There is hardly a field of employment, sport or
entertainment left that has yet to be effected by the quest for equal rights
between genders. The twentieth century saw women’s rights in the workplace
undergo dramatic changes, which still continue to be hotly contended, as “old
boy’s networks” and entrenched inequality is slowly rooted out and seen to.
While equality of pay and opportunity is certainly at an all-time high, there
are still small vestiges of hobbies and activities that are traditionally held
to be boys-only territory. Whether hobbies like tabletop gaming, video gaming
and roll playing have become boys-only because of their stigmatic “nerdyness”
and association with male-oriented fantasy, or have simply become the go-to
activities for young men in that are socially inept and are driven away from
more socially engaging activities, such as sport and clubbing, it is still the
case that such activities remain difficult for women to approach, at least
without the fear of finding the environment and activities hostile to their
presence.
Without a doubt, much of the modern popular cultural focus
has shifted to pander to the interests of the so called “nerds”. The former
cultural outcasts and shut-ins have been discovered by the mainstream media,
and are now targeted as the most valued commercial audience in the world. Don’t
believe me? Just look at the shift in Hollywood toward big budget fantasy and
science fiction, not to the mention comic-book movies that now dominate film
culture every single year. Pop culture and advertising now pander so much to
the mighty nerds that it is little surprise that the silent population of lady
nerds and geekettes now finally have public acceptance of their interests and
no longer fear ostracization from their peers for something as simple as liking
Dungeons and Dragons, Dr Who, or metal music, instead of being expected to like
Taylor Swift, and guffaw at the sight of Ryan Gosling (they probably still
will, but it’s not mandatory “oh, Ryan”).
Yet, in spite of the emergence of the nerd as the new
cultural norm (I call it the: ermahgerdence), female gamers found themselves ostracized by perhaps the last
group in the world that one might expect: namely male gamers. Let’s face it,
video gaming has for the last thirty years been oriented toward men, and more
particularly teenage to young adult men. It’s fair enough that game developers
should target young male gamers for their products, as they still make up the
vast majority of their customers, but this constant and entrenched preferential
treatment has most-definitely made male gamers one of the most over-privileged audiences
around. Almost every game that is released by the triple-A companies invariably
features power-fantasy violence, overtly-sexualized women (or none at all) and
frequently rewards its players for any act that is overflowing with machismo.
Again, this is simply catering to the majority of a game’s audience, and is
excusable on the part of the developers from a profitability standpoint. What are
not excusable are the reactions of male gamers to the steadily growing female
gaming demographic that must now also be catered to, and the male gamer’s
flat-out hostile and even violent reactions to criticisms of their precious
games for being chauvinistic or depicting women in a crude and immature
fashion.
Female gamers, game journalists and various commenters have
met vicious abuse from male gamers for so much as daring to have an opinion on
a game, even a positive one, and heaven help the female gamer that dares to
offer a negative criticism. Male gamers have always had a reputation for
rowdiness among their own ranks, a result of the anonymity that the internet
provides, and perhaps the former lack of girls to behave properly around.
However, this anonymous mask has led to vocal internet commenters, particularly
gamers, taking their opinions and rage into the real world and striking at real
targets. This has in the past had its amusing side, with gamers enacting
revenge on the likes of the odious Fox News, who regularly stir up
fear-mongering attacks against the gaming community. However, the darker side
to this practice becomes apparent when male gamers start to take out their
anger on individuals, especially those that are simply trying to enjoy their
own gaming lifestyle, or are possibly trying to contribute to the gaming
community in general.
Anita Sarkeesian was one such avid gamer who wanted to use
video games as a medium for explaining feminist theory. Her series, hosted
through her website Feminist Frequency,
investigated a fascinating array of feminist tropes that were explained
beautifully using games as examples. It is little surprise that she soon became
the target for despicable personal abuse from male gamers that accused her of
trying to take the balls out of gaming, or ruin their boy’s only club. Perhaps
an even more pathetic example of this behaviour occurred when independent game
developer, Zoe Quinn, received similar attacks on her character, not to mention
the hacking of her email, and perhaps most shockingly, being actually
physically stalked by detractors, all for the simple crime of winning a grant
to develop a video game. Yes, she was derided and publically shamed, and all
for the crime of being a talented game designer that isn’t a man.
This behaviour is not only an embarrassment to young male
gamers everywhere, but a greater stain on the gaming community. Gamers had long
been perceived as a collection of outcasts and introverts, and often wore the
mantle of the social inept that couldn’t score a date with a pretty girl even
if the gamer were smeared in jam and hundred dollar bills. Finally, male gamers
have come to be not only accepted, but recognized as the new focus of popular
culture, and who now have a chance to welcome and integrate women with similar
passions and interests into their lives, and instead they are retreating to the
safety of the comfortable old boy’s club.
It’s easy enough to understand why male gamers can regard
their hobby with such conservatism. After all, none of us want our personal
happy place to be invaded and changed. I like to keep my viewings of Lord of
The Rings completely free of intense real-world drama, and don’t like it when
people start to bring up plot holes and book to film inconsistencies. It is my
happy place, and I don’t like it ruined by non-fans of the films, or by having
it subject to overt scrutiny. Similarly, some male gamers see the arrival of
larger numbers of female gamers as an invasion of their private kingdom, and
the need for greater sensitivity in game design to account for this increasing
female gamer population is viewed similarly as unwanted scrutiny and exposition
of their hobby’s prejudices.
The problem with regarding gaming as a private kingdom, or
boy’s only club, is that gaming is far from a private activity. Putting aside
the fact that the most popular games in the world are almost inevitably
multi-player, and so must be examined within a communal lens, gaming is also an
industry, one that is now subject to the same level of publicity and scrutiny
as film or television. Major gaming companies should be called out when their
games continue to exhibit rampant sexism and pander to the sexual proclivities
of young male gamers. These gamers can no longer claim that this is their
private world. Their hobby has become popular. It has become a national pastime
for many countries. It is no longer okay for gamers to claim that only young
white men play video games and therefore the voices of other gaming minorities
are therefore irrelevant.
The pressure to bring maturity and sensitivity to game
development does not mean that games will no longer pander to the desires of
the young male gaming demographic; on the contrary, this demographic is still
the major target audience. Games will still be developed with themes and
content aimed at this majority. What will change, however, is that developers
will have to begin sculpting their products to remove excessive objectification
and mitigation of women represented in their games. Hopefully this will have a
long-term positive impact on the industry, and on subsequent generations of
male gamers, who will be better acclimated to more realistic, better
represented female characters, and no longer feel entitled to wallow in
pubescent fantasies of women that games traditionally offered.
It will be a long and difficult prospect, dislodging the
inbuilt privilege of young male gamers. As with dislodging any privileged class
from their comfort-zone, changing the attitudes of male gamers toward their
female counterparts and their effect on the industry will be met with fierce
resistance. The process will probably take decades, but will hopefully lead to
a more equal society of gamers, and better, more maturely-crafted games as a
result. As a long time male gamer myself, I am the first to admit that I still
enjoy the industry’s pandering to men like me, and that I do sometimes become
defensive when my hobby is brought under unjust pressure to grow up, or to stop
revelling in violent content or immature humour. However, I also understand
what it is like to be socially inept and to seek escapism and solidarity among
my fellow gamers, and so I encourage my fellow male gamers not to shut out
newcomers or outside critique, but to welcome the presence, contributions and
opinions of the growing female class of gamers. Let them bring a little class
and grace to our hobby, and let them know that it’s okay to enjoy this formerly
boy’s-only club. Perhaps we can all learn to be a little less inept together.
