This is no surprise to us, we have quite a few female players that are expected to put up with anything a few men want to say. ’Free Speech’ they call it, but it is a myth that you can saying anything to anyone. In reality it is crawl and never needed, if you cannot get your point or idea across politely then it probably is not great idea! The best players never resort to harassment or abuse.
From the BBC:
The world of video gaming has a problem with sexual harassment. The number of women gamers is growing fast – in the US they now make up 42% of the total – but it remains a macho environment, where women are often exposed to abusive language.
(The language in this report reflects that reality.)
“Get back in the kitchen and take your goddamn hands off a video game controller.”
Online gamer Jenny Haniver
The male voices are aggressive, even angry. Their put-downs are laced with strong swearing and sexual insults.
“Stupid bitch,” says one. “Fat whore,” adds another.
“I hope your boyfriend beats you. Nah, you can’t get a boyfriend.”
The tirade of abuse ends and Jenny Haniver laughs.
“Get back in the kitchen?” she says. “I’m not in the kitchen because I’m here kicking your ass on video games, that’s what I’m good at.”
We’re sitting in her living room in Wisconsin, listening to audio recordings she makes when she goes online to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. It’s a combat-based video game, where players can talk to each other via headsets.
The recordings end up on Haniver’s website, Not in the Kitchen Any More. She plays in the evening after college and says most nights she’ll have to deal with harassment of some kind. Some of it just puerile, but some is graphic and threatening.
“This enemy player backed out of the middle of the match and sent me a voice message,” Haniver says, remembering her worst experience. He said he hoped she would be raped and she and her family killed.
American gamers
- 72% of households play computer or video games
- Average gamer aged 37, has played for 12 years
- 42% are women
- Women aged 18+ represent a greater portion of game-playing population (37%) than boys aged 17 or younger (13%)
Source: Entertainment Software Association (US statistics)
Amazingly, this is not uncommon.
Another website, Fat, Ugly or Slutty, posts examples of harassment from all games – mostly pictures of in-game messages that women receive from other gamers.
“[There's] a plethora of stupidity when it comes to what women receive in online games,” says Grace, one of the site’s co-founders.
“There are some people who can’t even look at Fat, Ugly or Slutty because it reminds them too much of their lives, it upsets them too much,” she says. “A lot of people have just walked away from online play entirely.”
Source BBC