Sexism And Abuse Isn't Only On Twitter: One Woman's Gaming Experience

A commenter describes the reactions of male players she beat in an MMORPG – and the change when she played as a 'man'

[TripC50]

If this story was true why didn't she sue the crap out of the people who release her information to everyone to see. I'm sure that's a breach of confidentiality or something right?

[Anon1974]

Who's to say she isn't currently pursing the matter? Lawsuits take time.

I'm all for stripping away anonymity online. I think people should be held accountable for their online behavior. This type of behavior is toxic.

[cleft5]

Either way this sort of behavior is unacceptable. I think the worst thing you can do when being harassed is stay silent. Better to be loud and vocal about mistreatment then to let it continue to occur. Silence only serves to allow abuse to continue. I know it can be very hard for people to speak out when they are experience an injustice in this world, but sometimes you just have to speak out and stand against the world.

The best part is that when you do that, you find that there are a lot of people out their experiencing the same thing as you and will stand with you in your struggle.

[Godlovesgamers]

This is just sad. Ive heard women take the same kind of abuse from men when they score higher in team deathmatch back when I used to play CoD BO 2.

Real men dont tealk like this, threatening girls with rape and death just because their pride is hurt from losing in a video game. What a worthless lot these idiots are. I think if people were actually held accountable for the words that came out of their mouth, this problem would scarcely exist. Your so called freedoms arent a license to trample other peoples rights with. Freedom is a privelage, use it for the betterment of those around you.

[slimeybrainboy]

I don't really think the problem is sexism, I just think it's arseholes on XBL. If she were a he the arseholes would still jump on other people for anything they could identify; race, age, name, where you live. It's just that gender is recognisable over chat, so that's seen more commonly. These people are pretty much shit anyway. If they could see that you worked at a cinema they world rip on you for that, but they can't hear that over XBL.

[-EvoAnubis-]

"I think if people were actually held accountable for the words that came out of their mouth, this problem would scarcely exist. Your so called freedoms arent a license to trample other peoples rights with. Freedom is a privelage, use it for the betterment of those around you."

YES. You nailed it right there.

[majiebeast]

Only female gamers i dont like are the fake ones on twitch. That play games but then have the game window much much smaller(if you can even see the game) then their boobcam window the self pronounced gamer girl.

I remember when i played a female night elf in WOW with a female name for lulz, and it was just constant morons dancing and harrasing me. So glad i picked Tauren nobody wants to dance with a cow. Wow was the worst offender when i compare it to DCUO,Atlantica online or APB:Reloaded where i didnt get any type of that abuse when i played a female character.

Some people just need to grow up and go outside once in a while, so they can meet the special female race that they have apparently never seen or heard from before.

[Ripsta7th]

Lol woman arent accepted normally in gaming yet, and seems some gamers cant control themselves when there is a chick playing, everyone tries to be the Alpha male

[Lord_Sloth]

Might have something to do with the fact that some women refuse to date men who play games at all, even if they have a solid job and their own place. That and people just generally drudge up whatever aweful insults they can when they're losing in any kind of competition. I've been called a"fag", "Cracker", and many more that I don't care to repeat more times than I care to count.

Not defending the sexism, just saiyan.

[cleft5]

Not true. The fact is that there are a lot of idiots out there, but on the whole most people just want to play the game and have a good time. It's just that this minor group of sexist morons can be very vocal and the past establishment didn't take complaints seriously enough so the abuse was allowed to continue. Thankfully, this isn't as true as it was before.

[Brucis]

The people who do that are the people who will rag on anyone. The amount of times I heard someone say faggot or nigger in an actual derogatory way is pretty high. You being female is simply another facet they can target, not the sole reason they targeted you. As for people that ragged on you when you were obviously female and didn't when you weren't then yeah that's sexist. Otherwise it's simply another way for people to get at you.

[Hicken]

That's my problem with this whole "gaming is sexist" issue: it completely ignores that men are subject to the same treatment.

Being black, I'm subject to racism. Whether you're straight or not, your sexual orientation will be questioned. Oh yeah: if you're female, people will attack you.

That's part of online gaming. Not a good part, and I'm not excusing it in the slightest. But it's not some concerted effort in gaming to marginalize women.

[xxBiG_BoSSxx]

this type of attitude makes me not want to live on this planet anymore.

I'm also black, and I will never accept being called a nigger or any other racially derogatory name as a "part of online gaming" I think it is sad that you apparently do.

Why should any woman accept it? Because most men do for whatever reason?

Whenever a story like this comes up people like you make an argument about not being all about woman or it not being "some concerted effort in gaming to marginalize woman." Well, woman aren't saying anything like that. They are standing up for themselves, and anyone else being treated this way, regardless of gender or race.

[Hicken]

... who's accepting what?

I didn't say it was okay. In fact, I said "Not a good part, and I'm not excusing it in the slightest."

The point is that it's part of online gaming. It's the same as some random ass calling in and saying something rude on a radio show. It's the power of anonymity. And the only way to get rid of it is to eliminate that anonymity and assign some personal responsibility for your words and actions online(gaming, internet, or otherwise).

That aside, there's enough crap going on in this world to be pissed off about; I don't get bent out of shape over some ignorant fool calling me a racial slur. I'm well enough informed to understand it's them feeling threatened that even prompts the insults in the first place. Establishing a sense of superiority is done to mask a feeling of inferiority.

Why should I get mad over that?

As for you last paragraph, that's false. Whenever any such thing happens, they don't stand up for everyone. They make a generalization that gaming is sexist. They play up how a female character is sexualized, and ignore how male characters are treated the same. They only talk about the experiences of women, as if what they experience is any different from what men experience, or happens at a more frequent rate.

In order to do that, they conveniently leave out how often it happens to non-females.

I'm perfectly happy that they stand up for themselves: you'd be hard-pressed to find a man that respects women as much as I do. But the stance they take is always "The gaming industry" as opposed to "These particular idiots."

It would be the same as someone insulting you and then you saying "All white people." That would be a fallacy. But it's what's happening here.

That's the problem I have.

[xxBiG_BoSSxx]

well you should read the article, or read it again if you already have. This article and most others i see here references the womans experience with trolls. In gaming. They do not condemn the entirety of the gaming community.

also, its my stance that saying behavior like this is a part of gaming is accepting it. I don't think its a part of gaming. Much like I don't think racism or abuse of any kind is part of living in society. It shouldn't occur. Ignoring this behavior or just shrugging it off does not solve the problem.

You are clearly a very intelligent person. I think you would understand that a rape threat may affect a woman more or be taken more seriously by a woman. Much like being called a nigger would affect me more than someone of another race.

You are 100% correct when you say sexism in games goes both ways, especially in regards to characters. But to deride a woman for speaking out on behalf of women is foolish. If men feel so mistreated, then we should speak up as well.

I respect your opinions though, and can see where you are coming from. I just think that with a little empathy, you'll see that most of these woman speaking out aren't attacking the gaming community as a whole, because they themselves are gamers.

[ThanatosDMC]

That's screwed up right there... releasing her personal info. The company should be sued. I hope she wins too.

[Ilwrath]

Screenshots or it didn't happen.

[Ogygian]

Trolls will be trolls. While none of us should pay any respect to their words, their presence on the internet is reassuring, as it confirms that freedom of speech is still alive and well. Besides, these words can't hurt anyone unless they value the opinion of such trolls.

[-EvoAnubis-]

That's easy to say until you're on the receiving end of it. Oh and 'freedom of speech' isn't a magic spell that allows a person to say whatever they want without consequence. That 'freedom' stipulates having the ability to speak out against the government without fear that they can strike back at you for having and stating your opinion. It doesn't mean that someone can threaten to freaking rape someone and it's all good.

[Lord_Sloth]

I'm often on the recieving end of this sort of crap and I still defend their right to say what they want. I have the right to ignore them into oblivion as well. When it turns to something more (like hacking and releasing my personal information) that's when it's a bit different, but until then they are free to voice whatever.

[Ogygian]

These trolls just hurl the worst abuse possible, empty threats being part of it. Many of us have at some point had our lives threatened by some random profile on the internet, and it's meaningless unless they act on it, in which case they should face the full force of the law. Celebrities get tonnes of these, but zero are followed through with. As long as our personal details are protected (as Lord_Sloth rightly said) then I see no need for the police to get involved.
I mean, if someone does something to provoke a telephone response of "I'm going to ***** kill you/him", the police wouldn't get involved. Rape, regardless of how it is prevented (and it is still a very serious crime) is not as severe as death, and would just indicate that the person stating it is probably an unpleasant misogynist.
Yes, misogynists are nasty people, but we don't put nasty people in jail unless they actually DO something to physically harm someone, or pose a genuinely real threat (ie. stating details of how/where/when they're going to rape/kill someone) to them. There is a serious risk of putting people in jail for just being slightly unpleasant, which would be a perversion of Western laws.

[pop-voxuli]

Oh Lord, here we go.

[NioRide]

Hey I get trolled all the time, I think equal rights means she should get it too.

[Aaroncls7]

As long as there are assholes, there will be abuse and disgust, no matter where you are.

A-hole guys talk trash and "threaten" each other all the time (to rape too), this is not reserved just for female players.

If there really is a desire to eliminate sexism, then we should stop addressing it as such. Assholes are bad for everybody, they are the scourge of online games, no matter the gender.

[MiasmaDodo]

sick of these articles
and the goody two-shoe males who comment on here...

guy world is a egotisticle, aggressive, confusing, and unkind 70% of the time...even for other Males.

Girls who want to be accepted in the "club" need to understand that Males are the vocal majority in games; and guy world is a Free for All of Shit talking, name calling, etc since forever.

[FRAKISTAN]

Will someone explain to me what this woman was doing out of teh kitchen

[TekoIie]

Eh I cant be bothered to try and ban you ;)

[Phoenix76]

Sadly, you will always have the unfortunate encounter with very small minded people on the web.
I myself had an incident a few months back whilst playing on Black Ops 2 (Tranzit Mode), where some silly little twerp was going on about want to doing sexual things with my very daughter.
I promptly left the game and report those ppl, however, I expect that very little to nothing was done about it.
Its easy to say things when you know the chances are that you will never be caught or punished for it.
My best advice is to mute others(except my close friends) and ignore most of the texts.

[Tultras]

In an online world, anonymity is everything.

I, too, find fault with the woman in question here, only in some parts though.

Whenever I play, it is a sure enough thing that abuses are being hurled everyone, sometimes at the opponent, sometimes at me. Infact. I think it has become a signature of gaming -- The trash talk of the gaming world, and nothing to be taken seriously. I mean, in a match of Call of Duty, if someone goes like " I'm so going to rape you ", Would you really take it seriously? What is the point behind REVEALING your identity. That's the lovely thing behind the Internet, it's completely anonymous and in something as casual as an online game, Being butthurt at everything being said is childish.

Sorry if I may sound sexist, But people have started to take it as if WOMEN are the ONLY ones to get "harrassed" at online video games? It's a sure enough thing for PEOPLE in general. The next time someone hurls an abuse at you and you're a female, don't think that he did it because you're a girl, because it wasn't, it's because you hurt his gaming pride.

On a side note: She should sue the gaming company for revealing if personal information.