Between the Trayvon Martin case's verdict, Cory Monteith's death, and Kyle Massey's cancer scare (don't worry, it turns out it's not true!), last night and this morning have been hell on my emotions. So given that I'm already on high alert, I've been very hard not to get aggressive in online debates.
But it's sooooooo tempting!
Normally I don't leave comments on public groups. It's a policy that's served me well. Why do I occasionally decide to break that policy? Why? (But to be honest, the conversations with my friends right now are certainly more taxing.) And of course it's regarding a charged topic for me (even if it's not charged for other people). Everyone's being really nice and polite so i feel like an uncouth bitch for feeling so aggressive internally... but my emotions aren't completely without reason either.
It's a feminist topic in a female-specific space, but men are still allowed to post there, provided that they follow the rules. I had just seen one of the men make a sexualized comment on a woman's avatar earlier today which really irked me. She laughed it off and seemed not to mind the attention, which is her prerogative, but there are more appropriate places for that interaction. I thought this was a safe space, and that interaction made me feel like it's not. Yes, this is slightly off-topic, but I bring it up to further illustrate my frame of mind.
So we get onto a topic of female representation in the gaming community and it's really interesting. There's a lot of statistics flying around fast and loose. I bring forth some actual statistics from official sources and link them like a good little academic. One of the other women posits a hypothesis based on the statistics that people have presented, but then one of the men responds that he thinks she's being overly optimistic. The basis for his inference rests on a statistic regarding social gaming. Without having any links for reference, I strongly disagreed with what I interpreted to be his definition of social gaming: ie, games on social networking sites and smartphones. From what I've read, social gaming refers to games that have a social aspect. So while it does include Farmville and other cooperative games on social networking sites, it also includes MMORPGS and shooters that allow you to cooperate or compete with people around the world. It really doesn't matter how any of us personally feels that social gaming should be defined in this situation. The only thing that matters is what was meant by the statistics being used to justify further conclusions. There was also nothing in the statistics I presented that indicated someone who plays a social networking game wouldn't also play on another gaming platform (have I played Facebook games while waiting for the boat or a long-ass flight path? You better believe I'm guilty). So while I still feel a little unsure of what exactly he believes without quizzing him, I felt he was implying that the majority of female gamers were just Candy Crush Saga players skewing the statistics.
The overall point that 30 year old women were a larger demographic than teenage boys currently (from the ESA stats I posted) and thus it would be advisable for the gaming industry to pay attention to their wants as they had more income at their disposal was fine. I just don't care for the idea that the majority want Farmville 3. Honestly, writing this blog has calmed me down quite a bit. But there's still this lingering feeling that the responses had a tone of "mansplaining" to them, which it what initially got under my skin... and it was only furthered by other people derailing the conversation before I could get this guy to clarify his position and cite his sources. So yeah, calmer now but still frustrated.
The other thing that seriously frustrated me today is the amount of women who will chime in and say they have never been harassed while playing video games (without further commentary in support of those who have been harassed). Good for you. You've probably never been raped either that but doesn't mean it's not still a real problem. That doesn't mean that it's appropriate for you to chime in with "I've never been raped" whenever a discussion on the topic occurs. You're derailing a serious issue and undermining efforts to bring it to the forefront of the public's attention. Are you looking for brownie points from someone? Because you're not getting them from me.
Harassment in online gaming is a serious issue. The details may change from year to year, but it hasn't been wiped out. You may never personally experience it, but there are those who have, who've had their gaming experience ruined, and even been made to feel unsafe in some cases. Honestly, there's a lot less "OMG You're a girl!" bullshit these days than back during vanilla WoW, but stereotypes about healers vs tanks, noobs, and general sexual harassment still persist. I play video games to relax and have fun. I don't want to feel stressed out and on guard like I would at some shady dudebro bar (which you'd have to drag me to kicking and screaming). I purposely avoid places that cater to those kind of guys, which is easy since those activities don't interest me. But gaming is in my goddamn blood. I won't relinquish my game worlds to a bunch of overgrown manchild fedoras. This is my space too, and I won't give it up without a fight.
But it's sooooooo tempting!
Normally I don't leave comments on public groups. It's a policy that's served me well. Why do I occasionally decide to break that policy? Why? (But to be honest, the conversations with my friends right now are certainly more taxing.) And of course it's regarding a charged topic for me (even if it's not charged for other people). Everyone's being really nice and polite so i feel like an uncouth bitch for feeling so aggressive internally... but my emotions aren't completely without reason either.
It's a feminist topic in a female-specific space, but men are still allowed to post there, provided that they follow the rules. I had just seen one of the men make a sexualized comment on a woman's avatar earlier today which really irked me. She laughed it off and seemed not to mind the attention, which is her prerogative, but there are more appropriate places for that interaction. I thought this was a safe space, and that interaction made me feel like it's not. Yes, this is slightly off-topic, but I bring it up to further illustrate my frame of mind.
So we get onto a topic of female representation in the gaming community and it's really interesting. There's a lot of statistics flying around fast and loose. I bring forth some actual statistics from official sources and link them like a good little academic. One of the other women posits a hypothesis based on the statistics that people have presented, but then one of the men responds that he thinks she's being overly optimistic. The basis for his inference rests on a statistic regarding social gaming. Without having any links for reference, I strongly disagreed with what I interpreted to be his definition of social gaming: ie, games on social networking sites and smartphones. From what I've read, social gaming refers to games that have a social aspect. So while it does include Farmville and other cooperative games on social networking sites, it also includes MMORPGS and shooters that allow you to cooperate or compete with people around the world. It really doesn't matter how any of us personally feels that social gaming should be defined in this situation. The only thing that matters is what was meant by the statistics being used to justify further conclusions. There was also nothing in the statistics I presented that indicated someone who plays a social networking game wouldn't also play on another gaming platform (have I played Facebook games while waiting for the boat or a long-ass flight path? You better believe I'm guilty). So while I still feel a little unsure of what exactly he believes without quizzing him, I felt he was implying that the majority of female gamers were just Candy Crush Saga players skewing the statistics.
The overall point that 30 year old women were a larger demographic than teenage boys currently (from the ESA stats I posted) and thus it would be advisable for the gaming industry to pay attention to their wants as they had more income at their disposal was fine. I just don't care for the idea that the majority want Farmville 3. Honestly, writing this blog has calmed me down quite a bit. But there's still this lingering feeling that the responses had a tone of "mansplaining" to them, which it what initially got under my skin... and it was only furthered by other people derailing the conversation before I could get this guy to clarify his position and cite his sources. So yeah, calmer now but still frustrated.
The other thing that seriously frustrated me today is the amount of women who will chime in and say they have never been harassed while playing video games (without further commentary in support of those who have been harassed). Good for you. You've probably never been raped either that but doesn't mean it's not still a real problem. That doesn't mean that it's appropriate for you to chime in with "I've never been raped" whenever a discussion on the topic occurs. You're derailing a serious issue and undermining efforts to bring it to the forefront of the public's attention. Are you looking for brownie points from someone? Because you're not getting them from me.
Harassment in online gaming is a serious issue. The details may change from year to year, but it hasn't been wiped out. You may never personally experience it, but there are those who have, who've had their gaming experience ruined, and even been made to feel unsafe in some cases. Honestly, there's a lot less "OMG You're a girl!" bullshit these days than back during vanilla WoW, but stereotypes about healers vs tanks, noobs, and general sexual harassment still persist. I play video games to relax and have fun. I don't want to feel stressed out and on guard like I would at some shady dudebro bar (which you'd have to drag me to kicking and screaming). I purposely avoid places that cater to those kind of guys, which is easy since those activities don't interest me. But gaming is in my goddamn blood. I won't relinquish my game worlds to a bunch of overgrown manchild fedoras. This is my space too, and I won't give it up without a fight.
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