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Edited by faunidae: 8/29/2014 1:55:28 AM
66

WOMEN IN THE GAMING INDUSTRY

I found this article. Give it a read. [quote]"Women are the nig[i]g[/i]ers of gender," the email said. "If you killed yourself, I wouldn’t even -blam!- the corpse." I blinked at my phone, fighting simultaneous urges to hurl my phone across the room in anger and cry. Later that day, someone texted me my address — telling me they’d "See me when I least expected it." I haven’t been out to my car at night by myself since January 2nd. My name is Brianna Wu. I lead a development studio that makes games. Sometimes, I write about issues in the games industry that relate to the equality of women. My reward is that I regularly have men threatening to r[i]a[/i]pe and commit acts of violence against me. If you are a woman working in the games industry, especially in a public way, you’re going to experience harassment. I imagine telling my 12-year-old self that fulfilling my dream of making games would lead to constant threats. Would she still do it? Would any woman? [b]The problem with sharing these stories in broad terms is that people think men and women receive the same harassment online. They do not. I’m not writing this piece to evoke your sympathy. I’m writing to share with you what prominent, successful women in the industry experience, in their own words.[/b] [b]The Myth[/b]: Everyone in the games industry experiences harassment. Women are just too sensitive about it. [b]The Reality[/b]: If you are a woman in the industry with a critical opinion, you will get a disproportional amount of criticism, hostility, and scrutiny compared to men. "Anita Sarkeesian once reblogged a Tumblr post of mine and it ended up on Reddit. I got so much hate mail from dudes that I left the internet for three days," Nina said. "They filled my Tumblr mailbox with the usual anon posts like, ‘Die, you f[i]u[/i]cking c[i]u[/i]nt!’ And, ‘You'll know when I r[i]a[/i]pe your mouth hole, bitch!’ When I turned off anonymous messages, they made new Tumblr accounts and continued to spam me. Later, they discovered the link to my personal webpage and sent hate mail through there. I still get an occasional random hate message through my website." [b]Conclusion: I’ve personally never heard of a man in the games industry getting r[ia[/i]pe threats for having an opinion.[/b] [b]A male friend of mine that develops AAA games told me, "When a woman criticizes me, it goes to a different part of my brain than when a man on my team does. I get defensive really quickly. I’m trying to get better about it." I don’t think his is a unique experience.[/b] [b]We live in a society that’s sexist in ways it doesn’t understand. One of the consequences is that men are extremely sensitive to being criticized by women. I think it threatens them in a very primal way, and male privilege makes them feel free to lash out. [/b] [b]This is why women are socialized to carefully dance around these issues, disagreeing with men in an extremely gentle manner. Not because women are nicer creatures than men, but because our very survival can depend on it.[/b] [b]The Myth[/b]: Women in the games industry get special treatment for being women, and your life can be made easier by your looks [b]The Reality[/b]: Many men believe women have no worth in the games industry beyond appearance. This means that an incredible amount of conversation focuses on sexual attractiveness or appearance in general. Nicole’s Experience: Nicole Tanner is a former editor of IGN, and was one of the founders of "Girlfight." I talked to her recently about the harassment she received while running this groundbreaking all-woman podcast. "If you want examples of self-esteem destroying comments, search for the PAX Girlfight panel on YouTube. At IGN, I’d simply ignore the comments because they were so bad. And that's sad, because I'm sure I missed out on some thoughtful discussion, but wading through the insults to get to the few good comments wasn't worth it." A look at the YouTube comments for her 2010 PAX East panel is stomach-churning. A shocking number of them personally attack the women of Girlfight. "I thought they would put some -blam!-ing hot girls up there to -blam!-ing look at. AM I RIGHT?" "Only 1 out of 5 is hot, and that is Jessica. The rest need to be in the kitchen." "Wow, now I realize why Jess is the only chick working in IGN that gets featured in videos." [b]Conclusion: The video game industry is particularly egregious at only representing women as sex objects. As such, many gamers are trained to only see women in that context. [/b] When I’ve been attacked over my looks, it’s hurt me very deeply. I am an engineer and a head of development for my company. My value to the industry is leading my team to make games, but that very basic reality is no defense against constant commentary on how I look. This constant stream of comments and insults aimed at your body, face, and presentation is inescapable, and rarely happens to men on the same level. [b]The Myth[/b]: Women should just laugh off online harassment and not take it personally. [b]The Reality[/b]: This kind of harassment leaves long-lasting damage. It affects our friendships, and can cause us to be distant from others. Often, I’ll see people lashing out at women they perceive as too bitchy or too confrontational. They don’t understand that we are the sum of our experiences. The toxic environment causes us to change. If people attack you online, you’re going to get defensive quickly. If people sexually harass you, you’re going to grow more inward, and more protective. It’s a very human reaction, and there is no way to face this daily reality without it changing who you are. [b]PEOPLE DON’T UNDERSTAND[/b] Women in the industry are told by men what is valid for us to feel. The conversations tend not to recognize the reality of the situation, and the very real threats that can occur at gaming events or in our day-to-day lives. We’re told it doesn’t matter, to grow a thicker skin, and that men go through the same thing. I have yet to talk to a man who has had to call a police officer due to a stalker, only to be told nothing can be done until they are physically assaulted. It’s hard to explain what it’s like to be at a gaming event, cornered by someone who claims to be a fan, and to be physically kept from leaving by someone holding you in place or putting their body between you and the exit. The comments on stories about lived experiences of women tend to ignore these stories, or claim the issue is as simple as nasty messages on videos or news stories. The words and experiences of women are shouted down, or ignored. [b]THINGS AREN'T GETTING BETTER FOR WOMEN ON THE INTERNET; THEY’RE DETERIORATING[/b] It’s telling that men in the gaming industry, or simply commentators, refuse to listen to the reality of these situations and try to help. They’d rather talk over women and convince themselves of a fictional reality that’s more comforting.[/quote] If you actually scaled that Great Wall of Text, then I salute you. Tell me your thoughts on this issue. I had to edit out much of the article for it to fit. The whole thing can be found in the link above.
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  • Edited by Grisha The Elite: 8/29/2014 12:12:20 AM
    In a world where Bungie is God... One OP can make the thread to attract every.single.neckbeard.ever... Watch as anti-Feminist neckbeards jack off to rage posts that they put while they scream at their Windows 8 while fapping to My Little Pony Hentai... Only one OP... Can attract them all...

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  • *grabs popcorn*

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    • Is this a feminism thread? *sigh* You're implying that women game designers only get harassed because of their gender That's like saying Apple sucks because of their logo Apple doesn't suck because of their logo They suck because they make shitty tech (Just an example lol) Game developers (men or women) get harassed because of angry fanboys Being a high ranking anything guarantees hate regardless of gender Men just don't complain because they deal with it The same way that non sensitive women deal with it too They don't get r­ape messages because that's not how one threatens a man Each gender will never be fully equal and there are different approaches people take to threaten each gender It doesn't change the fact that threats are threats no matter what it is Why can't they shrug it off? I get 1OO messages a day from people saying how much they hate me and that I should go kill myself But I let it go I don't care Why should I? They're just empty threats Now I believe women do need more rights but the level of oppression that the feminist community claims to have is just bullshit

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      • I wouldn't doubt that women get treated differently due to gender, but she's getting hate mail because she's a 'public figure', not just because she's female. As for her not hearing about X event not happening to males, no reported activity does not mean no activity. Imagine the hate mail Deej gets here, for instance.

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      • [quote]The Reality: Many men believe women have no worth in the games industry beyond appearance. This means that an incredible amount of conversation focuses on sexual attractiveness or appearance in general.[/quote] Because they don't, as much as I like to see female reporters at E3 they are pretty worthless when it comes to game development. Their opinions on how things should work are also unwanted and are flawed in many ways. As my father used to say, "women should be seen, not heard."

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        • This women needs protection and a 12 gauge

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        • This woman should be -blam!-

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        • I look the person who wrote this up. Never even heard of the company she works for. It's some small company that is making what looks to me to be a crappy game for iOS. Not even PC, iOS. There is absolutely no way in hell this person got as many hate comments and threats as jd2020 (treyarch community manager through blops 2) a day. He would have received so much more than she does. Just saying. If people would learn to stop pulling the gender and race cards (although some situations call for it, like Chris brown being shot) and learn to deal with their own problems it would be a lot nicer of a place to live in. This article was complete bullshit. Anyone who says otherwise is completely blind.

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        • Get thicker skin. Not justifying the insults she receives but I would just ignore them after a while. I get a lot of shit online in games too but I just either ignore them or trade insults. It's the Internet,and people are always going to spew out the filthiest things they can because hide behind a screen.

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        • I'm just going to leave this here.... >.>

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          • Edited by KingKrown: 8/28/2014 4:03:18 AM
            People are so f*cking overly sensitive, entitled and easily offended ... and half the time pull some race or gender card for their lack of success,ambition, will or their toilet paper skin & esteem. some just make conflict where there is none.. THERE AREN'T enough [race here],Women! or [sexual preference here] type characters in this, This is Anti-X. Instead o creating their own thing, People in gaming as of late want to shove their ideals down people's throat SO BAD,YOU HAVE TO CONFORM to their personal preference. [quote]The Reality: This kind of harassment leaves long-lasting damage. It affects our friendships, and can cause us to be distant from others.[/quote] ...an example of being "Overly sensitive" You know how many times I've been called a N*gger, online and in real life? I don't go around like. I...I just can't trust my Caucasian,Latin,Asian friends anymore...not...not after what that random dude said to me..THEY ARE JUST LIKE HIM! *runs away dramatically* This chick has so much assumption & generalization in this "article" is ridiculous....you just group EVERYONE with the bad apples? ...seriously? using only facetious INTERNET comments as a basis for an argument ....seriously? I will ALWAYS be given sh*t,weather for being Black, or more importantly just being a person with an opinion. lol people are a**holes,get over it....They need to grow a metaphorical pair. "This game/idea is Sh*t" ...OH IT'S BECAUSE I"M A [Woman]/[Race here]/[Sexual preference here]! There are some legit trolls out there,don't get more wrong. But they act like they are the 1st person to ever get "harassed" or insulted. The fact she let her jimmies get rustled over that means they have done their job. EVERY/ANY dev could pull that I'm being harassed crap. You know how easy it'd be for Bungie/Activison ANY Team could say they are being harassed by X group because they are X? They are given sh*t ALL the time, like ANYONE one else in gaming,SOMEONE is ALWAYS unhappy,someone is always going to troll. They could EASILY make up some article about how they are being treated this way because of something to do with race,gender,sexual preference. Instead of [u]playing the victim[/u] all the time and B*tching about it, they go on about their business. You know how easily an unsuccessful dev team could go on and say people don't support their game because we are mostly X and Support X or we don't like X. Why would someone even want to waste time arguing with some close minded individual? those people more then often say your argument is Moot & can't POSSIBLY understand their level of anguish and harassment blah blah.. If I wanted to see a change in gaming,which I do,but...instead of b*tching ,blaming,pointing fingers and playing the victim card, Maybe I should actually get involved and try to make a difference by actual DOING SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE. ..something besides whining.

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            • Welp, I read it all. I can't really get my head around the whole "I stated my opinion and the death threats just started piling up like crazy" part. I think she did something that she left out. Whatever though, that's just wot ie thunk.

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            • Is it really so hard to just be [i]decent[/i] to people? To treat them like human beings?

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              • They need be nice to girls

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              • Of course I agree! Have you ever seem a girl in a CoD lobby? They get harassed by everyone with a mic. I wouldn't be surprised if some of those guys kept harassing the girl after too.

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                • Look, a solution would be to make female characters more common and have plenty of different personalities. I think the biggest issues are in the MMO and FPS genres where they are all treated as sex objects or just not even there.

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                  • I read the whole thing, but I forgot a lot of it. Though I do agree. From what I've seen, someone is always harassing a female player.

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                  • Wow, I haven't read that much since... ever. But she does make a good point in what's wrong with the gaming community and such. In an ideal world we would all be equal regardless of your race, gender or sexuality but we don't live in one, thumbs up for Miss. Wu for raising the awareness even if it's by little.

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                  • I wish I could be payed to whine all day.

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                    • dc;dr

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                    • Men and women are different it may be sexist to say that but it's also true. I don't think men or women would like it very much if we were treated exactly the same. I'm not defending the things that she mentioned in this article some were just plain despicable. I'm talking more about sex roles in society as a whole. I didn't like the implication that gamers are sexist because we are trained by video games to be sexist as if male gamers are only influenced by games. This is the same logic that says games train murderers. Guys spend more money and time on games. Guys like eye candy and I see no reason why myself or anyone else should feel guilty about this. I'm not saying a women should be judged only by her looks but all things being equal who isn't picking the hottie.

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                      • I read things like this, and I remember times when guys like Jack Thompson and Leland Yee were trying [i]really hard[/i] to paint gamers as sociopathic violent savages, each one of us planning the next Columbine. And suddenly I'm angered by how an amazingly large portion of gaming culture is now seemingly [b]STRIVING[/b] to become that. I have a few friends who are girl gamers, and unlike me and my male friends, they have been the actual subject of DDoS attacks, and get spammed with all sorts of shit when they play online with voice chat. I've been called a few things, and had people clearly say nasty shit online directed at me, but it's not even the same LEAGUE as what they get, and the second I say something as simple as "That's not cool, guy.", I'm suddenly a social justice warrior or a "white knight" (which are really stupid ways of saying "willing to say something about how -blam!-ed up you're acting" in an attempt to shame me or some shit). At this point, it's clear that people aren't interested in even [i]THINKING[/i] about what women are actually going through, and just assuming it's somehow "okay" to treat people like that. But for gods sakes, if you think that looking up someone's address and/or phone number, sharing that information, threatening, or attacking them could [b]EVER[/b] be "justified" or "okay" even a LITTLE BIT, then you need to seek professional help because you are [i]actually[/i] an insane person.

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                        • lolPolygon. Gaming media covers game news and sometimes reviews games. I don't read any other crap they put up.

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                        • I almost didn't read past the first line but I went ahead and read the whole thing. There's not much I can say other than I think that the fact that there is so much networking with the community needed in gaming development that it makes it that much harder for females. The internet is a great and terrible place. As for the stalking and threats I wish something could be done about it. Even if they're likely empty threats from a bunch of teenagers and neck bearded pussies.

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                        • One only need look through the comments on this very thread to confirm what she is saying. If she weren't correct, then the average response would be meh, who cares. Instead, we see just what she describes.

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                          • That was actually just pretty funny,she's just super sensitive.

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