Polygon - No skin thick enough- The daily harassment of women in the game industry.
The problem with sharing these stories in broad terms is that people think men and women receive the same harassment online. They do not. I’m not writing this piece to evoke your sympathy. I’m writing to share with you what prominent, successful women in the industry experience, in their own words.Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Game Names Are Almost Universally Terrible.
Seriously it’s not that hard why are you all so bad at this aauuugh.
HoSpanky wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 10:14:
If you don't think women get any more abuse than men, you're delusional. While people will say horrible shit during a gaming match, they don't go hunting those people down, sending them rape threats for months/years after. No one does that shit to males, or if they do, it's incredibly rare.
Verno wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 10:33:HoSpanky wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 10:14:
If you don't think women get any more abuse than men, you're delusional. While people will say horrible shit during a gaming match, they don't go hunting those people down, sending them rape threats for months/years after. No one does that shit to males, or if they do, it's incredibly rare.
All men are just hunting women down after matches and threatening rape? If you want people to accept that these things are just a given then you have to look at the other side of if. There are many women who cultivate the GAMERGURL culture and enjoy the sense of attention that comes with it. If you don't believe that then go have a look at twitch or Live From Playstation sometime. My girlfriend isn't a huge gamer but shes played a few online games with me and she has managed to avoid death threats and rape jokes, I don't think its a universal truth that these things are automatic if you're a female gamer.
I think its true that women get a lot of unwanted sexual advances online but the same situation is true outside of the internet in many societies. Many people do not handle rejection well but again thats not a problem that is gender specific.
Verno wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 09:43:
I'm getting tired of hearing about women's issues all the time in the press, I can only summon so much empathy before I start to think "well do something about it then". If writing about their plights is doing something then maybe...stop doing so much about it then![]()
Seriously though people are pricks on the internet, many of the examples are things where something has gone viral or the person was exposed to large public attention. It sucks but that attracts the weirdos. I think they get a different kind of harassment which sucks but there are a lot of lonely people and weird people who act out on the internet because it provides them a sense of anonymity. I'm sure Adam Orth or CliffyB would happy to tell some of them all about the harassment they get.
Edit: they disabled comments for the story which was really lame.
Mashiki Amiketo wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 09:18:
Let me just say, I've worked in female dominated industries that includes medium and heavy manufacturing where women are mainly harness assemblers; and men do receive the same type of harassment.
UHD wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 10:50:
The presence of "GAMERGURLs" doesn't make it okay to be a sexist asshole. The existence of sexual harassment outside the Internet doesn't make it okay inside the Internet too.
If you can't see sexual harassment of women in a culture dominated by men to be a problem I don't know what to tell you.
Verno wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 11:10:UHD wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 10:50:
The presence of "GAMERGURLs" doesn't make it okay to be a sexist asshole. The existence of sexual harassment outside the Internet doesn't make it okay inside the Internet too.
Where did I say it makes it ok? Straw man. It's not an excuse for the behavior itself, its a contributing factor in a complex situation. We have a society dominated by the culture of worship based on appearance, the internet which provides casual anonymity and vastly different genders. It's not as simple as "men r dicks". Many, if not most men are not contributing to it. Some women contribute to the problem and I don't see them being called out for it.
Advances aren't inherently harassment either. I think it sucks women have to fend off hoards of lonely nerds online but that's a reality of the gender spread in gaming right now. It is certainly a different landscape now than 10 years ago and will change even more as time goes on. People who harass women after the fact are a different matter and that is a problem without a bullet point solution, I can't really do much to influence that. If it is serious then I would call the police.
Kind of a loaded point designed to make any answer seem insensitive.
I don't think its ok that the average MOBA player calls me a worthless waste of life if I miss an assist or threatens to kill me either but I accept that these things happen when dealing with the public and do my best to enjoy the game despite that. I don't like the idea of anyone being harassed but I'm not convinced that this is really an issue I can do anything to influence anymore than the aforementioned. Beating me over the head with it and associating all men with this behavior isn't going to help either.
UHD wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 12:18:
Then what was the point of bringing up those things, except to present the argument that their presence somehow counterbalances the real problems? I'm genuinely curious.
HoSpanky wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 10:14:
And I'm willing to bet the EXACT SAME people who toss these comments ALSO wonder why they can't find a girlfriend, or complain that their girlfriend won't play games with them.
Ozmodan wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 12:59:I agree with you. But the problem IS the gaming industry. It targets adolescents. It makes sense to have immature men who can think like hormone driven teenagers.
The problem with this industry, it has far too many immature male kids in it and that sadly has nothing to do with age. Hence they really have a problem working with any female.
If women think it will get better by complaining that seems a lot of wishful thinking.
Verno wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 12:55:UHD wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 12:18:
Then what was the point of bringing up those things, except to present the argument that their presence somehow counterbalances the real problems? I'm genuinely curious.
I explained it below, it's not a simple situation. These things happen for a variety of reasons and understanding the reasoning is important. It's also important to understand that there might be nothing people can realistically do about the problem other than allow time to pass. It's also important to acknowledge that women have a role in helping influence their own destiny too, thats why I brought up the example of women who actually damage their own "cause".
Wraith wrote on Jul 23, 2014, 14:10:
Polygon's obsession with playing social justice warrior continues. Disabling comments on that story is the most fundamentally honest thing they've done all year. Their comments section has become a worthless echo-chamber filled with oh so concerned psuedo-feminist panderers. Any comment which doesn't pander to their pretensions is instantly deleted.
Feminism sees gaming nerds as an easy target for this kind of guilt trippery - because gaming nerds are poorly socialised, desperate to get laid and consequently will fall for this crap.
Trust me, little nerds, you fuck far more women by being an asshole than you do by pandering to them and putting up with their bullshit.