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Why are females abused for gaming?

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Original post by iThrow
yes it's a good thing - we learned long ago that you can't please everyone and that there's always going to be someone who wants to bring you down. the best you can do is ignore them, not give them any kind of publicity. the absolute worse thing you can do is give them some kind of legitimacy by involving the national media

women do not get 'targeted' harrassment because they are women they just get different kinds of harrassment. a lot of things that would insult a man wouldn't insult a woman and vice versa.

People telling someone they will find them, rape them, kill them is a bit different than "get cancer".
Reply 21
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iThrow
2
Original post by yudothis
People telling someone they will find them, rape them, kill them is a bit different than "get cancer".


how so?
Original post by iThrow
how so?


One is targeted the other generic. But hey, as I said above, ignorant people like you wouldn't understand. So stop bothering me your agenda.
Reply 23
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iThrow
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Original post by yudothis
One is targeted the other generic. But hey, as I said above, ignorant people like you wouldn't understand. So stop bothering me your agenda.


both are just ridiculous online text-attacks as far as im concerned and best ignored. men get their own kind of harrassment online (different to how women are harrassed)

if you really are sensitive to anything some stranger says to you online then you might need councelling or maybe some kind of internet filter to block out all the mean words?
Original post by iThrow
both are just ridiculous online text-attacks as far as im concerned and best ignored. men get their own kind of harrassment online (different to how women are harrassed)

if you really are sensitive to anything some stranger says to you online then you might need councelling or maybe some kind of internet filter to block out all the mean words?


As I said, ignorance.

Btw I am a guy and yes, I don't get all depressed because some ******* told me to get cancer.
Reply 25
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iThrow
2
Original post by yudothis
As I said, ignorance.


Original post by iThrow


Didn't expect anything less from you.
Reply 27
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iThrow
2
Original post by yudothis
Didn't expect anything less from you.


Ladies who can play properly are respectable. I mean, game on yea? It's just I think they get all the abuse because they're expected to be more mature. Honestly.
Unnecessarily extreme insults happen to both genders, just the girls get more sexist ones coming out of it just cuz the opportunity is there. Basically this:
Original post by Kagutsuchi
It happens to everybody.

It just so happens that being a woman gives the flamers and trolls something to latch on to.

If they didn't know the target was a woman, they'd just cuss out their Mums, or implore imminent death.
I think that misogyny directed at women gamers is a result of a number of things:

- Female "gamers". The posers, basically. The ones who pretend to like gaming because it's "cool" or whatever. **** reason for pretending to enjoy something, also a **** reason for being sexist towards someone (by all means call them out for being posers, but there's no real need to bring their gender into it).

- "Look at me I'm a women lolololol". You very rarely get guys who put it out there that they've got a dick. Why would they? It's pointless. But the number of women who are very open about the fact that they are women in their gamertags/handles is baffling. Who cares that you've got a vagina? If you can shoot better than I, or outrace me, GG, let's play again some time, I don't care that you've got tits.
But again, we find ourselves in the same situation: it's completely unnecessary to highlight what genitals you have, but it's also completely unnecessary to act sexist towards someone just because you find their gamertag annoying.

In both of those points it comes down to people not knowing how to be critical of someone without resorting to an ad hom, and the result is sexism.

- Jealousy. Some guys just can't handle being beaten by someone with two x chromosomes, so they lash out. Jealousy could also be the same reason for sexist attacks on female gamers from female gamers; they can't hack the fact that there's another woman "stealing their thing" (though I'd imagine this would only be prevalent when coming from the posers).

- Gender stereotyping. It's no secret that gaming is very much a male dominated world, and some guys are keen (**** knows why) to keep it that way.


I'm sure there are more reasons why people are idiots, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head at the moment. Personally? I don't care what you've got between your legs, I'll still try my hardest to whoop yo ass, and if you beat me? Well, you only get better at something by playing someone who is better than you. Lessons learned is knowledge gained, regardless of what sex my unwitting teacher is.

Edit: also, what Kagutsuchi said. A guy can't abuse another guy for being a guy, so they throw shade about how bad their mum was in bed last night (alternatively, they attack their age, their abilities [or in the case of the disabled, comparative lack thereof], or whatever they can use to piss someone off). And simply being a woman is a thing to take the piss out of, apparently. Doesn't make it right, but it also doesn't make it any more wrong than age/ableism.
Some people asshats *shrugs* So you call them a dick then mute them.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by yudothis
People telling someone they will find them, rape them, kill them is a bit different than "get cancer".


Being a man doesn't mean you won't get someone anonymously threatening you with rape or kidnap. I've had insults like that thrown at me, completely unprovoked, just on TSR.
Why do you think there is any rational motivation?

It could be some of them are girls, with some kind of jealousy complex, who are posing as guys for that added factor of fear.
Others are probably immature, sexually frustrated trolls.
Women are unfortunately still a minority in some games, and that makes them an easy target. Everybody gets abuse, but with things like gamergate I think it's become pretty clear that women are seen as a legitimate target for online abuse by many people.

This could be partly because games are changing, and the increase in female gamers is being blamed for negative changes. Also, with headsets and mics, it's easier for people to tell what gender other players are.

Zoe Quinn's abuse was a good example of misplaced blame, I think; she made a game about dealing with depression, some people felt like it was encouraging a new kind of games that they didn't like, so they made up a load of stuff about her and tried to force her out of the industry.

Unfortunately, there are still a lot of people who think that sexist abuse online isn't a problem, so it doesn't get challenged as much. People who do challenge it get abuse themselves (unlike other kinds of trolling) so nobody sticks up for female gamers (in-game, at least) and it becomes a cycle.

This is a far too complicated issue to deal with properly in a post on a forum (I'm writing a whole coursework style essay on this at the moment, and I'm still skimming over issues) but I think that these are the main routes of these problems online.
Things like the YouTube comment section are very salty. They'll use anything they can get. And that happens to be labels sometimes, like gender or race. So, female being the 'minority' (haha) in gaming lets salty commentators have some ammo they can use.
Reply 35
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Joep95
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Original post by iThrow
both are just ridiculous online text-attacks as far as im concerned and best ignored. men get their own kind of harrassment online (different to how women are harrassed)

if you really are sensitive to anything some stranger says to you online then you might need councelling or maybe some kind of internet filter to block out all the mean words?


There is a filter already it is very simple to use, just press the power button and turn it off.
Because girls don't play video games, it's a myth

Good games anyway
Original post by Cremated_Spatula
Being a man doesn't mean you won't get someone anonymously threatening you with rape or kidnap. I've had insults like that thrown at me, completely unprovoked, just on TSR.


If you read above I said that I am not saying it does not happen at all to men.
Original post by indigofox
Do you think it's true that females who do gaming for a living get abuse due to their gender, or are the culprits targeting anyone and some just happen to be women. Just read this news article I didn't know that this problem existed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/37492437/female-gamers-they-tell-me-they-are-going-to-kill-me

If it's true why do you think females are targeted?


Everyone can be targeted in the internet, because it is inevitable to avoid internet users with prejudices, intolerance and stupid brain. I made different experient out of the internet. The best what can be done is to ignore this and don't spend too much time in the internet. The lesser you are focused on the chat forums, the lesser it cares what users are writing about you, as you are not so emotional linked to the statements That should apply for non-gamers too.

*
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by TheIr0nDuke
Because girls don't play video games, it's a myth

Good games anyway


What are good games in your opinion?

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