How Women are Treated in Game Communities

I've noticed that the attitude towards women is crap regardless of platform. If you're in a guild or playing with a team, it isn't as bad, but I've witnessed men saying pretty awful things in general chat. Don't even get me started on what I've heard said over Vent.

I think it's sad that people automatically judge based on gender. Some of my best teammates are female. If I'd had that kind of attitude towards them, I probably wouldn't have accomplished as much as I have in games. I wish more people saw it that way.

 

I see it as the nature of video games in general. Some gamers just don't have good social skills and use video games as their means of social interaction. Girls are oftenstereotyped to being bad players and are immediately written off just because they are girls.

 

But that's the problematic thing, you know? Saying that that's just the way things are in the video game community passively condones treating female players like crap. I think it reflects badly on male players, too--like it's just expected that we're supposed look down on female players. I don't buy into that. Challenging those attitudes is the only way we'll ever move past that.

 

I agree that online life reflects (maybe even exaggeratedly so) real life. I have seen female players treated terribly on WoW. I think the anonymity of it all just helps the jerks to act like they maybe can't act in real life. It sucks and I think we need to speak up against it if we see it happen. It's too bad female players feel the need to pretend they're dudes to avoid this. Not cool.

 

I have found that anytime I play a video game I should keep my gender a secret. I feel that I am treated differently no matter what after they find out that I am a girl. Some treat me as if I have a disability and are going to need help. I want to be treated like a fellow video gamer and when I beat you don't complain that there must be someone else playing that is not me!

 

Honestly, most women gamers will usually not advertise the fact that they are a woman and everything is fine. Some women obviously try to seek attention and usually end up causing a lot of drama between guild members.

 

I think it depends on a number of variables. Some of the things I've heard over Xbox Live have been pretty vile, just in response to hearing a girl's voice. That, to me, is wrong, but Xbox Live is pretty vile to begin with. The majority of players are immature kids. It's a little different with computer-based MMOs, where you're not always using a headset. People can't tell.

Still, there are some who assume that female avatar = female player, and ahaha...I think we all know how awkward THAT can get.

 

I'm not condoning it of course, I'm just saying that's just what the community is. Right, wrong, or indifferent, stating the way something currently doesn't mean someone agrees with the behavior. And I agree, I see the solution as not treating female gamers any differently than male gamers is the way to get past that sort of behavior.

 

I cannot say that I have never run across men flirting with women in MMORPGs, but it is not as common (at least for me) as you make it out to be. Let's be honest, how do you even know it is a woman? Although most of my characters were male (I am a man), I would occasionally make a female character for something different. But for anyone that was worried about harassment (including you), all games have a way to report it.

 

In online games I stay anonymous because you know what will happen. But there is one game that I said I'm a girl they said "Hey, girl wanna hang out?" to me, Which I decline of course. I want equality between Men and women but it will never happen I suppose. That's why I stay anonymous on online games.

 

Those people need to get a life. Games are not made for men only, I think its cool to see more women playing games, and in the end should it really matter?

 

In the past there was harassment and of course the heckling but these days it's not as prominent. I generally don't say much when I join a new guild so that I can gauge how people interact with each other. WoW's player population has grown and a lot more women have gotten into the game so the sexism has toned down a lot. I personally never really experienced the whole women are bad player stereotypes except once in a LFR, where I decided to step in and blow everyone out of the water to prove a point. Some of the best healers/dps in higher end guilds tended to be women on the servers I played.

 

I agree that the sexist thing has toned down with gaming. It's all about the skills. either you have them or you don't.

 

Personally, I never had this occur to me, then again, I only play a select few MMORPG games. Of course, just because it doesn't happen to me, doesn't mean it's non-existent. I hate injustice towards anyone, so if people are going to hit on someone that's there for the game, it should be a system where you screenshot the chat and just report it to perma ban them. No account block, just IP ban. PERIOD!

 

It may have "toned down" a bit, but it's definitely still there. I can't play a game of CS:GO without getting a random friend request on Steam simply because my avatar is a picture of my face. If I talk on voice chat in-game, the first question is always, "Are you a girl or a 12 year old boy?" -- my least favorite problem. When I stream on Twitch, trolls come in and say things like "take your shirt off!" or "boobz or riot!" and it's disgusting and makes me feel attacked, even though it happens to several other female gamers.

The few girls who take advantage of the special attention are setting a bad name for the rest of us -- the girls who take selfies with game controllers and post them on social media websites, the ones who put "Girl Gamer" as the title of their stream broadcast... they need to stop making it a big deal that girls play video games, and maybe men would get used to it and stop the harassment. It doesn't happen as much in MMORPG's because nobody really knows who anyone is -- but games like CS:GO are a different story because it requires in-game chat and avatar displays.

 

I hate when women do that myself, majessticah.

They play to the crowd for views and makes it for no one to take us seriously. Either you play the game and show that you have some skill or go try to be a playboy model. Pick one. If you try to do both, you invite trouble for idiots to justify hitting you because, you know, "It's boobs and cause it's there" mentality.

In conclusion, stop trying to forward your own agenda to guarder attention yourself, while simultaneously shaming female gamers.

 

It's because women who plays games are considered rare, that's why they're treated like a commodity and people are trying to get some of whatever they can get. Same thing with girls playing Call of Duty, "I need ammo!" 10 guys immediately rush to her vicinity and bombard her with ammo packages.

 

greensat - It's really disgusting, if that's what CoD is all about. :/ I don't know HOW they think a woman that games is rare, when we make up the 30%. It's not like this resulted over night. Over a series of years, yes, but not overnight. Then again, there's people that are like: "There's no women on the internet!" mentality that tick me off.

 

I don't think that this "there's no girl gamers" mentality will change anytime soon. Not saying that there are absolutely no girls at all, but a significantly less amount than males who play the game.

 

From my own gaming experience (not just from MMORPGs), female gamers are usually treated well (if) they claim they are female and can prove it. Yes, I know there are a few who will harasse them or make fun of them if they didn't do things right. But for the most part, these female gamers will be treated like queens. Free items, free gold, free buffs, free tips, free protection, and offer of groups... the list can go on for a while if I really think hard lol.

You need to understand that majority of the gamers are male. For MMORPGs, a lot of gamers are addicted more so than in other game categories. I remember once at a LAN party, one of the gamers said "I have never seen... (insert a girl part)". I guess it hold some truth for a lot of young male gamers who are typically "nerds"... There is no shame to admit it, I used to be one too lol. Thus, any female these "nerds" encounter online or otherwise will be treasured and treated like queens.