Sexism In Gaming – It Exists, It Thrives and It’s Hurting the Industry

In all forms, whether they be in game characters, players or industry professionals the women of gaming culture have to swim through shark infested waters in a male dominated industry that can be less than kind.

[kingdip90]

First off I'm going to discuss the box art thing. This is a business decision, the sexism in question is not because the women end up on the back of the box it's why. It's sexist because young males are the target audience, if women were the target audience you can guarantee that the box art would reflect that. The women on the back is a product of market research based on what appeals to the target audience, it's business plain and simple that is NOT intently sexist. I also believe that if the developers of games believed they could gain mass appeal in the female demographic that they would, they are not focused on it because they don't believe they can on masse albeit they do on a small level, this also is not sexist as its a business decision.

The creed is greed NOT discrimination for discriminations sake.

As for the second part of your article, the sexism that exists in the gaming community as a whole. I cannot deny that sexism exists here, it does as it permeates parts of society everywhere. I am part of the gaming community and I am far from sexist and I resent the implication that I'm lumped in with the ass hats who are just because I am a gamer.

Some would argue that the putrid element of the internet is nasty to everyone not just women and so it's not sexist and on some level I can see why but as I said some perpetuate it because they are so it can't wholly be said one way or the other for all of that element.

[Digital_Anomaly]

There is nothing that both surprises and delights me more than a well thought out and relevant response or comment to an article. ESPECIALLY ON N4G.

Great thoughts kingdip! Bubble, bubble, bubble up!

[Enigma_2099]

Jim Sterling.... is that you?

[konnerbllb]

How dare this author insinuate that Al Bundy is sexist.

[Joey_Leone]

NO MA'AM.

[Heisenburger]

Psycho Dad!

[Kraftwerk]

National
Organization
Men
Against
Amazonian
Masterhood

[palaeomerus]

Yeah fiction must be fixed to protect all the people who aren't real from stuff that's not real, and to somehow magically prevent bad stuff in the real world as if it were all caused by stuff you don't like showing up in video games.

[CuHnadian]

I agree that the most of the decisions on the business side are just that, business decisions, not made because they hate women. The problem I have is that I don't feel it's justified, gamers are almost 50/50 when it comes to being men or women, yet most games still market exclusively to men.

The Last of Us ended up selling six million copies with a female character on the front cover, which seems to go against this idea that having a women on the cover will immediately make your game sell next to nothing. But I do agree, it's a case of cold businessmen looking at spreadsheets rather than them having a hatred of the opposite sex (though I'm sure there are some that do).

As for the second part, I'm not saying that every male gamer is a dickhead that trolls women in the community and industry. Unfortunately, there is a very loud minority that goes around and makes the debate worse on both sides.

It's definitely true that the internet is just a mean place in general, but I still feel that people don't tend to go as far against men in the industry than women. I mean, I know Mac Walters and Phil Fish got their fair share of internet hate, but I don't think the community went as far compared to Zoe Quinn or Jennifer Hepler.

Thank you so much for the well written comment, Kingdip90 :)

[jazmac]

It's not 50/50 in core gaming. This misconception that gaming is made up equally of men and women stems from the fact that all those statistics include mobile gaming which is really a market all on its own.

[kingdip90]

You are welcome :) thankyou also for the courteous response.

[uth11]

Yes, most gaming companies are just trying to do what it takes to survive in a very competitive industry, and making decisions to that end. Most aren't out there trying to make social statements.

If you have a beef with the results, then your beef should really be with the consumers whose tastes the companies are catering to.

[rivencleft]

Bubble up for you sir for well said.

I am glad to see there are others out there that don't appreciate being lumped into the group of people who generally make us real gamers look bad through the sheer stupidity of sexism, racism, ageism, or any other 'ism' you can think of based on assumption.

Very intelligent response to a gaming article, especially here on n4g, kudos. It makes me happy when I see someone can truly rebut on here with an intelligent and well-said statement.

[palaeomerus]

Just by using the phrase "real gamers" smugly in relation to your over developed social justice impulse to fix the evils of fiction you looked both sanctimonious and deluded.

[BeatTheBullies]

Click Baiting, Don't click it.

[Digital_Anomaly]

Lol, really? Try reading the article first! Lots of good points backed up by solid facts to encourage open discussion. Sure don't read it if you don't want to but it's hardly click bait.

[KonsoruMasuta]

I tried reading it.

I had to stop when they brought up the BioShock infinite cover. How do they know that the people who vote even cared about gender? Maybe they chose that cover because they thought it looked the coolest! Maybe it was more appealing to the eye.

When I look at a video game cover, I don't care about who is on it and what their gender is. I just think, "Man, that looks awesome"

It makes me angry when people try to make a mountain out of a mole hill.

Seriously! People these days can find sexism in a bowl of soup.

[Eonjay]

"I know I’ve been in discussions where we’ve been asked to push Ellie to the back and everyone at Naughty Dog just flat-out refused.”

Yike. I think people put to much thought into feeding into people perceptions of societal archetypes. Good on ND for standing by their principles.

[Chespin]

I imagine all this articles are wrote by a guy that works with women and he thinks by writing this he'll get laid.

[SnakeCQC]

You have issues.

[creeping judas]

And horrible grammar!!

[Chespin]

sry meh grmamer iz bahd eye'll bee caerfil on da fuchair.

[mixelon]

That really makes no sense at all. But good job perpetuating the pathetic gamer stereotype - from multiple angles.

[user7402931]

Tired of these feminazis who are no more than manhaters antagonising men to get attention. Humanism ftw

[Ogygian]

Most people who play AAA games are men, so I would think it be natural that games are targeted at the innermost fantasies of the men who spend the most money on them.

I'm a sexist in a sense, but no misogynist. I treat the gender I'm attracted to different from the ones I'm not in social situations (not work, debate or sport, which must be purely meritocratic).

I want to play as a person of the same gender as myself because I can then for the most part understand their point of view a little easier (ideally the same country as myself if I had complete control, and if it was a neutral setting, where these things are easily changeable, and I'm not bored of more of the same).

I can enjoy in-game romances if the PC is the same gender as myself. I'm not evil for having a preference, and I'm sure female gamers would generally like to play women more than men, as this creates attainable role-models, and allows them to experience romantic sub-plots from a perspective which naturally evokes more enjoyment. Similarly, I expect LGBT gamers would prefer to play LGBT characters and so forth. If you want evidence for any of this, see how campaigns for different protagonist types are often led by people of the desired gender. There's nothing naturally wrong with this, but it's important that devs treat these concerns on a cost-benefit basis against the desires of competing groups.

Having said that, it would probably be in their best interest to get some real market research on this sort of thing, if they haven't already. Would male gamers subconsciously prefer a male lead over a female, all other things equal? What about box art? The statements I made above are just based on my own feelings and my speculation on the psychological workings of others. Of course, all of us would be better off with even just a little variety, simply so games provide fresh experiences every now and again.

The industry could be hurting their own profits by making too many assumptions without strong empirical support.

Of course, the attacks on people who have differing views mentioned towards the end of the article are never OK. You have a right to disagree, but being nasty to people is not something we should condone.

[MilkMan]

YAAAWWWWNN!!

[rivencleft]

How well did the Tomb Raider Lara Croft games do with sales figures?

[mixelon]

Am i the only person who knows almost as many girls who play "hardcore" games as guys? And the number is growing with each generation. All of my daughter's friends game, and not just "casual" games.

Everyone saying its vastly weighted towards male gamers... Just because you don't know many girl gamers doesn't mean they aren't there. Yes, clearly more than 50% of the player-base is male. We're not talking an insignificant number of females though.

[palaeomerus]

What's hurting the industry is 1.) a weak economy burdened by inflation, unemployment, and a shrinking standard of living 2.) a maturing, somewhat saturated, and fairly commoditized electronics market that depends on planned obsolescence for revenue, 3.) publisher/developer overspending, wildcatting, and 4.) an increasingly irrelevant regional game press trying to tell publishers and developers what sort of content is acceptable when they face no actual consequences to their stupid fad and politics driven edicts.

[ShaunCameron]

Sure it is. It is hurting the people who do have something of value to contribute to the industry by throwing them under the bus in favor of malcontents, incompetents and losers who constantly need to have their existence validated so their precious little sensibilities don't get offended all in the name of "equality," "diversity," "fairness," etc.