Yesterday, I was scrolling through my Facebook feed when I
came across a recent article shared by one of my childhood friends named Kate*.
Growing up with three older brothers, Kate has always been infatuated by the
world of gaming. As a lover of “Tekken Tag” and “Legend of Zelda,” I was
surprised to find that the NEWSFACTOR
article Kate shared was actually reprimanded the gaming industry for its
perpetuation of sexual threats and abuse towards female players. The news article focused on 33-year-old
e-commerce specialist Nico Deyo who was an avid fan of “World of Warcraft”…
that is, until she experienced sexual harassment and cyber-stalking by fellow
male players. In an attempt to escape rape and murder threats, Deyo decided to
stop playing “World of Warcraft” and now sticks to single-player games.
Why do male gamers think it is okay to sexually harass female players? Since when did it become acceptable to ask gamers intimate questions about their bra size or the sex positions they like best?
As I pondered these questions, I thought about the Dill, Brown, and Collins article we read in class last week regarding the effects of violent, sexual video games on tolerance towards sexual harassment. Interestingly, the researchers found a positive correlation between long-term exposure to video game violence and greater tolerance of sexual harassment and rape myth acceptance. While causality was not established, I could not help applying these research findings to Deyo’s story. It is possible that male gamers have become accustomed to the sexualized world of gaming. Seeing female characters crave sexual acts and enjoy being sexually abused in the virtual world can perpetuate the belief in rape myths like “she was asking for it…” and “women like being treated dirty.” What is even worse is that muting other players during games completely destroys the “fun” and does absolutely nothing to stop the online perpetrator from abusing hundreds of other players.
Why do male gamers think it is okay to sexually harass female players? Since when did it become acceptable to ask gamers intimate questions about their bra size or the sex positions they like best?
As I pondered these questions, I thought about the Dill, Brown, and Collins article we read in class last week regarding the effects of violent, sexual video games on tolerance towards sexual harassment. Interestingly, the researchers found a positive correlation between long-term exposure to video game violence and greater tolerance of sexual harassment and rape myth acceptance. While causality was not established, I could not help applying these research findings to Deyo’s story. It is possible that male gamers have become accustomed to the sexualized world of gaming. Seeing female characters crave sexual acts and enjoy being sexually abused in the virtual world can perpetuate the belief in rape myths like “she was asking for it…” and “women like being treated dirty.” What is even worse is that muting other players during games completely destroys the “fun” and does absolutely nothing to stop the online perpetrator from abusing hundreds of other players.
Deyo’s story also brings up the role of
stalking in the cyber world. As opposed
to real life, cyber-stalking plays out differently since players can hide
behind a console and completely alter their identity. Male gamers often times
compliment female gamers on their appearances by searching them up on Facebook,
Twitter, and other social media sites. One woman from Boston started receiving
unwanted gifts in the mail and reported the player to the Xbox Live service,
who in the end, did nothing to end the harassment.
So is there
any hope of creating a safe space for females within the gaming world? Unless
there is a shift in the ways in which female characters are portrayed in video
games, the future does not look to bright. However, there may be some hope in
bringing forth anti-harassment measures, as displayed by the company RiotGames. They are working towards changing player culture by implementing
artificial intelligence and player feedback to punish or reward players during
gameplay based upon their behavior. While this type of monitoring is a step in
the right direction, I feel that it is unlikely to solve the problem of sexual harassment on
its own.
*Name changed for confidentiality
Article (Published March 19, 2016):
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=10300BOX44QT
Last semester I had a GSI who actually is researching Gamergate and Video Games for her Ph.D. One lecture she presented a power point that absolutely opened my eyes. I don't particularly play video games, and I use to fall into the trap of thinking most people that did were "nerdy white males who still lived with their parents." This, however, is completely untrue. The truth is, women make up a huge portion of people who play video games. the problem is, there isn't a whole lot of opportunity for women when it comes to actually developing the games. Just by looking at popular video games throughout the decades, one can obviously see that they were made through the male perspective and male gaze. Many women aren't welcomed with open arms or are assumed to not be able to "handle" the long hours of developing and coding games, especially if they aspire to have a family one day.
ReplyDeleteI remember Amanda, my GSI, describing the extreme harassment women who try to break into this industry face. I especially remember one woman in particular, media critic Anna Sarkeesian, whose project on exploring the tropes of females in video games prompted disgusting and dangerous backlash by male gamers and developers. Hackers leaked Sarkeesian's personal information online, including where she lives, and she has received multiple death threats and even bomb threats. One of the most horrifying things I remember hearing about was how one person created a game entitled, "Beat Up Anita Sarkeesian," which prompted players to click on an image of her face, leaving her bloodied and bruised. To me that was both devastating and absolutely jaw-dropping.
I honestly don't understand why some are claiming the gaming world as a male-only space, and I don't see why they have to create female characters that are so overly-sexualized or never the heroes. I have a feeling that as more women take a stand and show that obviously they have the capability of making great, popular games, hopefully a safe space will be created in the gaming world. It is sad, however, that this seems to be yet another thing women have to prove.
Going back to your question, "Why do male gamers think it is okay to sexually harass female players?" I think the fact that gaming interactions predominantly occur online has a lot to do with this. It sort of goes back to cyber bullying. Studies have shown that people are significantly more likely to make hurtful comments when online, particularly when under anonymity. We see this with apps such as Yik Yak all the time. Half the comments on there are offensive. I posted a screenshot from a text with my mom once and one of the comments was "your mom's a slut". This probably wouldn't have been the case had the user had to reveal his/her identity.
ReplyDeleteI think that a lot of people that participate in sexual harassment online do it because there is no face to the user -- that is, the woman they are harassing is a character in a game to them, rather than a real person. Thus they don't worry about the hurt the cause. More often than not I think we would find that people who sexually harass in these video games would not be saying the same things to women in person. This then brings about the question of what is their actual view then? Do you think they actually are just sexists who harass women if they just do it online or are they just playing the game?