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Gamer Girls Taking A Stand in thought provoking youtube video

Fuck, this thread is making me sad. Reading all the comments on that YouTube video and what Rhythmic is saying is just plain depressing. Hiding behind a gamertag and internet anonymity should not excuse people from behaving this way. I hope anyone that acts like that gets a big fucking dose of "Christoforo" someday.
 
Not just black guys. Any minority is subject to it, and each one feels similarly victimized. All of it is horrible, all of it is wrong. But no specific one is worse than the other. Why? Because we're all human.

That's where we differ in our thinking then. In my experience there's different degrees of being victimised depending on context. In a gaming context I'm primarily targetted because of my sex. In a higher education context I'm primarily targetted because of my ethnicity. Different things seem more salient in different situations. There's always a overtone of isms, I guess, but different contexts seem to be targetting differently. I just thought I'd offer out my experience as a female ethnic minority gamer, hehe.

Anyway I'm out, having to think about both racism and sexism in one night is not good for my heart, lol.

Edit: I'm curious (since I know nothing about American life), do black people get those real life reactions like "OMG you're black and you play games!!!", "Whoa! I didn't know there were any black people that even played video games!!!", weird looks when in video game stores, etc?
 
I hate to sound like a dick, but with just the description I cringe. I love video games, but walking into a gamestop and seeing "gamer girls" makes me want to pretend I'm buying games for someone else. When people fit the "gamer" stereotype to a t it makes them look so damned false. It's like the white kid who tries really hard to speak ebonics, you're trying too hard.
 


edit: unfortunately the chances of meeting someone willing to act asshole-ish online are astronomically high compared to in person, so it's something that's not likely to stop happening so long as those people feel safe behind the anonymity of the internet.

This image is so true... and you don't know how sick I am of girls like this... which they are the majority.
 
GURL gamers wanting to be gamer girls.

heqx5.jpg

this image sums it up so bad.
 
Most male "hardcore" gamers are socially retarded man-children, so it's not surprising that they act like assholes on-line. Mature guys with well developed social skills are out talking to people in the real world, not on xbox live.
because there are obviously no socially adept assholes, nice people with social issues, hardcore gamers with social skills, mature guys who play online video games, etc.
 
It's like the white kid who tries really hard to speak ebonics, you're trying too hard.

Bu-bu-but it's fun to speak ebonics. ):

I know what you mean, and I agree, on all counts. There's nothing worse than someone trying to BE something. Girl, guy, black, white, whatever.

WARNING: Cliché inbound!

Just be yourself.

(This doesn't have much to do with the actual topic but whatever.)

Most male "hardcore" gamers are socially retarded man-children, so it's not surprising that they act like assholes on-line. Mature guys with well developed social skills are out talking to people in the real world, not on xbox live.
I've run into a fair share of female gamers who also act like assholes online for no better reason than they can get away with it. Same as the guys. Also, "most" is a particularly egregious exaggeration. The subset of gamers under discretion - that is to say, assholes - is the biggest in VOLUME, for sure, but probably not quantity...
 
I made it to about 30 seconds before i wanted to strangle each and every one of them. You have a vagina!@! GREAT!! Someone should give you a placard or a nice gift basket.
 
I've gotten my fair share of kinda weird PMs from guys and I've never even posted my photo on here.

Yeah, it doesn't take much. I got hit on when I rolled a female toon on WoW... I know people who rolled female characters specifically to exploit people. :p
 
Bu-bu-but it's fun to speak ebonics. ):

I know what you mean, and I agree, on all counts. There's nothing worse than someone trying to BE something. Girl, guy, black, white, whatever.

WARNING: Cliché inbound!

Just be yourself.

(This doesn't have much to do with the actual topic but whatever.)
Oh but it does. If it's a girl and she plays games, that's great. If it's a girl and she has the need to brag about being a girl who plays games and girl power etc. then she can eat the fattest of dicks. Insecurities are what slowly warps these people into these weird little sub-subcultures.
 
It's different because the specific nature and intensity of vitriol, in addition to being insulting, carries a heavy element of misogyny that other groups do not get nearly as much. The insults I hear aimed towards female gamers are designed to get them to feel like they don't belong in this world and shouldn't be playing in the first place. "This is for men and men only, and you should be doing something else, also, make me a sandwich, and get back in the kitchen." The combination is what makes the comments that much more oppressive, and, I think, noteworthy.

Everyone is "insulted' online, but only one group is so consistently and universally made to feel like their hobby shouldn't belong to them.

That would be black people if you've ever gamed online.
 
You guys need to stop and consider how courageous these girls are being.

You couldn't pay me to show my real face on the internet and use the word gamer. People can search that crap.
 
Isn't that true tho? Most girls don't play games, at least in my experience.
I tried to lure every one of my past (and current!) gfs without success (they've always respected my passion tho), I must be very unlucky then.
I don't want some WOW playing/super hardcore gamer gf (I wouldn't mind the latter, but without eccess of course) but it'd be nice to have 'em play some Mario Wii/Kart with me from time to time. But hey, 95% of my male friends don't play games (or they don't anymore) anyway :/ :shrugs:

Well, I can't argue against your personal experiences, but I am a girl, GAF has plenty of female members, I have many female friends who play games, and I have no problems meeting new ones. In fact, just last month I had a conversation with five totally random women in a lobby about Skyrim. One thing I think we all have in common is that we don't like being condescended to. It is especially irritating if you go into a Gamestop and the person asks if you're buying something for your boyfriend or something like that.
 
The most socially unskilled women still have much better social skills than the most socially unskilled men.

Girls have just as many hang ups as guys. If you think all those girls in the video are innocent angels spreading fairy dust around as they walk then I don't know what to say.
 
Girls have just as many hang ups as guys. If you think all those girls in the video are innocent angels spreading fairy dust around as they walk then I don't know what to say.

He's just being really sexist tbh.

We're not socially retarded man-children, lacking in developed social skills. We're gamers.
 
Well, I can't argue against your personal experiences, but I am a girl, GAF has plenty of female members, I have many female friends who play games, and I have no problems meeting new ones. In fact, just last month I had a conversation with five totally random women in a lobby about Skyrim. One thing I think we all have in common is that we don't like being condescended to. It is especially irritating if you go into a Gamestop and the person asks if you're buying something for your boyfriend or something like that.

Your problem is going to Gamestop. GROSS!
 
they two type of girl games them that moan about about not aim at them and them that just enjoy games and play them

most them that moan are on Xbox and let face it I hate going on to that dick wiggling party its not nice for anyone
 
I don't like repeating myself. Tell me how that's different from, "You're a dirty Muslim terrorist, go back to the desert." Isn't that also incredibly insulting? Doesn't it have the same intent? It's disgusting and offensive, period. The fact that it happens to women doesn't make them more mistreated than anyone else.

Right girls get misogyny and blacks/jews/whatevers get RACISM


And people who aren't white are made to feel less than human. It's not up to you to say which is more hurtful.

Can't everyone just be nice to each other?


"Everyone is "insulted' online, but only one group is so consistently and universally made to feel like their hobby shouldn't belong to them."

I'm not going to say it again. This IS the difference. Gaming has always been dominated by men, and I think that fact fuels the resentment towards women in a specific way.

The different variations of racist and homphobic comments I hear online are mostly directed at the recipient's identity, simply for being of a certain background (racial slur/homophobic slur). Women get that too (bitch/whore/slut/c***) PLUS unanimous resentment from the entire community, in the form of comments I listed earlier, simply for existing in the online space. I do not see that level, or that kind of broad, dismissive, narrow-minded resentment in insults towards other groups. I see it worst with women, and it's always been that way.


That would be black people if you've ever gamed online.


It's worse with women in my experience. I've played more than one game online with random black dudes without hearing anyone say anything. Every time I've played with women, someone has to say something. Every time, guaranteed. The few girl gamers I know have said that every time they play online, they get someone mouthing off, and dude friends of mine have had similar experiences playing with girls.
 
Occasionally I'll play Halo online on my girlfriend's Xbox using her account, as I never feel like migrating my account to her HDD whenever I decide to play a game online. I also tend to not play with a mic, so the only indication of my gender to the random people online that I play with is the female spartan model of my girlfriend's character.

While playing on her character I've gotten numerous PM's, Friend Requests, in game comments directed at me (both negative, surprised, etc). None of which I get when I play on my account, also with no mic and the only difference being my male spartan character model.

I thought I remembered hearing that just as many girls play video games these days as guys, and I can believe it. But going into an online game as a girl (or at least appearing to be one) would suggest otherwise, in the way the majority of people react to you. I guess it's just ass holes being ass holes, and they're always going to be there with their anonymity shields.

Personally, I don't make the distinction between whether you are a girl or a boy. It's not really all that important.

If you enjoy video games, awesome. Welcome to the club.
 
Everyone is "insulted' online, but only one group is so consistently and universally made to feel like their hobby shouldn't belong to them.

But they're not insulted because they're women. They're insulted because people are assholes. The form the insult takes is irrelevant. People say those things because those are The Things People Say when they want to insult someone. Normal, nice, non-insulting people don't give a shit. So it doesn't matter what the assholes say. If EVERYONE was saying "get out girlllllll" then you'd have an argument. That's not the case. If it was immediately obvious that people were black or gay or whatever, they would be insulted just as badly, just as often, but obviously in a different way.

The real problem is the stuff that goes on in the background. Stuff like what zethren's talking about. It's just so much EASIER to identify a female gamer, either because they play with a female avatar, or they have a female handle, or they use the mic, that they probably get directly insulted/harassed more than any other group
 
"Everyone is "insulted' online, but only one group is so consistently and universally made to feel like their hobby shouldn't belong to them."

I'm not going to say it again. This IS the difference. Gaming has always been dominated by men, and I think that fact fuels the resentment towards women in a specific way.

The different variations of racist and homphobic comments I hear online are mostly directed at the recipient's identity, simply for being of a certain background (racial slur/homophobic slur). Women get that too (bitch/whore/slut/c***) PLUS unanimous resentment from the entire community, in the form of comments I listed earlier, simply for existing in the online space. I do not see that level, or that kind of broad, dismissive, narrow-minded resentment in insults towards other groups. I see it worst with women, and it's always been that way.



I gave you examples of it happening to me because I am black and were very specific insults towards me for simply existing and those were the post you didn't quote.

How telling.
 
But they're not insulted because they're women. They're insulted because people are assholes. The form the insult takes is irrelevant. People say those things because those are The Things People Say when they want to insult someone.

Normal, nice, non-insulting people don't give a shit. So it doesn't matter what the assholes say. If EVERYONE was saying "get out girlllllll" then you'd have an argument. That's not the case.

Pretty much. You can't change everyone. Most dickheads will be dickheads long after you told them how it makes you feel. Most will thrive on it.
 
Girls have just as many hang ups as guys. If you think all those girls in the video are innocent angels spreading fairy dust around as they walk then I don't know what to say.

They aren't innocent angels. They aren't even necessarily "good". The girls in that terrible video are actually pretty annoying. But women, on average, just tend to be more social, more emotionally in touch, able to express their feelings, verbal, etc. than men. Probably because of a mixture of biology and the way women are socialized, culture etc.
 
"Everyone is "insulted' online, but only one group is so consistently and universally made to feel like their hobby shouldn't belong to them."

I'm not going to say it again. This IS the difference. Gaming has always been dominated by men, and I think that fact fuels the resentment towards women in a specific way.

The different variations of racist and homphobic comments I hear online are mostly directed at the recipient's identity, simply for being of a certain background (racial slur/homophobic slur). Women get that too (bitch/whore/slut/c***) PLUS unanimous resentment from the entire community, in the form of comments I listed earlier, simply for existing in the online space. I do not see that level, or that kind of broad, dismissive, narrow-minded resentment in insults towards other groups. I see it worst with women, and it's always been that way.

The only resentment that exists is that which is toward women who assert that they're being treated unfairly and deserve special treatment. Aside from that, there is no difference.
 
Most of these "dickheads" are this way because our society as a whole objectifies and dehumanizes women. You can stop people from being this way, and that's through education on the matter. It's not alright to just blame the problem on mystery individuals being that way, because there's a widespread pattern of this with a long and detailed history. To simply turn one's head at the matter speaks leagues pretty loudly of the ignorance of how culture works and operates.

The problem isn't dickheads. The problem is we make the dickheads, and then ignore the problem by saying they're dickheads. Then those dickheads have children, and the problem never goes away.
 
But they're not insulted because they're women. They're insulted because people are assholes. The form the insult takes is irrelevant. People say those things because those are The Things People Say when they want to insult someone. Normal, nice, non-insulting people don't give a shit. So it doesn't matter what the assholes say. If EVERYONE was saying "get out girlllllll" then you'd have an argument. That's not the case. If it was immediately obvious that people were black or gay or whatever, they would be insulted just as badly, just as often, but obviously in a different way.

That's exactly what I hear! Ask any girl gamers you know or try to play online with girls every once and while. It's sickening, and it's immediate. Every time.
 
Alright I think I understand what everyone is trying to say in this thread...

we as a society are not as mature as the technology we use.

Gonna be a long time before we grow out of this bullshit. People are douches to each other and will use any reason or method possible. If you're a girl, it's bad. If you're black, it's also bad. If you've got a scratchy voice, be prepared to be accused of sucking too much dick.

Also pretty sure girls use the n-bomb online too, thus bringing everything in full circle.
 
That's exactly what I hear! Ask any girl gamers you know or try to play online with girls every once and while. It's sickening, and it's immediate. Every time.

I've asked the girls I've played with regularly - and yes, I do mean regularly, and not once in a blue moon - in both past and present about this very topic because eventually it always somehow comes up, and, sorry, it's not true that it always happens every time all the time everywhere always.
 
That's exactly what I hear! Ask any girl gamers you know or try to play online with girls every once and while. It's sickening, and it's immediate. Every time.
I just played CoD with my best friend and his girl friend and her friend a couple of hours ago today, and yeah, that didn't happen, no one said anything disparaging to her or her friend. I can't account for any messages they've gotten (they would've mentioned something) but yeah, nothing out loud, so not every time.

But I'll ask them both to make sure, tomorrow.
 
Alright I think I understand what everyone is trying to say in this thread...

we as a society are not as mature as the technology we use.

Gonna be a long time before we grow out of this bullshit. People are douches to each other and will use any reason or method possible. If you're a girl, it's bad. If you're black, it's also bad. If you've got a scratchy voice, be prepared to be accused of sucking too much dick.

Also pretty sure girls use the n-bomb online too, thus bringing everything in full circle.

Technology outmatured us since we discovered the sum of all the angles of a triangle is always 180 degrees.
 
See, whenever you use adjective gamer or even just gamer alone to describe 'who you are' or whatever.. I just want to put the world on fire.
 
See, whenever you use adjective gamer or even just gamer alone to describe 'who you are' or whatever.. I just want to put the world on fire.

Just wait until next gen, where "gamer" is the new "hipster" and people start carrying around controllers as accessories.
 
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