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[Ploid 3.0]

Yeah, women run shit in MMOs. I've heard some hilarious stories from old friends from WoW about how their entire guild waited on them hand and foot.

Still, it must get annoying. To me that sounds worse than being abused (played moba and fps, i've seen some shit), i have never recieved special treatment or attention in any game and that is exactly how i want to play.

I was in a MMO guild where there were a lot of confirmed women in. Some do have power, but only to the weak that probably want to impress them. A good amount of guild members got married to one another, and some hook ups that involved travel. Some couples caused problems and drama, but it's all just life. The type of stuff that would happen in just about any situation where a big group of men and women have to work together for years that didn't involve getting paid and ethics (school for example).

 

[Ol No Bones]

People suck in general. Won't ever change at all in principle. Human depravity ugly head surfaces in all sorts of different ways. The world isn't a nice place. You do good by being reflective on how you treat people first and then justly condemning wrong behaviors of other individuals you encounter.

 

[Interfectum]

Decent article and I agree that as a white male gamer there really isn't much internet asshats can say online to get under my skin. I'm vanilla and virtually invisible when it comes to who they target.

I do try to call out idiots when they casually drop the n-bomb or inappropriate comments regarding gay people or women. Generally what happens is they either ignore it or I become a target because they know they "got to me."

I think one of the best things game developers can do is have better reporting tools. If someone is saying "lol woman show me your boobz" over voice chat let me easily submit that clip to MS or Sony or whoever. The internet isn't going to change on it's own unless there are real consequences to what they say.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Yeah. I don't really understand why this topic is brought up on GAF this often when it is very clear that you have to be VERY careful for even questing those articels without getting banned.

Not really. Those who get banned in those threads invariably had it coming. No one gets banned for questioning an article with rational arguments. So far I've not seen any rational refutation of anything in this article, mind you...

 

[milkham]

Why mention "white" when the article is so gender focused?

As a black male gamer, I got many racist comments thrown at me whenever I went online, that have left a scar so deep in me to the point that the rare times I do go online, I don't even bother to mic up.

how do people know you are black?

 

[Mory Dunz]

I agree with some of the things, I disagree with some of the things. That first point is kinda silly, because it basically says "misogyny exists because men don't have to worry about people being misogynistic to them." Which is... well, duh. You can't be misogynistic towards a man, because that's literally impossible. The article has a bit of "men will never have these women's issues happen to them," which rubs me the wrong way. It comes off as disingenuous.

There are problems that need to be fixed (some people I care about won't even go on mic with friends because of how horrible people have been to them in the past as a result of gender, and that riles me), but this whole privilege thing is completely overblown.

I'm not really sure women are harassed more than men online. Men seem pretty consistently harassed. I've been harassed. Heck, I've been harassed in a gendered way. I think the majority of harassment for women is gender-infused, though. Like, if I were an angry child on the internet, I might tell someone how I responsible for his birth, or I might call SWAT to his house, or something like that, but if I were the same person facing a woman, I might demand pics or say other weird sexual things.

Heck, even as a guy, I've been called lots of gendered insults. I'm a puny boy, I can't get laid, I've got no dick, my dick's small... lots of things. The whole "men don't get insulted on the internet because they're privileged" comes across to me as a complete fabrication from people who don't actually pay attention to reality.

I don't think it's worse or more common. I just think it's distinct. But that's online. That stuff at conventions? Groping, sexual propositioning, stuff like that? That's horrible, and people who do that stuff should be outed, mocked, and terminated from their places of employment.



This point seems to come from a place of complete ignorance. Seriously, is there anyone out there in the world going "this random dude has written a checklist, it's gotta be important."

Honestly, this reeks of way more self-importance than if someone like, say, Kim Swift wrote it. The point's ridiculous. It seems divorced from reality.

Interesting points.

Also, the reason the word privilege annoys people probably is because it has a connotation of "easy life, never have to work, things handed to you, rich, wealthy, lazy, ignorant, etc"

even though these don't apply to the gaming definition, the connotation is still there. It makes it seem like you have it easy, and people don't like hearing that they have it easy.

 

[213372bu]

how do people know you are black?

The same way people know you're a female gamer by voice.

I've been called a "spic" countless times over the mic on CoD: MW2.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Why mention "white" when the article is so gender focused?

As a black male gamer, I got many racist comments thrown at me whenever I went online, that have left a scar so deep in me to the point that the rare times I do go online, I don't even bother to mic up.

This bothers me too. Add to the fact that being a brown guy really fucking sucks when the most popular retail games in the last 8 years or so largely involve shooting arabs in the face, and even the suggestion that I have an islamic last name or whatever will unleash a fuckton of vitriol thrown at me in a multiplayer game.

 

[ScriptedReality]

Not even trying to get banned lol.

I usually avoid these threads because I feel like a lot of the people with faux outrage in them get their shine here starting arguments.


Plus gender conversations always lead to race conversation, then sexual preferences somehow.

 

[Akai__]

From my experience, the list is 100% accurate. I used to play with a girl, that I knew from school and we had to deal with that crap basically every time, we had a party going. Lot's of people got kicked out of our party, because they were immature, respectless and annoying.

Spoiler

Funniest thing is, when ignorant people got beaten by a girl. The reactions are priceless.

I think many of these things extend way beyond just gaming and the way people behave within the gaming world, is simply a visible indicator of our gender biased society

Also, this. Gaming is only one of the examples, where this stuff happens, but I think it's a very "good" example to show, what's wrong with this world.

 

[Mass Effect]

I generally agree with most of these points. Point 15 however, I'd argue only if you're white (you know, the bald, white, angry solider/space marine/what-have-you phenomenon), perhaps to a lesser extent asian or black. However, most of these issues go beyond gaming and really is a problem within most of modern media/society in general.

Why mention "white" when the article is so gender focused?

As a black male gamer, I got many racist comments thrown at me whenever I went online, that have left a scar so deep in me to the point that the rare times I do go online, I don't even bother to mic up.

I understand. Even if people don't know you're black, the amount of casual racism thrown around is... disheartening, even among some of my friends. Fortunately for me, because of the way I speak and the sound of my voice, 99% of people don't know I'm black unless I actually tell them so, so I never really get that kind of harassment. Still though, it's awful all the same.

 

[Talon]

Also, this. Gaming is only one of the examples, where this stuff happens, but I think it's a very "good" example to show, what's wrong with this world.

Right. It's just more readily apparent in gaming because it tends to be more heavily male-dominated than most social activities.

 

[flatearthpandas]

This actually did open my eyes a bit. I had never considered many of those points and can see how they would be accurate.

I did disagree with a few things on the list:
1: Anyone can choose to ignore harassment happening around them, regardless of who it is happening to and for what reason.
11: Not realistic. There is a stereotypical "mouthbreathing neckbeard" voice many people have in their head and you better believe people stop listening when they hear it IRL.

24: Quite the opposite.

24. If I choose to point out sexism in gaming, my observations will not be seen as self-serving, and will therefore be perceived as more credible and worthy of respect than those of my female counterparts, even if they are saying the exact same thing.

Personal experience in these types of threads on NeoGAF recalls most of the proponents, like this article writer, actually being white males. Any females or minorities present who come forward with unconcern about whatever issue that is supposed to affect them are dismissed as not being representative of their respective minorities.

Speaking for myself, I would take any issues females have with gaming more seriously if they were presented by females. But instead I get some white male voice of the voiceless who refuses to acknowledge any females that disagree with him.


8, 13, and 15 could be better.

 

[RaikuHebi]

3,7 and 18 for sure, but that's not just gaming...that's anywhere a woman tips her toes into a forum of lonely males. In a game, on facebook, at a club or even at the work place.

As for woman only getting images of genitalia sent to them, obviously he never played Uno on the 360 back in the day.

Exactly. This isn't a gaming-centric problem but more of an online chatting problem.

Gaming is no more palpable in this issue than book reading or film watching.

 

[flkraven]

I agree with the authors intended message, and fully reject the negatives that women face every day in the gaming community. Unfortunately, this article is pretty poorly framed, and displays a giant list of points where all the idiots can swoop in and cherry pick the worst ones and use it as the basis for an argument against the author's message. If the intended meaning of the article is to spread awarness and encourage discussion of how to improve things for women in gaming, then it failed miserably. If the article's goal was to rile up the over-sensitive, ignorant people that disagree with the message, then mission accomplished.

Rergardless, this thread has already delivered! :

Is there literally anywhere I can go as a white male without being concerned about privilege?


I'm genuinely curious.

The article is written as if I should somehow be ashamed of being a male gamer because some other male gamers choose to act inappropriately. Give me a break.

I do feel bad for those of you who are harassed anywhere, there is no excuse. However, I am getting rather tired of people trying to shame me just for being a white male.

So... Am I supposed to feel bad about being privileged or something?

I feel so terrible for you. I really wish we lived in a world where the plight of white males was recognized more often.

So we are too ... what?

I take it most of those fortunate enough to make it onto Neogaf ... and stay here. Are also the kind of people that will use blanket insults to portray our frustration online (i.e. idiots etc). Not resort to sexist, racist, homophobic slurs.

Aside from having any level of control over our game space, there isn't really anything we can do to combat this behaviour. We don't do it so we've already done our part. I don't think I've seen a single console game where you can kick/ban players online. I do my part in the PC gaming space, votekicking shit heads where possible.

It seems the solution to these issues lies with the developers, i.e. give us tool to ruin the assholes gamers (permabans etc) or with Sony and Microsoft to crack down on assholes (banning troll accounts etc).

Spreading awarness is one of the ways to combat these things. All articles aren't a call to arms, since not everyone is in a place where they can make a meaningful change within the gaming culture. This article in particular seems more like a social commentary on where we are right now. If you already treat women in gaming with the same respect you treat men then good job, this article isn't really directed at you.

I highly disagree.

I find 2,3,5,6,11,13,15,22,23, and 24 to be especially not true.

I wish we actually had articles that dealt with anti-sexism, not articles that make the same "wide/broad/untrue accusations/generalizations" that they so wish to go against, like here:

Trying to talk about sexism in this manner/while being sexist will never get anyone aware of the actual issues of sexism in gaming, especially since the article doesn't go out to actually explain how we should overcome sexism, rather it just points fingers at the targeted audience.

We need actual articles that show sexism in developer studios and in contact in playing with others. We need articles showing how bad this issue is and how we should deal with it.

Pointing fingers isn't going to get anyone to do anything.

I don't understand how so many of these points are considered to be 'especially not true' by your standards. Some are a bit off, but the large majority of them seem to be fairly accurate. Please describe how you think all of these points are untrue:2,3,5,6,11,13,15,22,23, and 24 . I'm sure there is an argument for 1 or 2, but I want to know your reasoning for the rest.

 

[Sayter]

That whole checklist can be summarized as

- 1. Being anonymous online turns some people into terrible assholes.

Some?

 

[Massive Duck. C.M.]

If the actions don't apply to you, don't feel ashamed

If you can't offer objections without saying something worthy of getting banned, that's your own fault

 

[Version 3.0]

Some?

We're anonymous right now. Is everyone on GAF an asshole? Of course not.

 

[golduck342]

eh, I stopped reading the list a few lines in. I feel like these types of arguments can be made for women in different areas of life.

ex. I can walk into a yoga class without fear of being accused of being a perv who wants to stare at women.

edit:

another ex. I can get into a club without paying before midnight and probably get free drinks.
for every privilege there's also a disadvantage elsewhere... the grass is always greener my friends

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Unfortunately, we can't pick and choose. Most importantly, there's not really a meta-method to address this wholly from a cultural perspective - hell, equal protection is STILL a fucking political issue. It's 2014. What the fuck?

Having this conversation within the industry itself is a positive step forward, and I think it lessens effectiveness when we effectively say, "There are bigger problems like hunger."

More like "there are bigger problems in the area of female equality than the way they're treated in videogames."

If there was something specific about this area of the problem that made it different from the general problem of female inequality in other (more urgent) aspects of life, or if there was reason to believe a solution could apply here that couldn't in other areas, then I'd agree it would make sense to act on it.

But as it is, the way women are treated in gaming seems to be entirely an extension of how they are treated elsewhere. That being said, I'm a firm believer of keeping your problems clearly defined and focused, even if that means confronting them at their most difficult core, if you want to have a chance of making significant progress.

 

[Shaanyboi]

That whole checklist can be summarized as

- 1. Being anonymous online turns some people into terrible assholes.

I think Microsoft is on to something with their mandatory Kinect though.

It would be great if there was some tool for the people who are on the receiving end of this douchebaggery could use a command that would snap a frame from said douchebag on the other side of the Internet and forward it to the abusee.

"TITS OR GTFO you casual fake gamer whore"

*snap*

"Oh please, you cheetos covered neckbeard, take it out on your waifu instead"

Firstly, Facebook comments with peoples' names can be just as fucking awful. Anonymity is hardly a sole factor.

And secondly, just throwing that shit back doesn't change that it's a really fucking awful and destructive culture.

 

[Mory Dunz]

We're anonymous right now. Is everyone on GAF an asshole? Of course not.

Hey, You.
I don't like the cut of your jib..

 

[Seventy_X_Seven]

many men [remain] blissfully unaware of what roughly half of all gamers experience on a daily basis. We have been taught and socialized not to see it and to think of our own experiences as universal. So when men, even well meaning men, hear the term male privilege it can sometimes be difficult to understand exactly how it relates to our everyday lives.

Firstly, is this implying that roughly half of all gamers are females? I'm genuinely curious.

Also I love statements like this where "this is a thing, whether you know it or not it is a thing, if you choose not to believe it that it just because it is too difficult for you to understand." Please, don't make a claim and start out by saying that you are right no matter what. Ignoring the actual subject at hand, this is just poor case argument.

Onto the subject. Not many people in the gaming industry being female is one thing, and that is almost directly responsible for not many main characters in video games being female as when most people create things they tend to create things that somewhat resemble themselves and their experiences. Also I would imagine this is partially due to men generally being more interested in video games than women (which may be due to mostly male characters in video games and thus we have an endless cycle here. Also general society pushing that action figures and games are for boys and barbie dolls and dress up and such are for girls). Still, I'd love to see some study on how many men are interested in video games opposed to how many women are interested in video games then compare that to how many men work in the industry opposed to women.

Next, the whole "women are discriminated online" thing is a completely separate issue. And honestly, I wonder how much of this is made up by teens and young adults who are simply still immature or raised poorly by their parents. How many grown men, and by that I mean able to support themselves, are online discriminating someone just because their gender? Not saying that none do, just that I imagine the bulk is coming from the former.

 

[Skelter]

Nursing school.

Not really. Male nurses get paid more.

 

[Talon]

More like "there are bigger problems in the area of female equality than the way they're treated in videogames."

If there was something specific about this area of the problem that made it different from the general problem of female inequality in other (more urgent) aspects of life, or if there was reason to believe a solution could apply here that couldn't in other areas, then I'd agree it would make sense to act on it.

But as it is, the way women are treated in gaming seems to be entirely an extension of how they are treated elsewhere. That being said, I'm a firm believer of keeping your problems clearly defined and focused, even if that means confronting them at their most difficult core, if you want to have a chance of making significant progress.

Agreed. It's a reflection of cultural standing that is amplified because we're in a medium that is an extremely male-dominated social activity.

 

[zma1013]

Most of the list is just 2 things; "Women can get harassed/stalked by immature horny guys," and "Women's opinions are dismissed when talking about gaming related stuff." I guess it's interesting to get the individual breakdown of all the different ways women can be harassed and ignored.

 

[Interfectum]

Firstly, Facebook comments with peoples' names can be just as fucking awful. Anonymity is hardly a sole factor.

And secondly, just throwing that shit back doesn't change that it's a really fucking awful and destructive culture.

Which is why there needs to be consequences. If someone is spouting racist bullshit over COD there should be an easy way to capture that audio and report it. People will be less likely to do that shit if there was an actual consequence to being an asshole.

At work you'd get fired, on NeoGAF you'd get banned, on XBL or PSN you get nothing. That needs to change.

 

[Moneal]

Firstly, is this implying that roughly half of all gamers are females? I'm genuinely curious.

Also I love statements like this where "this is a thing, whether you know it or not it is a thing, if you choose not to believe it that it just because it is too difficult for you to understand." Please, don't make a claim and start out by saying that you are right no matter what. Ignoring the actual subject at hand, this is just poor case argument.

Onto the subject. Not many people in the gaming industry being female is one thing, and that is almost directly responsible for not many main characters in video games being female as when most people create things they tend to create things that somewhat resemble themselves and their experiences. Also I would imagine this is partially due to men generally being more interested in video games than women (which may be due to mostly male characters in video games and thus we have an endless cycle here. Also general society pushing that action figures and games are for boys and barbie dolls and dress up and such are for girls). Still, I'd love to see some study on how many men are interested in video games opposed to how many women are interested in video games then compare that to how many men work in the industry opposed to women.

Next, the whole "women are discriminated online" thing is a completely separate issue. And honestly, I wonder how much of this is made up by teens and young adults who are simply still immature or raised poorly by their parents. How many grown men, and by that I mean able to support themselves, are online discriminating someone just because their gender? Not saying that none do, just that I imagine the bulk is coming from the former.

studies done have shown that half of gamers are wonem. it did use facebook and casual games in that. which women playing those don't deal with this kind of discrimination.

 

[Shmuely Bully]

I for one don't take the list the least bit seriously as it seems to mostly include items that I would either find desirable (#7), are demonstrably false (#11), am already subject to (#21), or indicate an excessive interest in the opinions of bro gamers (#4).

Oh and unless it's directly relevant to the topic at hand I don't bring up my gender, because it's an irrelevant personal detail. Maybe that makes me crazy or something though.

 

[Moneal]

Not really. Male nurses get paid more.

they get paid in nursing school?

 

[Fnord]

So, what do you think?

I think there's nothing I can do about any of that. I don't generally game online, so I rarely, if ever, hear any harassment, I've never seen anything to react to in a gaming store. And I don't do those things myself. It sucks that it happens, but it's not my fault, so I don't think I should be made to feel like I'm part of the problem.

 

[cm osi]

Which is why there needs to be consequences. If someone is spouting racist bullshit over COD there should be an easy way to capture that audio and report it. People will be less likely to do that shit if there was an actual consequence to being an asshole.

At work you'd get fired, on NeoGAF you'd get banned, on XBL or PSN you get nothing. That needs to change.

well on xbl and psn you're a customer, it's not really wise to start banning paying customers

anyway

I think there's nothing I can do about any of that. I don't generally game online, so I rarely, if ever, hear any harassment, I've never seen anything to react to in a gaming store. And I don't do those things myself. It sucks that it happens, but it's not my fault, so I don't think I should be made to feel like I'm part of the problem.

same here, i don't play online and when i do i act normally. i'm aware of "the privilege" but it's not like i have to do something about it

 

[Talon]

they get paid in nursing school?

Yeah, actually, this isn't a great example because white males are a tiny, tiny minority in nursing, so there's more scholarship money out there for white males. My friend's husband certainly got more generous award packages as he was a white male, and he's one of about 20 men in his class.

It's the one bizarro world of careers.

 

[Moneal]

well on xbl and psn you're a customer, it's not really wise to start banning paying customers

it is when the paying customer is being abusive to other paying customers. bans should be handed out for that type of stuff. it causes the people being abused, and others, to become non-customers. I don't play online on COD cause I dont want to hear the stuff.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Is this guy related to Peggy McIntosh? She wrote a similar argument years ago. Complete with the same sort of numbered list:

http://www.isr.umich.edu/home/diversity/resources/white-privilege.pdf

 

[Ominym]

well on xbl and psn you're a customer, it's not really wise to start banning paying customers

anyway


same here, i don't play online and when i do i act normally. i'm aware of "the privilege" but it's not like i have to do something about it

You don't join a gym and get to scream at people there.

Paying customer or not, if you don't follow the rules you lose access.

 

[Interfectum]

well on xbl and psn you're a customer, it's not really wise to start banning paying customers

Happens a lot on games with easily reportable text chat. I'm sure Blizzard is banning people all the time for racist speech in WoW.

The problem with voice chat is there is no built in way to report someone. As long as they didn't type it out they'll probably get away with it.

 

[Nemmy]

I agree with the authors intended message, and fully reject the negatives that women face every day in the gaming community. Unfortunately, this article is pretty poorly framed, and displays a giant list of points where all the idiots can swoop in and cherry pick the worst ones and use it as the basis for an argument against the author's message. If the intended meaning of the article is to spread awarness and encourage discussion of how to improve things for women in gaming, then it failed miserably. If the article's goal was to rile up the over-sensitive, ignorant people that disagree with the message, then mission accomplished.

Yeah, the article has some questionable points and is, frankly, too bloated. It's like the author wanted to present a very lengthy list to impress the readers, and ended up with half of the entries being weak or redundant (half the list is simply "being a woman means online assholes get something to harass you about"). I actually chuckled at the GameStop one - but seriously, I think putting actual harassment on the same list as "store clerk thinks you're buying the game for your boyfriend" only serves to weaken the message.

The (incredibly) vast majority of females are NOT groped at conventions or stalked when they give out personal information or berated at Gamestop. To suggest otherwise is delusional. Obviously sexual assault/stalking/ect are never acceptable and should never be ignored, but the point here seems to be that female gamers are living in a constant state of fear because of all the white (?) male gamer would-be assailants hiding in the shadows, which is nonsense. I would be interested to see (if they exist) any statistics on sexual assault at conventions compared to other events/controls. I suspect any difference would be statistically insignificant.

I'd love to see some big-scale research on the topic in general - some actual world wide statistics of sexual harassment in all gaming-related spaces. From my experience, you are probably right, but I have no research in the topic, only a bunch of gathered experiences of myself and my friends. Out of all the girls I knew who play games, more or less hardcore, I only know one who actively concealed her gender online, because "if she fails, she doesn't want to hear it's because she's a woman".
Of course, she should never have to.

 

[Effer]

I try to avoid showing other players my genitals during online gaming, so I generally don't have these problems.

 

[Mory Dunz]

Yeah, actually, this isn't a great example because white males are a tiny, tiny minority in nursing, so there's more scholarship money out there for white males. My friend's husband certainly got more generous award packages as he was a white male, and he's one of about 20 men in his class.

It's the one bizarro world of careers.

I guess I was referring more to how you're treated and thought of.
Like "wow, a male nurse" type of thing. And if a group is being spoken to, it's with the assumption that everyone is female. So certain references made might be like, "what"?

 

[anexanhume]

I agree whole-heatedly with the list except #5 and #24. A lot of people will assume you're spewing bullshit to get friends/acceptance if you're fawning over a game, genre of games, etc. And with #24, males often get accused of white-knighting, particularly because it's from an outside gender perspective so they can't possibly understand the issues women face, as detractors would tell you.

 

[Jamix012]

It's an interesting list, but I disagree with 24 and 25. Not going to add much more to the conversation becase I'd likely get in an argument I don't want to be part of, so I'll just leave it at this.

 

[Delusibeta]

Considering Kutchera is the editor of the opinions section of Polygon, I would not be surprised at all if this article would have been outright rejected if it was written by a woman.

Indeed, has any of Polygon's opinion articles been written by a woman since Kutchera's appointment?

 

[The_Monk]

I have to ask, what can we do regarding expecting some change in the game industry my good fellow GAFfers?

As mentioned by some, many stopped from using the mic during online games to avoid any sort of jokes or racist attacks and this is really sad. And I believe this affect more than this, people with lower voice, shy and so on are named or judged by how they talk too. I am one of those people who would like to see more gender and ethnicity (is this the correct word to use?) variety in my games. A game like Child of Light will be a day One purchase for me because it's not often we see a female lead in a game. There are some, sure but I wish we could have more.

My question is, what can we, as a single person do to improve this? I'm seriously asking because I don't know what's the best approach. When I witness any sort of racism or jokes based on gender online I tend to put the mic on and ask for them to be more respectful but I wonder what else can I do? I'm sure I can do more, it's just that I'm a bit lost.

 

[Shaanyboi]

The (incredibly) vast majority of females are NOT groped at conventions or stalked when they give out personal information or berated at Gamestop. To suggest otherwise is delusional. Obviously sexual assault/stalking/ect are never acceptable and should never be ignored, but the point here seems to be that female gamers are living in a constant state of fear because of all the white (?) male gamer would-be assailants hiding in the shadows, which is nonsense. I would be interested to see (if they exist) any statistics on sexual assault at conventions compared to other events/controls. I suspect any difference would be statistically insignificant.

While not outright assaulted (thankfully), my girlfriend has had afew really fucking inappropriate comments and interactions with people when she's been at a con dressed up. It's not even about malicious and hurtful harassment, it's sometimes just outright and open ignorance from some dudes not realizing that what they're saying is just not okay.

 

[Oemenia]

I don't know, try telling people you're a gamer as a girl.

 

[Waylon Drums]

The same way people know you're a female gamer by voice.

I've been called a "spic" countless times over the mic on CoD: MW2.

I hear the word "fag" so often in games with voice chat that I don't even bother.

 

[MJLord]

I have to ask, what can we do regarding expecting some change in the game industry my good fellow GAFfers?

As mentioned by some, many stopped from using the mic during online games to avoid any sort of jokes or racist attacks and this is really sad. And I believe this affect more than this, people with lower voice, shy and so on are named or judged by how they talk too. I am one of those people who would like to see more gender and ethnicity (is this the correct word to use?) variety in my games. A game like Child of Light will be a day One purchase for me because it's not often we see a female lead in a game. There are some, sure but I wish we could have more.

My question is, what can we, as a single person do to improve this? I'm seriously asking because I don't know what's the best approach. When I witness any sort of racism or jokes based on gender online I tend to put the mic on and ask for them to be more respectful but I wonder what else can I do? I'm sure I can do more, it's just that I'm a bit lost.

If it comes up in a game just tell the person(s) that it's not on. If someone else has the courage to do that then back them up on it. In all forms of online harassment, not just against women. The more people who pick up this policy the quicker other people will get the idea.

 

[Moneal]

I have to ask, what can we do regarding expecting some change in the game industry my good fellow GAFfers?

As mentioned by some, many stopped from using the mic during online games to avoid any sort of jokes or racist attacks and this is really sad. And I believe this affect more than this, people with lower voice, shy and so on are named or judged by how they talk too. I am one of those people who would like to see more gender and ethnicity (is this the correct word to use?) variety in my games. A game like Child of Light will be a day One purchase for me because it's not often we see a female lead in a game. There are some, sure but I wish we could have more.

My question is, what can we, as a single person do to improve this? I'm seriously asking because I don't know what's the best approach. When I witness any sort of racism or jokes based on gender online I tend to put the mic on and ask for them to be more respectful but I wonder what else can I do? I'm sure I can do more, it's just that I'm a bit lost.

really outside of speaking up and, kicking the offender(if possible), there isn't much you can do to change another person's actions.

 

[VideoGameCzar]

Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense.



I couldn't enjoy a great movie like There Will Be Blood because the lead isn't female. Gaming is the ONLY medium where this, and say it with me, Nonsense, Is running rampant. As for women being treated badly online - WELCOME TO ONLINE PLAY! How many times I've been messaged that someone is going to kill me? Or dropped the "N" bomb or the "C" bomb? But I guess unlike these people writing these, again everyone, Nonsense, I turn the PC or console off and forget about it. It sure as hell doesn't effect me in the real world...and if it does...Uhhh...Maybe you should shut your self into your house and live in that imaginary bubble of yours.

Lets not forget how people have treated me a 31 year old male gamer that likes every type of game. Going to a Gamestop and buying a Nintendo title, JRPG or something some numskull deems "kiddie" they question why I'm buying the game...but I don't let this effect me...The fact that this is effecting people on a personal level is just sad. If you're older then 16 and haven't figure out most of the human race it worthless...I don't know what to tell you.