Gaming's Women Raise Sexism Awareness With #1reasonwhy Movement on Twitter

@MEATBALL said:

Straight up - I have no goddamn idea how to deal with this stuff. I feel like I'm being made to feel guilty for things that other people have done and then feel shitty about myself that that's my gut reaction to this sort of thing. I try not to be an awful person.

Probably the natural response if you are not one of these inside-the-industry types. What you are is on the outside looking in, with no way to create change. On top of being relegated to an onlooker, your gender is equated with being a negative thing in terms of this subject. That would leave anyone feeling somewhat attacked.

This is really is the kind of thing that those in the industry should be dealing with internally and not laying the weight on the public's shoulders.

@Ett said:

So the next person to join the GB crew is a woman ?

Or else they're biggots!

I agree that institutional sexism needs to be addressed in this industry, and this hashtag is a great way of bringing it to people's attention. With more attention to female designers we can hopefully put an end to the trend of making every game appeal directly to dudebros in their twenties.

I don't agree that Dead Or Alive is representative of this sexism, though! It clearly markets itself as a conveyance device for huge swinging tits first and a game second, and that has a place in our culture just as much as, say, Baywatch did. It's far less insidious than the thong-armor in modern RPGs and breast physics in Guitar Hero, because straight women at least have a reason to play those games.

So, aren't the women in industry and the fanservice stuff two diferent issues?

I agree that it's really shitty that sexism forces women to be more 'well-behaved' and 'not good looking' to have cred with the more ignorant bastards and that's something that's not exclusive to the games industry.

The thing is...how does Tecmo making 'sexy' skins or other stuff factor into it? You could argue that 'you objectify women in the games and then they get disrespected in real life!' but...it sounds too far fetched and bad news all around for all the people that enjoy stuff like that, even if they're conscious about the issue.

Anyway, back to the main issue. Like racism and other types of intolerance, there's only one solution, to keep on fighting and bringing this up to the public so they can go 'hey, stop treating them like shit just because they're girls.' It's an uphill fight and it'll probably go on for many generations.

The "story" in Mirror's Edge was (surprise!) the worst thing about it.

@bloodsoul5 said:

@jozzy said:

@CaptStickybeard said:

Oh.

She has a point, just a shame it dominated those specific Giant Bomb shows. Also, I am not sure the reaction from the community would've been different if it was a man doing the exact same thing. Interesting though.

She doesnt have a point at all. drunk and annoying is terrible regardless of gender.

It's not that she was drunk and annoying (she was), it's that some parts of this community never let it go. People are still beating her over the head with it to this day.

I read an interview with Kiki Wolfkill, the executive producer of Halo 4 in The Big Issue last week. She actually had the opposite view of this. She brought up how things are changing and how the gaming industry is becoming a viable career path for women. The interview is available online here if anyone's interested.

Of course, things are still clearly wrong. The industry still needs work to become a fully inclusive environment. But things do seem to be changing. Change won't happen overnight, but it is happening. And things like the #1reasonwhy hastag should hopefully help raise awareness and speed the process along.

@SoldierG654342 said:

@bloodsoul5 said:

@jozzy said:

@CaptStickybeard said:

Oh.

She has a point, just a shame it dominated those specific Giant Bomb shows. Also, I am not sure the reaction from the community would've been different if it was a man doing the exact same thing. Interesting though.

She doesnt have a point at all. drunk and annoying is terrible regardless of gender.

It's not that she was drunk and annoying (she was), it's this community never let it go. People are still beating her over the head with it to this day.

Well, she keeps bringing it up.

Like right now.

@jozzy said:

@CaptStickybeard said:

Oh.

She has a point, just a shame it dominated those specific Giant Bomb shows. Also, I am not sure the reaction from the community would've been different if it was a man doing the exact same thing. Interesting though.

Absolutely. She's written some fantastic stuff, but people keep talking about her being that stupid drunk chick, while it would seem men have a easy time getting away with saying or doing all kinds of stupid things, and can use "I was drunk" as an excuse, rather than a negative thing they are associated with for the rest of their professional career.

Samus. That is all.

Mirror's Edge had a memorable protagonist?

Now you're just clutching at straws.

@bloodsoul5 said:

@jozzy said:

@CaptStickybeard said:

Oh.

She has a point, just a shame it dominated those specific Giant Bomb shows. Also, I am not sure the reaction from the community would've been different if it was a man doing the exact same thing. Interesting though.

She doesnt have a point at all. drunk and annoying is terrible regardless of gender.

What she is implying, is that when man are drunk and obnoxious, you will see it as an incident and don't really change your long term perception of them. With a woman, she is regarded as "that drunk obnoxious bitch". That definitely happened on this site. Like I said, if a man had done the same, we might have felt the same way, but I am no so sure.

It is a male dominated industry, similar to something like engineering. People being surprised that a woman is a developer is not sexist but belittling their work like in Kristen Halloran's tweet is appalling.

@The_Laughing_Man said:

Samus. That is all.

Metroid: Other M

why cant women just say "i feel that's sexist and i don't appreciate it" there and then? complaining on the internet is just a way of avoiding confrontation. I feel if you confront it when it happens 99% of the time you will get an apology and it wont happen again...and if it does take it up with management.

This is a terrible problem that it would be great to figure out the solution to if we could. You'd think people would be able to not be shitty to one another regardless but awful perspectives and views run deep in society.

That said, Faith being a memorable character seems a bit of a reach.

Thanks Patrick :D

@bloodsoul5 said:

@jozzy said:

@CaptStickybeard said:

Oh.

She has a point, just a shame it dominated those specific Giant Bomb shows. Also, I am not sure the reaction from the community would've been different if it was a man doing the exact same thing. Interesting though.

She doesnt have a point at all. drunk and annoying is terrible regardless of gender.

I wonder if she has actually ever listened to those podcasts? She's so quick to shout sexism, but she continues to be the most grating and annoying guest on the Bombcast ever.

I really need to write a thesis about how people try to take an oposite extreme in hopes that it will combat the original extreme.

Stuff like this makes me shake my head because almost no one on either "side" seems to be capable of taking a reasonable, non-extreme stance.

I only remember the protagonist from Mirror's edge because of the interesting character design, not because it had compelling writing (motion comics are a yawn). I don't even remember the plot or story of the game, just that... Faith! I remember the name, was a 'runner' with a tote bag thingy, and she was really fit and agile and had a tattoo under her eye or something.

Most of the time I don't even think of myself as a girl. I'm just me. And I've never been interested in feminism of any kind because of the stereotypical bitchiness associated with it (some of it is necessary, other times they're more interested in being able to play Santa than having the legitimately important issues stamped out first), but I'm finding out on my own that sexism is VERY real and is just about one of the most medieval things I've encountered by first hand experience.

@fartGOD666 said:

Meanwhile red-blooded men get their God-given men's rights stripped from them as feminazi-run game shows banish the iconic Booth Babe from the American landscape. Strange days...

@fartGOD666: Testify, fartGOD666! Relay unto the masses the plight of the mature yet underprivileged red-blooded male.

As for Booth Babes, "God-given"? You must be reading an interesting bible. "Thou shalt head to the E of threes and be stared at blankly by a human statue seeking to appease her money lenders." And iconic? Something can be iconic and still be gross.

@Maajin said:

@dragonzord said:

, featuring one of gaming's most memorable protagonists

nope.

yep.

I have to disagree. One above average game does not a memorable protagonist make.

Lara Croft is memorable.

Mario is memorable.

Master Chief is memorable.

And more recently? Marcus Fenix is memorable.

Notice what all of these people had in common. Not just more than one game, but their games were good.

Women's role in games is clearly shitty if the role model of it is Faith from Mirror's Edge.

Now, I'm not much of a feminist, but games aren't the problem here. Society, the internet, and males aged 14-24 are the problem. Only by the crossing of those demographics - that, detached from games would still make the same hostile environment - does it make game development as a woman such a pain. Representing women better in games is never going to fix that, because games are not so insulated from the world that such things don't happen outside of them. Game development for a woman can be pretty bad, but so can accounting. Most of the situations tweeted are entirely non-specific to games.

More power to 'em if they want to shout about their situation, but it's a bigger issue that can't ever be cured by intensive awareness within the games' industry.

@Undeadpool said:

It's INSANE how much of the backlash on this is clearly fueled by bitterness. It's like an entire community saying "You weren't there when I wasn't getting a date in high school because gaming was still 'nerdy,' so now I exact MY revenge!!!" instead of openly CELEBRATING that gaming is reaching a wider audience and that it's not some deal-breaking stigma. Though it's clearly not just games, it's entertainment in general.

And the BEST part is, as always, how those who've had it all for so many years taking actual equality as them "losing" something.

You nailed it. I can't even bring myself to read these comments, because I know they're going to be full of hateful people who just don't get it. It's why people are celebrating what these women did on twitter as brave - complaining about sexism almost always makes privileged men angry and hateful. Fuck.

Patrick Klepek Personal experience, I'm a female serious fighting game player (as in I travel to majors when I can, play at locals, and generally just go around playing fighting games). The amount of misogyny in the community is astounding. At every major I've gone to I've been harassed and invited into the bedroom. Because I carry a fightstick I'm seen as what is lovingly (with a hint of sexism) referred to as a "stick bitch" rather than a serious contender. I've been catcalled, asked to show my tits, and asked to suck a guy off in public. I have the excuse that I'm a lesbian under my belt, but for the most part that just encourages them harder, and that they can cure me. I've yet to go to a major where I feel entirely comfortable.

The amount of sexism in the gaming industry is horrid. It's even worse in the FGC, a community that is split between making it "e-sports" or to avoid being e-sports, because then a major player asking you to suck his dick while you're walking up the stairs or having a major player be sponsored by a porn company would actually be reprehensible rather than acceptable.

Edit: I want to clarify. No, not many people know me by name or by my tag so don't try and guess. That doesn't excuse when I go to majors that I get harassed.

@ashenozzie said:

It's suprising that this is something that's still an issue in 2012. This should be ancient history.

@Neurotic said:

@cmblasko: I don't remember saying it was worthless. What I was getting at is that in, say, two weeks time no-one will remember this hashtag and it will be business as usual. You're right, changing perceptions takes a long time and perhaps I'm just a little impatient for stuff like this to go away.

Yeah, the idea that it is "worthless" didn't originate with you, more an amalgamation of posts I've seen about the issue so far. Sorry for unfairly putting that on you.

Maybe people won't remember the hashtag itself, but they sure will remember the discussion it generated. Besides, it seems like almost the entire year has been dominated by this topic, so clearly there are people willing to further the discussion.

I'm glad we are making strides to talk about issues like this but man, it's amazing how certain people nitpick fairly innocuous things about this article.

@AmericanNinja: It's not just a video game these are peoples jobs. Big Difference

Eh Fait probably not one of the most memorable characters ever. Than again probably the first character to jump to mind when looking for memorable female protagonist.

@jozzy said:

@CaptStickybeard said:

Oh.

She has a point, just a shame it dominated those specific Giant Bomb shows. Also, I am not sure the reaction from the community would've been different if it was a man doing the exact same thing. Interesting though.

I think I'm with you @jozzy . I'd like to think in that case it was just Leigh being exceptionally annoying (and I still think she was). You can point at aspects of the way she carried herself that would apply to generating a negative reaction no matter who was acting that way. That is, a reaction to the individual. I tend to have the same reaction whenever Garnet Lee is speaking for the same reason: he tends to try and dominate the conversation and talk over people. If memory serves this is more or less what Leigh Alexander was doing that caused such a negative reaction. I don't think it's entirely fair to blame sexism in that particular case.

@DeathbyYeti said:

"game journalism" really tried to step it up this year with all this sexism stuff

...Yeah...

@Dogma said:

@MEATBALL said:

Straight up - I have no goddamn idea how to deal with this stuff. I feel like I'm being made to feel guilty for things that other people have done and then feel shitty about myself that that's my gut reaction to this sort of thing. I try not to be an awful person.

THIS. A THOUSAND TIMES THIS.

@TyCobb said:

"#1resonwhy Wah! My vagina hurts because I don't know how to take a stand. Wah!"

I have a solution, grow some fucking balls. It seems to have worked for the males in the workplace. Seriously though, learn to take a stand. Ranting on Twitter isn't going to do anything. Perhaps you should actually fight at your workplace for what you believe/want. If your workplace isn't treating you the way you should be treated, sue their ass if it is discrimination. Laws are in place for a reason.

Fucking do something or STFU. Thanks.

This, so much this.

@DoctorWelch said:

I really need to write a thesis about how people try to take an oposite extreme in hopes that it will combat the original extreme.

Stuff like this makes me shake my head because almost no one on either "side" seems to be capable of taking a reasonable, non-extreme stance.

Nobody is capable of middle-ground anymore. Games are either the best ever or the worst. The president is either doing amazing or the biggest failure in history. Everybody picks a side of the fence. Nobody looks at both sides. Everyone has to be right. And if they aren't, then they are a victim

@Dogma said:

@MEATBALL said:

Straight up - I have no goddamn idea how to deal with this stuff. I feel like I'm being made to feel guilty for things that other people have done and then feel shitty about myself that that's my gut reaction to this sort of thing. I try not to be an awful person.

THIS. A THOUSAND TIMES THIS.

Yeah, I'll add another thousand to this, too.

@DoctorWelch: There's actually quite a lot of MRAs and feminists who don't spend their time slinging shit everywhere, they're just not as outspoken as those who do.

@DoctorWelch

I really need to write a thesis about how people try to take an oposite extreme in hopes that it will combat the original extreme.

Stuff like this makes me shake my head because almost no one on either "side" seems to be capable of taking a reasonable, non-extreme stance.

Here's your reasonable stance: People should stop being awful to each other and see each other as equal human beings.

@Elephantgun said:

Patrick Klepek Personal experience, I'm a female professional fighting game player. The amount of misogyny in the community is astounding. At every major I've gone to I've been harassed and invited into the bedroom. Because I carry a fightstick I'm seen as what is lovingly (with a hint of sexism) referred to as a "stick bitch" rather than a serious contender. I've been catcalled, asked to show my tits, and asked to suck a guy off in public. I have the excuse that I'm a lesbian under my belt, but for the most part that just encourages them harder, and that they can cure me.

The amount of sexism in the gaming industry is horrid. It's even worse in the FGC, a community that is split between making it "e-sports" or to avoid being e-sports, because then a major player asking you to suck his dick while you're walking up the stairs or having a major player be sponsored by a porn company would actually be reprehensible rather than acceptable.

@Elephantgun said:

Patrick Klepek Personal experience, I'm a female professional fighting game player. The amount of misogyny in the community is astounding. At every major I've gone to I've been harassed and invited into the bedroom. Because I carry a fightstick I'm seen as what is lovingly (with a hint of sexism) referred to as a "stick bitch" rather than a serious contender. I've been catcalled, asked to show my tits, and asked to suck a guy off in public. I have the excuse that I'm a lesbian under my belt, but for the most part that just encourages them harder, and that they can cure me.

The amount of sexism in the gaming industry is horrid. It's even worse in the FGC, a community that is split between making it "e-sports" or to avoid being e-sports, because then a major player asking you to suck his dick while you're walking up the stairs or having a major player be sponsored by a porn company would actually be reprehensible rather than acceptable.

Went to a bar this weekend. One lady expected me to buy her a drink because I wanted to talk to her. My ass was also pinched by another lady at some point through the night. Also, my last girlfriend expected me to do all her car work. I'm sad that in the grand scheme our genders can't respect one another. I'm sorry to hear you have to go through a lot of shit. But mind you that gender pressure goes both ways. I strongly believe my co-worker at GameStop was denied a promotion because the District Manager wanted the cute girl running the store. It's why most restaurants put the dudes in the greasy-hot kitchen and the girls up-front waitressing.

@XeroxPunk: I took a hard look at what I had written before I hit the Post button and I felt pretty confident that people would understand that it was facetious. The idea of a man defending booth babes by invoking god and men's rights is just super funny to me

@bloodsoul5 said:

@jozzy said:

@CaptStickybeard said:

Oh.

She has a point, just a shame it dominated those specific Giant Bomb shows. Also, I am not sure the reaction from the community would've been different if it was a man doing the exact same thing. Interesting though.

She doesnt have a point at all. drunk and annoying is terrible regardless of gender.

You sure about that because I have heard Rory getting fucking wasted and talk like a idiot during some shows. When he does that he get's a very annoying and a high pitch voice, and LOUD. Did people complain? Nope. They laughed on the Internet and thought he was adorable. If Brad Muir would do the same people would NOT start to hate on him.

I'm NOT saying that people hated on Leigh because she was a woman but I think the community over reacted and did so because they could. BUT that does not excuse the way some people chose to vent their opinions about her because that was just straight up horrible in many ways and in a fashion a guy would not get critiqued in. Just look at the Patrick hate. Does he ever hear something sexist being said to him? Nope. Because many don't say such things to other men but for some reason a lot of bad sexist words get flung around when hating on women.

A hashtag won't cause the sexist subsection of men in not just this industry, but all industries, to change their ways.

"ignorant to ignore"

Tricky Scoops, coming at you with tautologies.

But this is a cool article and I like it when Patrick writes about stuff like this. Word up, bro.

Stop walking around with your boobs hanging out if you don't want to be treated as meat. Oh, wait, you weren't specifically doing that? That doesn't matter. Someone of your gender did, so it clearly reflects on you and I need to harass you about it because you aren't stoning people who acted sexist.

The above paragraph obviously wasn't really serious, but it's an extreme example of a similar idea.

I can treat different genders equal and somehow still need to hear how (some) men are obviously sexist. What does this have to do with me? Go bother those specific men about it. If some idiot makes fun of someone because they have red hair (or even for another reason!), should everyone with red hair go on about how some idiot WITH BROWN HAIR acted like a dick?

@iAmJohn said:

@martyarf said:

@patrickklepek: You don't remember what you said on the podcast? You and Jeff went to painstaking lengths to explain the "culture" of the FGC, eager to place the rape threats in "context". You don't remember Brad saying something to the effect of "You guys are nuts, this guy is a fucking psycho"?

I do remember this and you're way misrepresenting it. They gave the context to establish the argument from certain sects of that community; Brad then made that point and they completely agreed with him. If you think that's acknowledging that there's more to it than solely being sexist but that doesn't stop it from being obscenely sexist and wrong is excusing it, I really don't know what to tell you.

Well, I was curious and looked it up, so lets put Patrick's comments back "in context"! Around 1hr35 on the 03/22/2012 podcast.

Jeff: "It's one of those things where I kind of understand where [Aris] is coming from to a point."

Patrick: "Right."

Jeff: "I don't think anyone in that crowd is intending for Pheonix to be raped."

Patrick: "Right."

[Note: this is fucking way out of line, and is a common diversion tactic to ask us to consider NOT the victims feelings, but the perpetrators intent, which really has no relevance here.]

...

Jeff: "You take it back to those roots of you're really getting in someone's ass fighting them, just talking as much shit as you can."

Patrick: "You want them to feel bad. Fighting games are as much a psychological game as it is the actual game that is playing out."

[Note: What the fuck?]

...

Patrick: "When you step back and think 'did I mean that?', no."

Jeff: "But in context it's probably okay."

Patrick: "Right."

[Note: Are you fucking kidding me? Rape threats are okay "in context"? Try telling that to someone who was raped.]

...

Patrick then goes on to hypothesize that this is all about "core tension" because of losing your community (how he knows this, I do not now) and expresses anger that he has to "articulate this guys argument better than him" (why this is necessary, I don't know - and notice, he is making a completely new argument, he is supporting the sexism in his own way).

Then, Brad comes in as the voice of reason:

"I think you guys are giving that guy way too much credit. I think that guy is a lunatic and his statements are pretty reprehensible."

Patrick and Jeff then backtrack and try to explain why the felt the need to excuse his statements.

As far as I'm concerned we need to weed out both the people who are being idiotically presumptuous about women and those those who want to tame down stuff like DoA costumes.

@Amafi said:

@CaptStickybeard said:

Oh.

She must not have heard herself on the bombcast. That shit took annoying to a whole new level.

Leigh herself admits that she was obnoxious. No one is denying that. The point is that event follows her around like a ghost. The point is that there is so much more to her then that one night she got drunk on a live stream and said 775 million dollars. I get annoyed at the crew here sometimes, but I don't hold it against them that they are probably going to blow off Max Payne 3 for GOTY. Much.

The question is, do we hold it against her it because she is a woman, or is it because she was annoying?