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Girls, you know that feeling when you put on your comfiest sweat pants, set up your gaming corner perfectly with snacks galore, and excitedly log into that anticipated game only to hear boys snickering and laughing about how a girl has just joined the server? Yeah, me too. Although the unwritten rules have marked gaming a boy’s territory, the gaming industry flourishes from women’s support, creativity, talent, and streaming. A lot of times, women are seen as “intruders” invading this sacred male space and aren’t “worthy” to join in the fun. If the spirit of gaming is to relax and have fun, why shouldn’t women be apart of that also?
Women have been apart of the gaming community from the beginning — from helping create some of the first arcade games to having some of the biggest platforms in the gaming community today. Unfortunately, even though women are a huge part of the gaming community, most women will experience hostility and harassment while gaming. Despite this harassment, women continue to dominate in games, get millions of views on streams, and build a community between themselves. After all, it takes more than a few hating boys to get a gamer girl to turn off her computer.
Women’s Impact On Gaming
Historically, women have been at the frontlines helping engineer and create some of today’s most popular video games, consoles, and even the modern-day computer. From Carol Shaw, the first woman programmer, and designer, to Dona Bailey, who was the first woman to design an arcade game, the list can go on and on. Gaming would not be where it is today without the help of women’s innovation and hard work. Ada Lovelace created the first computer program, Margaret Hamilton developed programs that influenced how modern computers work today, and Megan Smith is known for pushing diversity throughout IT workplaces.
Today, countless women have made it big by streaming the games or creating successful YouTube channels. If you’re new to video games, searching for popular women gamers can be difficult, so here is a list of some fan-favorite women gamers to follow. Pokimane is a popular and successful gamer known for playing “Fortnite,” “League,” and a variety of other games. G2Athena is well known for playing “Rocket League” and hosting G2 watch parties for RLCS. LifeSimmer has 748k followers on youtube and is famous for playing “The Sims 4.”
iHasCupquake has an outstanding 6.9 million followers and has recently played the popular game “Among Us.” These are just a few well-known women gamers; there are countless women dominating gaming arenas every day who don’t get the credit they deserve. Despite their popularity, these women gamers still receive hateful comments, unwanted sexual advances and are teased for their interests. This highlights that no matter how successful a woman is, there are always boys in the gaming community who will not take her seriously and continue to harass her.
Harassment Towards Women In The Gaming Community
Every day, women gamers experience harassment on varying levels leading fewer women to play video games or pursue a career in video games. According to a survey conducted by the International Videogame Developer Association, white males are more likely to be hired, receive promotions, and harass their women peers in the video game development world. Furthermore, 65% of women reported experiencing harassment and received up to three times as many derogatory comments over men. (( “International Game Developers Association.” IGDA, igda.org/. )). Men have tried to push women out of the gaming community, as women report experiencing extreme misogynistic, violent comments, and even death threats that are hard to report and filter. For example, in 2019, more than 150 employees staged a walkout (( Grayson, Nathan, and Cecilia D’Anastasio. “Over 150 Riot Employees Walk Out To Protest Forced Arbitration And Sexist Culture [Updated].” Kotaku, Kotaku, 7 May 2019, kotaku.com/over-150-riot-employees-walk-out-to-protest-forced-arbi-1834566198. )) at Riot Games’ Los Angeles headquarters over its mishandling lawsuits about workplace sexual harassment, sexism, and misconduct, thus forcing the company to change its policies.
Where does this harassment and violence towards women in gaming stem from? Well, that is a complicated answer. Sexist and conforming expectations on how boys and girls are raised are still prevalent in today’s society. Girls are less likely to be gifted video game consoles or video games than their male peers. With more boys growing up playing video games, the video game community continues to be dominated by boys and men, making it intimidating for girls to join in the fun.
Furthermore, the depiction of women video game characters continues the false narrative that women exist only for male pleasure. Women video game characters are, for the most part, depicted as sex objects, with exaggerated “anime” boobs or butts, and wearing risqué clothing. Male players sexualize these characters; thus, when a woman enters the chatroom, the fantasy is interrupted. This is why it’s important to have women video game designers and for gaming companies to give women designers and creators a chance. It is way past due to start seeing more diverse looking characters in games.
Time To Band Together And Start Gaming!
In the gaming community, there are “girly” games and then there are game spaces designated only for men players. “Girly” games like “Sims,” “Animal Crossing,” and “Stardew Valley” aren’t seen as real games because they aren’t male-dominated first-person shooter games. Obviously, the population who holds this mindset has never tried to get a five-star island or create the perfect farm. Regardless, it doesn’t matter what game you play as long as you enjoy it. Ladies, it’s okay to like these so-called “girly” games, but it’s also okay to venture out into unknown territory.
The stereotypes over games being only for men or women are completely ridiculous — both sexes can enjoy all games! If you are nervous about starting a new game because you’ll be a beginner, that’s okay. Pick up that controller, download that game, and keep trying until you get the hang of things because before you know it, you’ll go from beginner to expert. Men’s opinions on the games you play, the color choice of your headset or keyboard, or how long you’ve been gaming frankly doesn’t matter — the only thing that matters is if you’re having fun.
Entering into a sometimes unwelcoming and competitive male space can be intimidating, so don’t go in alone! Find some friends who will play with you and back you up if things get ugly. If none of your friends are available, there are online platforms where you can meet other women with similar gaming interests.
You can find girl — only online gaming communities on social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Reddit. In addition, men, if you hear boys bullying or harassing girls during a game, don’t just sit there and say nothing. Stand up for your girl peers because misogynistic harassment isn’t cool, and if you choose to be silent about it, then the cycle will never break. Now ladies, grab that controller and go have some fun.