A well-done analysis concerning sexual harassment

[korinna]

Sexual harassment for female players in Starcraft2 thread by Jennifer Kesler @ The Hathor Legacy:Reader The Other Patrick sent us this link in which a female video gamer asks on a Starcraft2 forum if there are other female gamers interest in starting a women-only clan. The very first response is a male gamer demanding she post a picture of herself

Comments

[loverboy]

I skimmed through the article and looked briefly at the thread. D: I wish I didn't.

This is probably one of the main reasons why, despite liking online gaming, I never really got into it and stick to mostly offline stuff.

[tacky_tramp]

It's quite an effective tactic, overall:

1) Deny that female gamers exist.
2) When female gamers make themselves known, insist that they are just trying to get attention, and are therefore shallow and manipulative.
3) When all the female gamers are suitably silenced, return to #1.

[tacky_tramp]

1b) If pic request is unsuccessful, deride woman as ugly and fat.
1c) If pic request is successful, judge woman's appearance: objectify if attractive, insult if not.

[zellion]

This just makes me glad that I have an awesome WoW guild. I avoid MMO forums for this very reason. I've had no major issues in game, WoW, LoTRO, City of Heroes - nothing that couldn't be resolved with an ignore. And heck, half the time if I pug with someone on a female toon they don't believe I'm really female after they ask. The forums though... ugh.

[tacky_tramp]

Seriously. My guild makes me so happy. They can be obnoxious sometimes, but they knock if off when asked.

[mssarcasm]

Ugh. This crap is why I will never again use a headset on Xbox Live or declare my gender on online games/forums.

My very first playing online experience, where I was stupid enough to use the headset on Live, included having some asshole sending me lewd sexual messages and begging the friends I was playing with for my personal details and having another asshole call me a "lesbo" because "normal girls don't play on Halo", all in one night.

[zellion]

And really, I'm trying to play games to relax. I don't want to have to spend all my *time off* fighting the good fight against sexism. It's exhausting!

[faoiltiama]

This comment x 1,000,000.

Gaming is a hobby of mine. I don't want to spend my off hours wasting energy on attempting to single-handedly stamp out misogyny. Even just reading the article about that post was emotionally exhausting. This is why I only play offline games.

Fixed that for you.

[tacky_tramp]

"I still don't completely understand why certain groups of male gamers men have so much hatred toward women when in my experience it seems that it's their own fault."

It's because they view women as the means to and end, and they feel entitled to that end.

I always hope these people give off clear stay-away vibes to the women around them, because these are the guys who end up raping and abusing.

Re: Fixed that for you.

[tacky_tramp]

Unfortunately, some of us have been systematically trained to misinterpret the vibe.