”Woman showing arm muscle holding controller” Women in Gaming: 100 Professionals of Play Prima Games Dec 04, 2018 women-gaming-100-pioneers-play
What's The Point?Hey you, yeah you, reading my blog you are probably wondering why you are here? Or maybe you are questioning whether or not you should stay, I think you should. I want to talk to you about the culture of gaming. Games are one of America's largest pastimes and make the highest revenue in our country, however, there is a large discrepancy between the way women and men enjoy playing. Men, for example, are constantly talking through headsets while playing whereas women shy away. In the NPR interview, O’Leary said “They will choose avatars and screen names that don't give away the fact that they might be a female player” Women are scared to be harassed and/or abused while playing so much so that they would rather not deal with the consequences at all. Now you're probably asking ‘Why does it matter to me?’
Let me just tell you it does, if you are in the gaming world it matters. Men grow up with this idea that women are objects and toys to be pawned and played with and that isn’t right. But where are they being taught this? Well, children are taught by their surrounding environments if they see it in games or in their personal lives that is what they are going to do. Boys should be taught that women are just as worthy as them, and if they are raised playing a game that says the opposite, what are those boys going to believe? For years now women have been playing games, and the statistics have increased rapidly. A study done by Christina Gough on Statista showed that in 2006 female gamers made up 38% and now in 2019 they make up 46%. As you can see that is a rapid increase. On top of that, what are women going to believe if they grow up playing games? Will they think they are just a sexual object? Will they think they always need saving? Will they think they are just put on this earth for men’s gain? Maybe so, games have real power both in and out of the game. The treatment of women in games is causing problems both in and out of the gaming realm. Women are facing real-world consequences such as death threats or being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder due to the harassment that they face. How about jobs in the gaming industry? Women are hired at a much lower rate than that of their male counterparts. Unethical? I think so, do you? That is not all, there is so much more to the world of gaming that involves harassment, and yes both men and women face it but the extent to which women do is at a much higher scale. In an article written by Stephany Nunneley, she mentions a study done by Emily Matthew that women are harassed four times more than men while playing online. Many do not understand the magnitude at which women are getting harassed. In my experience every time I have gotten on to play a game, especially something like Call of Duty or Paladins, I have gotten comments many times from players saying something regarding my gender. It happens all the time. I may not voice chat often but even when I'm not I hear people who are and that is where I hear most of the comments. I’ve heard everything from ‘get off the game you cunt’ to ‘i’m gonna rape you’. I will also say that as a female with the gamertag zgirl24 my gender is known straight away and I often get targeted by players. The only reason I can think of as to why is because I am a woman who has their gender right in their gamertag, I made myself a target. Considering that the difference between men and women players statistically is minuscule it is very unnerving how much women get harassed. So much goes into video games. It is not a small topic, we need to talk about a lot. The way players are treated, how employees are treated, etc. On this blog, I want to talk about that, but I want to talk about it in relation to females. Females are treated terribly within the video game world. It is time that that is brought to light and talked about because it more often than not always put on the back burner. It is time to stand up, educate and make a change. So ‘Why does it matter?’ I hope you understand the answer to that question now. |
Workplace HarassmentNov 20, 2019
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Fear of the PlayerNov 24, 2019
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Hyperexualization of FemalesDecember 1, 2019
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