Discourse:
- Locked due to inactivity on May 17, '22 3:54am
Thread Topic: Discourse:
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I'd like to believe that the whole "guys are sexist towards female gamers" stereotype wasn't true but every time I game online I'm reminded of how incredibly misogynistic they are when they feel they are anonymous. I'd like to believe that its a small portion of gamers, but I constantly get told the most disgusting things while gaming and I really wonder why people think it's okay.
Generally, they'll either make a huge deal out of the fact that I'm a girl, or condescending explain how to do simple things like sprint, but once a week or so I get absolutely vile filth who like to say things like "someone tell their little sister to shut the f--- up" or just totally sexualize me and say really terrible degrading things to me. It makes me feel terrible and I rarely game online anymore because of it.
Anyways I was just curious as to your perspectives as other male and female gamers. If you're a male who's not like this, how do you feel about men who are this way or do you think that the sexism is over exaggerated? -
Nerd culture and gaming culture is deeply rooted in misogyny right from the get go. To find gaming content, you typically go to reddit. Reddit is rampant in the sexualization of women and general sexism towards women. That's what you get when little boys perceive a website as a cool boys only area.
From when video games were first around as well- they were often seen as a "boys only" hobby. Girls would have no interest, they were too dumb, they wouldn't understand it, or it would be too violent and silly for them.
A lot of game designers as well are also deeply into the whole gaming culture and nerd culture. Which is why so many female characters in video games are sexualized and dumbed down. Which only furthers the issue. Big name male gamers also are a heavy influence on young boys and quite a few of them don't breed positive and healthy environments or opinions for young boys.
But that's all only the base of the issue. But it's important to remember that gaming culture and nerd culture has always been misogynistic right from the start, and that in itself- creates a pipeline and whole chain of misogyny that is easy to fall into for growing young boys. The majority of male gamers grew up playing games and becoming immersed in them and the culture and communities. Because it was often perceived as a male hobby or part of masculine culture- toxic masculinity and lockerroom culture easily awaits these young boys who become enmeshed into that concept that gaming is for boys or when connecting with other young boys or internet communities for video games
Also there's another aspect which is men who struggle to talk to women irl and are very shy or introverted and nerdy. Which leads to them easily not being able to have a clear idea of women outside of this idea that gets crafted in their heads or this objectification of what they want it to be. Otherwise it turns it turns into irritation, hostility and agression. And then there's another factor of men who are permanently online and all the negative aspects that has and misogyny they end up falling into
So yes I think there is a lot of sexism in gaming. I think it's less the individual men, but more the overall culture which sucks them into it and needs to be fixed. Gaming culture is a few steps away from all sorts of other culture deeply routed in misogyny.
And a percentage of young boys, will end up falling victim to that. And falling down a dark and steady pipeline of toxic masculinity and cultures they can't see out of
Like I could talk about this topic forever and all sorts of things connected to that but I won't. It'll take up everything lol -
That's a really good point. I'm really into geek culture and I tend to not notice some aspects as much as I should because I'm Bi. When I see pretty female gamers or sexy Harley Quinn cosplays I unfortunately tend to fall right down the same line of thinking that a lot of guys do because that's exactly what it's designed to do. It's designed to make you look at it like a sexual object and not think too deeply about it. It really does go right down to the character design and how female characters are portrayed in gaming. It also certainly does not help that a lot of parents would gatekeep gaming for boys. I was fortunate to grow up in a house with brothers where I was the oldest so I was player One, but for many people the Xbox or PlayStation belongs to the boy and the girl is discouraged from playing it.
Twitch culture is also problematic because while it does allow many female gamers to have a platform and break down certain stigmas, it also perpetuates hyper sexualization. Unfortunately there's still a lot of female gamers who use the male gaze to their advantage and that can be really harmful to other females.
Like you said, it's a huge complicated and deep issue. -
Yes. There's so many aspects of the culture in itself which all leads back to misogyny. On top of regular misogyny that these boys are unconsciously or consciously consuming outside of geek culture. All boys will experience and see toxic masculinity in their environments, and many of them will choose to follow that behavior too. And like you said, so many parents also gatekeep gaming and enforce that idea that it's a male only activity to their children. I was heavily discouraged by my mother from playing video games.
Being bi myself- I recognize for sure how pretty and attractive some of the characters I see are. But feminism is such a huge topic I'm passionate about, so sometimes it becomes clear when a character is created for the male gaze alone hahaha. Theres also some differences between the male gaze and female gaze that is important to remember too. I remember several times male fan bases of video games were enraged over the fact some female characters did not look like a sexually attractive women to them who was dumbed down to just that. And having a strong and accurate looking female character was considered "getting political" and that "the sjws are ruining our video games!!!" And then they started trying to "fix" the characters by making them suit the male gaze so that they could actually imagine "playing the game" So that really to me, just shows how normalized sexualized women in video games are. And the idea that they cannot fathom playing a video game with a female lead character they feel does not suit their own gaze. And that shows up in anime communities as well- men will hate on female characters who appear strong or more masculine or just do not suit their gaze and are not attractive to them. Like how men once said they would boycott Attack on Titan because Mikasa Ackerman "looked like a man" and they started calling her "Mankasa" so it's really just a whole huge issue of men as well expecting women in the media they like- to be sexualized and attractive.
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