The Origins of Sexism in Gaming

---

Sexism is a huge problem in the gaming industry. But where does it all stem from? It’s really no secret that sexism remains a pervasive issue in practically every aspect of society, but there are some cases in which the sexism is more prevalent.

A young girl playing popular video game, Minecraft

Despite the fact that, according to a 2019 study from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the gender difference in video game playing is split almost 50-50, young girls and women can still feel left out of the scene when it comes to gaming. Young girls can feel unseen in the world of gaming and, as they get older, they may face a slew of online harassment and hate.

A lot of the sexism, in my opinion, starts at the very beginning of our exposure to video games. Marketing plays a huge role in the establishment of sexist ideologies in online spaces, and has the potential to especially impact the younger generations.

When the video game industry was just gaining traction in the 1970s, marketing strategies were more broad and focused on appealing to everyone instead of a select group of people. But, when a recession hit the gaming market, advertisers had to take a different approach. They felt they had to choose a demographic to specifically market to - and they chose men (Referenced here).

Target's video game section, featuring mainly male characters

If you walk into any retail store that sells video games, this marketing strategy is clear to see. The gaming section headings are overwhelmingly populated by male characters and most games themselves don't feature women on the covers. And, when women are shown on the covers, they are frequently in the background behind a lot of masculine-presenting characters.

Young girls who are interested in video games have a tendency, then, to feel out of place in the gaming community. It is easy to become discouraged about your interests when you don't feel represented within them.

This has bigger implications than just making people feel left out, though. Because boys are raised with the notion that video games are made for them (and in some minds for them only), it creates leeway for anti-women personalities to shine in an online space. Because women are seen as an "outside minority"(as referenced to in this article) due to this marketing strategy, women can begin to see the gaming industry as a hostile environment. Women can be sent violent are sexually suggestive messages (along with just plain sexist comments) when it is clear that they are a woman.

Women often receive hateful messages while playing games online, like pictured here and at the end of the essay.

Many games offer a multi-person experience, in which players can interact with other players from around the globe. While this does result in a way to connect with people, especially during a time where we cannot meet with people in person, it also allows us to be connected to people we may not usually want to interact with.

Multiplayer games are a way to connect with others, but open spaces for negative speech

With seemingly the whole world online now due to the COVID-19 pandemic, online gaming has become one of the only spaces safe enough for social interaction outside of our personal households. It has become a way to connect with and spend time with our friends. But it can become hard to engage on public online spaces when so commonly women experience harassment online.

Girls should feel comfortable with their interests

In the end, it feels as though the highest contributing factor to the emergence of sexism in the gaming industry is marketing. Other factors definitely play into the misogynist rhetoric, but the most unique aspect in regards to video games is the marketing. This doesn't completely discourage women and young girls from playing video games, though, and it shouldn't. Gaming is a fun way to connect with others. It's a great way to entertain yourself. Additionally, it is a safer way to have fun.

Young girls and women should feel able to join this online space without a fear of harassment. Young girls should feel seen in the video games they play. It's important to start from our first exposure to gaming - marketing. From advertisements to game packaging - we should try to advocate for more representation in the games we play. When we start there, we can begin to work on stopping the allowance and acceptance of sexism in the video game industry.

To give a depiction of the harassment I mentioned above, I wanted to add some screenshots. Seeing what this hostility looks like can help understand the community that has been created. I attempted to partially censor names enough to protect privacy but still be able to distinguish who is saying what in the chat. Likewise, I tried to desaturate the sections of the chat that are irrelevant to the topic at hand.

As I was creating this photo essay, I experienced and witnessed this gross, anti-women behavior on a popular multiplayer game. Before reading them, remember that this is not indicative of all interactions on this game or any game in general, but it does occur.

From the start of the game, this guy was saying inappropriate comments to this girl in the general chat.

The round hadn't even gone five minutes before this guy began sending messages to the full game chat, mentioning one user in particular by name.

When the girl responded, the other user used an acronym telling her to "shut the f--- up".

I felt bad and uncomfortable for the girl. I understand what its like to receive similar messages and wanted to show her support considering no one else in the game was doing so.

I mentioned in the chat that the user should stop and leave her alone. At first, he didn't respond and the girl replied to me saying "thank you for defending me". But, as it turns out, the other user was just formulating an aggressive response.

This conversation took place mid-game, in general chat

I am unsure why he decided to respond to me in Spanish, and if I didn't have a familiarity with the language I probably wouldn't have thought twice about what he said. But I recognized the words. Excuse my poor translating skills; I am not awesome at Spanish. Essentially what he said was something along the lines of "Sorry I didn't know she was a woman meg the next time I'll break you your f---ing b----" or, perhaps, the end could be "you b---- mother f---ing a--hole". Either way, an aggressive overreaction to me asking that he respects another user, who happens to be a woman, and stop making her uncomfortable in the chat.

I only share these examples to help strengthen the importance of advocating for a change in the way we create the online gaming space.