Gamer Misogyny: The Thread

[Phelot]

Lots and lots of articles and sites dealing with this. Can't recall if we've had a thread specifically for it or whether this should really be in GD. I know we get a few articles in BTE

Anyway:

http://www.slate.com/articles/doubl...d_a_real_life_problem_for_female_gamers_.html

This is something I’ve heard plenty: Oh, these are just misguided kids. But according to the Entertainment Software Association, the average gamer is more than 30 years old, and 68 percent of gamers are over the age of 18. So to chalk all of this ugliness up to immature boys who just need to “grow up” does nothing but turn a blind eye to the very real problem—a problem that leads some young women to avoid voice communications, hide their gender in their profiles, or give up on online gaming altogether.
The misogyny is not limited to the consumers of games—these attitudes often affect women who work within the industry, either making the games or promoting them to the public. Perhaps this is why things aren’t getting better. I have heard tales of women responsible for a game’s design being groped or treated like a paid spokesmodel on the show floor, passed over in favor of “the guy in charge,” or “someone who knows what they’re talking about.”

Honestly, I just think that gamers in general are douches that use whatever might get under their targets skin. I mean, Stanley Woo, Asian, thus BANNU exaggerated asian accent.

At the same time, you have highly respected women in the industry like Roberta Williams.

That said, there certainly appear to be a lot of loser men that either stalk or take their frustrations out on female gamers.

http://www.notinthekitchenanymore.com/

http://fatuglyorslutty.com/

So, it's a toss up, I say. You'll get made fun of for being fat, pasty white, virgin, black, asian, poor, and yes... for being a woman. So, I wouldn't really worry too much about the abusive insults, it's more the creepy factor, the stalkers, the guys that literally lose it as soon as they hear a female voice in game.

As for that Slate article, well, who really cares if some retards don't buy that you're a TRU GAMER, like that's this really great thing and besides, she's all into some awful games anyway.

Most of the solutions presented are pretty poor. "All Grrrl" clans and groups are suppose to be good? And giving them cute female names like "Frag Dolls" is suppose to be good? Sounds about as useful for pushing equality as sororities are.

Within the industry, the hiring of more women and minorities is an oft-cited solution. “Often, when I play through new games, or check out previews, it feels like the industry is making games for itself—for the demographic of the average developer, a white straight dude in his 30s,” Alli Thresher, game designer and writer, recently told me. “With more diversity in the industry, this can only continue to change and improve.” It’s not that women necessarily want current game types to go away entirely, of course. Or that we want all female protagonists. It’s about wanting healthy evolution for the industry we love. Thresher witnessed firsthand the potential created by the increased visibility of women like her: “A few months ago I sat in on a high school career day. The last group of kids to ask questions was made up entirely of young women. My hope is that those girls aren't discouraged or deterred from entering this field.”

Yikes. Considering how shit dev companies are to their employees, that doesn't sound so good.

Oh, and one more solution that everyone can implement: something a professor of mine once called a “politics of fun.” Women and minority and LGBT gamers should turn on their microphones, dress up their avatars however they see fit, and make the online gaming space their own. Most importantly, have fun. HAVE FUN. And be loud about it. Hopefully, the sound of our fun can begin to drown out the sound of the trolls.

This only confuses the issue. Back in ye olden gayming times, did the all male gamers some how not blast each other for being weirdos, furries, vampire fetishists, etc? I mean, by all means be yourself, but be prepared to defend your weirdness or hide it. That's how it has always been, yes even when apparently every gamer was a straight, white, male. And considering how many God awful and bizarre mods come out for shit like Skyrim, I'd say people really ARE being loud about their fetishes.

 

[Admiral jimbob]

urgh fucking whore bitches saying us gamers are misogynist whining about nothing how dare they

learn your place and suck my dick you truckful of cunt juice


us gamers right


us gamers

 

[Excidium]

In before retardo

 

[Kane]

never stop posting threads about feminism

 

[potatojohn]

Insulting each other is how real men bond. Why do bitches want to destroy our ways of life? We have to defend ourselves. SIEG HEIL!

 

[Gozma]

There needs to be a middle ground between pretending that women are ever going to be at parity with men in participation level and interest in stuff like competitive video games and protecting the oddball minority of women that really do want to participate from having to endure anything worse than what weird men get on average. Anyway, that's what a real community could do - have effective norms that police behavior to sand down rough edges. In the case of something like gaming where it's just a bunch of atomized consumer goldfish eating content flakes it will either be anarchy or Title IX.

 

[MetalCraze]

Ask Kris Peyson about feminism

 

[Humanity has risen!]

Great idea. I can't wait to read all of Garfunkel's poorly veiled damage control, where he repeats over and over that the patriarchy cabal is evil and brainwashing women to like being passive heroines and reading twilight, and that none of these people are real feminists, guys. Honest. Hey wait, don't go, I can explain! Here's the brainwas... the alarming truth I've been served in academia from the college date rape Indus... err I mean my sensitivity training of course! Did you know that nine women out of ten have been eye raped?

 

[Renegen]

See Phelot this is the problem with your post about gamer misogyny: you quote gaming journalists a lot. Journalists don't reflect the real world, they only spew out continuous stories to justify their salary.

In fact I feel that some strong hard journalistic analysis here could go a long way. Editorials are not journalism and they are not meant to be consumed by the masses, they are just some noise machine.

 

[Tehdagah]

“Often, when I play through new games, or check out previews, it feels like the industry is making games for itself—for the demographic of the average developer, a white straight dude in his 30s,”

Jesus, the majority of consumers are white straight dudes in theirs 30s. (and asians straight dudes in theirs 15-25s, in the case of japan/korea)

 

[malko_sundervere]

Most of my friends are women.
Most of my friends are also gamers.
We bad mouth eachother all the time.
Here's this video:


...
That's all I have to contribute.

 

[Phelot]

I think there are enough tools for any gamer to effectively silence a troll. They message you something retarded, you block them. Of course, that doesn't stop a woman from having to read a potentially vulgar or creepy message, but that sort of comes with the territory that you're going to encounter weird shit on the internet.

Though there really are some awesomely retarded things being sent to women

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Almost all girls that I like and respect are tomboys or/and lesbians, so I'm pretty sure that I'm a misogynist.

 

[mondblut]

it feels like the industry is making games for itself—for the demographic of the average developer, a white straight dude in his 30s

My god, I WISH that were true. Would solve all of our problems with the industry.

 

[Ion Prothon II]

Fuck, this thread again. Angry cunt writing shit, after she found in chatbox other shit addressed to her. Because nobody receives a shitload of badly written insults from retarded underages, but only she. She get a real work, she'll propably make a drama because somebody looked at her in a harassing way.
Or it's just a cheap mental diarrhea to fill the blank page, like the 99% on this subject.

The government (because gaming companies aren't strong enough to make the poor ladies feel comfortable) should turn online games into a totalitarian hellhole, so nobody could write random obscenity to anyone, that's what this article is really about.
Maybe online games are just too much for creatures so oversensitive and unable to adapt, like women? Then, things would be better for everyone if they rather moved to more peaceful environment. Like kitchen.

Also loled hard at the linked article. She wears a Star- Trek T-shit and played like uh, 3 games. HOLY SHIT ITS A TRUE GEEK GAMER GURL! She's so trv she propably has even a dick to fap to cartoon porn.

 

[Angthoron]

What about

I HATE YOU YU HOMOFAGOT ET SHIT AND DIE
UR DICK SO SMALL U ONLY FUCK DOGS U SHITSUCKER
RETARDED FAG

and other assorted insults males share with each others? It's a gendered world, fucking deal with it. Maybe find a shovel and get that sand out of that vagina while at it.

Or maybe gamers should switch to unisex insults such as

URMOM SUCKED ME OFF GOOD U PEACE UV SHEET
I FED SHIT 2 UR UNCL
et cetera.

 

[sgc_meltdown]

the sanctity of this place has been fouled

 

[Kane]

he got more pussy than most of the dex.

 

[Twinkle]

notice that the black man is about to grab her away

there is a deep metaphor hidden in this picture

 

[AngryKobold]

"Happy birthday, brother"?

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

It's not a black man. It's either a tanned white or a mulatto.

 

[lefthandblack]

Oh, and one more solution that everyone can implement: something a professor of mine once called a “politics of fun.” Women and minority and LGBT gamers should turn on their microphones, dress up their avatars however they see fit, and make the online gaming space their own. Most importantly, have fun. HAVE FUN. And be loud about it. Hopefully, the sound of our fun can begin to drown out the sound of the trolls.

Great, Kiss-ins and ____ -pride parades inside of online games.

I'm glad I don't play those.

 

[PorkaMorka]

I support misogyny in gaming because women (on average) are bad gamers who like bad games. Consequently, more women in gaming = more bad games. If you're on the fence about this, you should take a look at what Bioware did in order to appeal to female gamers. It's disgusting.

But I'm always nice to girls in multiplayer games because I was raised right because I'm just beta like that.

 

[J1M]

Breaking into the games industry is the hardest thing to do. Being a woman is one of the easiest ways to do it.

Once there, you are like man only more popular and with the option of sleeping your way to the top.

I don't know why anyone would want to work in the commercial games industry. Hours are shit. Job security is shit. Usually the game you are working on is shit.

 

[Norfleet]

Gamer culture tends towards being deeply misogynisitic, not to mention homophobic, because there are a large number of rejected beta males making up that population, and given that they are not at risk for being punched or kicked in the balls, tend to be quite loud about it. Pure and simple. Society has conditioned them to believe that they are owed a hot female, and reality has subverted this expectation. They are thus bitter and whiny about it.