Why Women Gamers Feel Unwelcome in Male-Dominated Gaming Spaces
Twitter user Eccentrik Hat gave a really bad take on women in gaming spaces. In his attempt to, I dunno, make women feel as if we are welcome in male-dominated gaming communities, he only proved the opposite.
In his tweet, Eccentrik Hat said:
Many feminists claim that women are unwelcome in the male-dominated medium of gaming Truth is female gamers are a rare and refreshing treat for most male gamers. A partner who will co-op with you online and in the bedroom is the dream What people hate is feminism in their games
Let us dissect.
“Many feminists claim that women are unwelcome in the male-dominated medium of gaming”
First, let us understand what it means to feel welcome and what it means to feel unwelcome. Welcome, by definition, means to greet hospitably, kindly, and friendly. Unwelcome, by definition, means not wanted or not welcome. What makes women gamers feel unwelcome in predominantly male gaming spaces is the sexual harassment and degradation because they are women. Last year, GNL Magazine conducted a survey of 166 women gamers and 55.4% said they have been propositioned for sex and 39% said they have been threatened with rape by male gamers.
While 166 women are not representative of all women gamers, this is the experience for many women gamers, myself included. Being constantly propositioned for sex and threatened with rape in male-dominated spaces has absolutely nothing to do with “feminists claim” that women are unwelcome and everything to do with male gamers literally making women feel unwelcome in those spaces with their continued behavior.
“Female gamers are a rare and welcome treat”
Women gamers are not rare. Because of continued harassment due to our gender, many women pretend to be male, chose gender-neutral usernames and gamer tags, or avoid speaking on voice comms. Women and girls have been gaming since the dawn of gaming, just like our male counterparts. Marketing, however, always focused on male children, and then young men as the demographic. But women and girl gamers have always existed.
Also, further making women gamers feel unwelcome in predominantly male gaming spaces is the male ideology that too many men have: that women gamers are a “treat” for men. Dude really described us, as MiladyConfetti accurately summed up, like “a box of Cheez-Its” for male consumption. And we are not. We just want to game without male gamers drooling over us as if we’re a damn snack put there for the sole purpose of fulfilling your fantasies of having someone to fuck after playing video games with. Speaking of…
“A partner who will co-op with you online and in the bedroom is the dream”
The creepy factor continues. Granted, everyone has fantasies. Many people long to have a partner who they can share their hobbies with. But this is peak cringe. Again, women gamers do not want to join gaming spaces and only to be made to feel as if they are on an assembly line for men to pick and choose which one will fulfill their fantasy of gaming with and then having sex with. We just want to play fucking video games, bro!
“What people hate is feminism in their games”
What is feminism? Feminism is literally the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes. The reason feminism exists in gaming spaces is that instead of checking misogyny and telling your bros, “Stop harassing women”, we have to advocate for ourselves to not sexually harass us, to not threaten us with rape when you don’t agree with us, to not doxx us because you don’t like our opinions, to not stalk us because you thought a woman saying “Hi” or “Thank you” meant she wanted to put your penis in her mouth.
So you hate feminism in your games? Guess what? We hate being sexually harassed just for existing in those spaces, bro. So, instead of trying to blame feminism for women feeling unwelcome in male-dominated gaming spaces, how about checking your and your friends’ repulsive behavior to understand WHY we feel unwelcome in those spaces?
