that couldn't have been applied to a transgendered person or a male person going through harassment. You can argue the "why" quotient of the harassment problem is endemic to men...but I don't agree. All points should be focused on speaking out when you see it. Against anyone.

EDIT: I could probably answer a few questions if you could answer me what you think about this article is specific to females, or the female experience. None of it seems to be, to me at least....outside of the fact that females answered...but that could just as easily still be for a universal campaign against harassment.
 
I don't think men have much to contribute in the discussion of women in harassment. At least in terms of relatability. It would be like saying if you're white you should contribute to how to deal with say racism towards blacks, when you really don't understand/comprehend how that could be.

Most men I see usually employ victim shaming tactics when it comes to women being harassed. "She asked for it, why did she say those things". In terms of gaming though women deal with this as well as minorities, specifically black/brown.
 
Ahhh nevermind. I dont even passively like getting involved in these :p

But can we stop with using "game industry" it is so broad and comes off as ignorant.
 
Nicktals said:
Yeah, basically I think! I think if the effects of harassment are roughly universal (which i'm not an expert in, so apologies if I'm wrong in advance!)

The thing is, it could still have been all women answering...Because I didn't see anything that couldn't have been applied to a transgendered person or a male person going through harassment. You can argue the "why" quotient of the harassment problem is endemic to men...but I don't agree. All points should be focused on speaking out when you see it. Against anyone.

EDIT: I could probably answer a few questions if you could answer me what you think about this article is specific to females, or the female experience. None of it seems to be, to me at least....outside of the fact that females answered...but that could just as easily still be for a universal campaign against harassment.
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I mean, Brianna Wu writes in the opening section of her article:
The problem with sharing these stories in broad terms is that people think men and women receive the same harassment online. They do not. I’m not writing this piece to evoke your sympathy. I’m writing to share with you what prominent, successful women in the industry experience, in their own words.
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She writes other things like:
If you are a woman in the industry with a critical opinion, you will get a disproportional amount of criticism, hostility, and scrutiny compared to men.
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Her article is partly about the disproportionate levels of harassment experienced by a specific gender. I don't see how an article about the universality of harassment wouldn't negatively impact her goal of speaking about the lopsided nature of harassment.
 
zhorkat said:
I mean, Briana Wu writes in the opening paragraph of her article:

She writes other things like:

Her article is partly about the disproportionate levels of harassment experienced by a specific gender. I don't see how an article about the universality of harassment wouldn't negatively impact her goal of speaking about the lopsided nature of harassment.
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Ohhh....So the goal of the article was to illuminate the general public on how much harassment females get compared to males?
 
Cyrano said:
I think the women in the article posted have made it pretty clear what the problem is? It's not like they're being vague or that it's incomprehensible that someone wouldn't want to receive death threats.
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I understand their frustration with the actions but I don't think I grasp the emotional stress.

I also don't really know what they are calling for other than a gradual shift in gaming culture, which is about right and what is happening.
 
I'm not asking this rhetorically to incite, I really do want to know:

Has anyone in the games industry (male or female) ever actually been attacked? I mean, has anyone who has put out a threat followed through with it in any capacity? I understand that's not really the issue here (as the words themselves seem to be enough on their own) but I just wanted to know.
 
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