Are Feminists Taking Over Video Games?

[lafinjack]

How often do video game journalists write about feminism, sexism, or misogyny?

Of 130,524 articles from 23 game outlets in a 12-month period, only 0.41% referenced feminism, sexism, or misogyny.

- Morgan Ramsay (@MorganRamsay) September 13, 2014

For several years, I have been downloading full-text articles from major video game media outlets. As

Comments

[beuk]

From the Escapist article linked in the "Problem" section: "But let us not be fooled: Not everyone who plays games is a gamer. A gamer is a game enthusiast, a person whose primary hobby or avocation is the enjoyment of games. The "enjoyment of games" is a deeper pursuit than merely playing them. It encompasses dedication towards their mastery; understanding of their history; commentary on the design; insight as to their relationships into the web of source material from which they are derived."

REALLY? That's the wankiest/"gatekeeperiest" definition of gamer I've ever read. Because my primary hobby is lazing about on the internet, I'm an internetter. But I'm just faking because I don't care about internet design, internet history or being a superior asshole about the internet. (Or do I????)

[bonesnapdeez]

Yeah I can't stand that "real gamer" crap.

I play video games quite a bit and collect them. Everything from Commodore 64 to Neo Geo to WonderSwan Color to Xbox 360. I'm currently about halfway through a Sega CD JRPG.

My wife plays Snood on the laptop a couple of times a week.

We're both gamers. The hobby is not "owned" by anybody.

Besides, I have a feeling that if more people (and by people I mostly mean women) began playing "hardcore games" then the neckbeards would move the goalposts even further.

[fegli]

the only reason I'd say I'm not a "gamer" is because of insufferable shits on the internet who insist that there's some sort of minimum requirement for being a "real gamer", and I don't want to be associated with them.

but have I spent my life playing and enjoying video games when I can? (when I have access to/money to buy a console) yes!!!

[bonesnapdeez]

the only reason I'd say I'm not a "gamer" is because of insufferable shits on the internet who insist that there's some sort of minimum requirement for being a "real gamer", and I don't want to be associated with them.

Oh I totally get that. I don't exactly advertise it myself.

[lied_ohne_worte]

And there's also the fact that not all games are "real games", particularly not games of the type that are perceived to be enjoyed by women. So if articles are posted about how adult women are actually a large demographic group in gaming nowadays, the inevitable comments are all going to be about how women don't play "real games".

And if women do point out that they are also playing what those people think are "real games", then they're not "proper gamers" because they fail to come within some other of the moving goalposts. Just as with the very few articles on sexism being seen as some major threat taking over everything, there are men who seem to feel that even the occasional woman making into "their" space threatens them, resulting in anything from sexist insults to flat-out denial that she is telling the truth and claims that she must be a man pretending.

[nesmith]

The biggest proof of male gamers feeling threatened is the whole #gamergate thing, because nothing says mature, rational adult men like rape and death threats.

[maladaptive]

I've seen a lot of different goalposts for what constitutes a "gamer" as people move them around to keep the unwanted out, but this is definitely the first time I've seen "your primary hobby is gaming."

Which means I know a lot of people who've been in top 10 guild, hardcore raiders in MMOs who don't qualify as gamers....

[lafinjack]

They don't count because WoW is for teh n00bz.

[stainedfeathers]

I'm a game developer. Currently working on a big title for the PS4. As someone whose job is to make the main product in the industry and therefore is supposed to "know what I'm talking about", a gamer is defined as this:

ANYONE WHO PLAYS GAMES.

There are NO qualifiers to that.

That author is a complete elitist dipshit.