The New York Times published a story about Miranda Pakozdi, who forfeited the Capcom Cross-Assault reality show / video game competition after her trainer, Aris Bakhtanians, told her to take her shirt off, asked about her bra size, smelled her and then said that sexual harassment is a part of the gaming community (he said it later, not while he was smelling her. That would’ve been even creepier). The article brings to light the bigger problem of the environment of harassment and general sexism in gaming.
Wait a second. There’s sexism in Gaming? You’ve
got
to
be
kidding
me
must be chilly in Scrooge McDuck’s vault
This problem has been around for a long time but is just now gaining mainstream attention as gaming becomes more mainstream. The problem is that the gaming community is full of awful, horrible people. Don’t believe me? Go buy an Xbox, play Call of Duty, throw on a headset and find out how a bunch of 14 year olds think you’re a nigger faggot.
Women gamers have it particularly bad, though. Just check out this blog called Fat, Ugly or Slutty which post screencaps from women either getting insulted, clumsily hit on or outright threatened.
The article also asks “how do you stop this?” Microsoft says they’re working on a way to better police online chatter but that doesn’t really get to the root of the problem. The article links a great piece by Erin Kissane called how to kill a troll but there’s an easier way to do this.
You gamers need to stop being so fucking gross.
Yes, you. If you’re an avid gamer and you’ve ever done any of this gross shit to a girl online, just stop. Seriously.
I get it. Why you’re like this. You started playing games obsessively because you had a hard time with social interaction. You played so much that you got really good and found some friends with the same interests. With just you and your like minded buddies you could just let the misogynistic slurs fly and you got comfortable talking like that. Now more girls are gaming and you’re supposed to change just because video games are commercially viable?
Yes. They’re people. They paid money to play a game and they deserve to play it without being harrassed. Stop asking to see their tits. It’s fucking gross.
Seriously.
I think that the stereotype of undersocialized gamers is now more of a stereotype and less reality than many people would like to think. I would personally like to believe that all sexist gamers are just poorly socialized trolls living in their mothers basements, but clearly that’s not the case. Sexism stems from both the creators of video games to the players, and as video games become more and more popular more and more people play them who don’t fit into that stereotype. That sexism is still such a huge deal in gaming I think just goes to show how far we need to go to combat sexism in society in general.
Nicely stated. The problem in gaming is a mere reflection of what’s going on in society.
Can I see your tits?
Oh, you men!
“I get it. Why you’re like this. You started playing games obsessively because you had a hard time with social interaction.”
You know what’s funny, if I was to apply a stereotype to women and imply it was true, I would be sexist. And I’m assuming you are against sexism, right? Do you realize you’re doing something very similar by applying common stereotypes (video-gamers have a hard time with social-interaction) to shit you don’t understand. On another note, “trolls” very rarely mean what they say when they tell a girl to “show her tits” or call someone a “nigger faggot.” They do it to annoy the crap out of people and when people like you write web blogs about this kind of stuff, you’re just doing what they wanted. Of course it’s stupid and immature, but it’s not a serious problem. If someone is offended by that kind of stuff, they can mute their TV screen, and alot of videogames give you the option to mute what other people are saying on their mics.
Yeah, YOU’RE the victim here.
Yes a good deal of it is just annoying comments. But those annoying comments create a discourse where it is okay to socially harass women in gaming. If you looked at either video in the New York Times article:
http://video1.nytimes.com/video/2012/08/01/17587_1_gamers1_wg_16x9_xl_bb_mm.mp4#media/gamers1
you would see that the woman is being sexually harassed not by anonymous trolls, but by her own trainer. This is not the first incident that has been documented. Women in competitive gaming communities often suffer physical sexual harassment from their co-workers. The comments like “show me your tits” in-game create an environment where it is okay to say “show me your tits” out of game and mean it.
I think the larger problem is devs, or more specifically publishers, who don’t understand how many gamers are women. And not the games that are marketed to us, either, I mean everything. We play everything. As long as Capcom and EA and all the rest keep playing to an increasingly mythological demographic (that is, preteen boys who have only interacted with a woman when it was either an authority figure they resent or porn), the games will keep encouraging this vocal minority with depictions of women that constitute at best blow-up dolls and at worst virtual training for rapists. We’re here, we’re probably stomping you in BF3, and you’ll never know it because there is no way we’re getting on the headset any time soon.
To be fair, I don’t recall Princess Daphne having coathook-pokies in the original Dragon’s Lair art, although she was nonetheless quite a sexist stereotype.
I thought big-breasted, scantily-clad women were a symbol of empowerment and progressive thinking…. now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some Dead or Alive: Extreme Beach Volleyball to play.
The trouble with total freedom is that it includes the freedom to be a horrible person without consequences. I don’t play MMORPG for exactly this reason. The solution (for gaming, anyways) is moderators with DM authority. Anyone making misogynistic, racist or gay-bashing comments gets hit by sniper fire and respawns naked and unarmed in the middle of a firefight after a 12 minute cutscene.
Ahem. Misandry is so common. Don’t even try to act entitled or innocent to misogyny. There are a few very simple problems. 1. Hate begets hate. If you hate after being hated, you only create more hate. 2. Insecurity and Image, the feeling of “I must,” or “you must.” 3. Taking shit too seriously. 4. Zeal- Apply what s/he did, to everyone. 5. Lack of understanding. 6. DON’T FUCKING FEED THE TROLLS. 7. You don’t talk about fight club. 7. The feeling of different.- Exclusion, they are not like me[in appearence] therefore I dont like them.
Which all boils down to ego, and misunderstanding.
LASTLY
Who the fuck cares. Nothings changed in the few thousand years we have been around, not people not men, not women. Individuals change thought their lives, and sometimes for the worse. Attractive women, may be a way of advertising, for some games, but in the end, that game has to sell and make the most $$ and if little boys are drooling over it, theyre likely to fork out the cash to buy it, because they like it. Its not new, its not barbaric, its not because “Men are pigs” its nature and thats that. There is plenty wrong with both men and women, and its almost all hated on constantly and without good reason. :/