You have a problem with testosterone? You want games to change to accommodate women? You invade a male space and expect to be excused or commended? You feel entitled to enforce your world view? You are not a paragon of feminism?

Unless you enjoy sexism I suspect answer would be ‘NO’ to all of the above.

Men are aware of feminist assault on gaming community and it will not be tolerated. Let me make that clear – feminist not girls and women. There are no sexism or discrimination in gaming community. Trash talk is not discrimination based on gender. Unlike pretentious, entitled princesses of the fisting-plus kind girls and women realize it’s trash talk. There is nothing preventing women from playing or developing games. Nothing.

Now that I’m done explaining the irrelevance I wish to address the hypocrisy. It is astounding to see utilization of the same feudal fantasy feminists are trying to destroy. Men are expected to cater to women and do exactly what is asked of them. That is sexism and it is not acceptable.

Call of duty and other such games like it are the preserve of young males. It’s a sausage fest out there devoid of women, gay people and quite often black guys too.

I know it sucks but your not only trying to change gaming with this. Your getting into gender roles, conservatism and traditional social norms. These things take generations to change not just a few years.

With that being said I know certain women have tastes that will differ just as a males tastes would, it all comes down to the individual. Yes gaming is a man driven industry, but if you stray away from the mainstream offerings such as Call of Duty, you WILL find experiences that don’t cater to the stereotypes. Dragon Age for instance is catered to a huge demographic and has a very big female demographic. I think most times people look at the games that are being marketed and judge the entire industry based on those games alone.

With that being said, this was a very well thought out article and I enjoyed the humor.

Kellee Santiago, Siobhan Reddy, Kiki Wolfkill, Amy Henning, Kim Swift, Brenda Brathwaite, Jade Raymond…all successful females in the industry. Fact is, sexism exists EVERYWHERE…to some degree. My point is, it does no good to whine about it, write articles about it, or boycott a business/industry because of it. Each individual MUST be held accountable for both their actions, and their INactions. Jade Raymond is the perfect example of that. She had some very public incidences of sexism, early in her career, because her “good looks” often got in the way of her “work”. From live stage demos, to internet discussions, Jade was sometimes treated like a porn star, more than a game designer. But she rose above that, and has become one of the biggest female names in the games industry of the last 15 years.

No, I understood, it is just a preposterous suggestion. Decrying any women who won’t put up with harassment as weak willed and self made victims who should just start their own studio might be the stupidest thing I have read on the internet.

Passive women cry harassment when taken advantage of…..because they aren’t assertive enough? Your wife seems like a wonderful, strong person but to to say that these women deserve to fail and be victimized because they are passive (which regardless of how you may counter is what you purport) is vile.

It is not a women’s duty to put up with harassment, it is our duty as respectful human beings to not to harass them, no matter how much they my be asking for it by being passive. And there is NOTHING preventing them from going indie and making there own studios…….really?

Your answer is that if they can’t be treated right they should have to ignore every major studio and good development job, have enough capital to start their own studio, and be forced to compete with those who won’t give them the time of day…..Just because they aren’t “man” enough to put up with a sexist environment.

I guess that your answer to racism is that people who allow themselves to be victims of discrimination, are responsible for being discriminated against. And in the 1920 there was nothing to prevent African-Americans from making there own business. Jim Crow laws happened because black people weren’t tough enough to handle being lynched and spit on rght?

I try my best to be reserved and respectful to anyone who reads my work, I feel it is my duty as a writer. You sir however are the embodiment of a bad person, and your views are as archaic as they are damaging.

Wow…it’s like you chose to completely ignore the 2nd sentence in my comment, just so you’d have a reason to make an ignorant response of your own. It’s really simple: people….not just women….who allow themselves to be victims, will in fact be victimized. But like I said, there’s NOTHING keeping women in the video games industry from going indie, and making “their” games. NOTHING. Entrepreneurial women start and run their own businesses all over the world. Fact is, there are many women who are content to take the passive approach, and then cry “harassment” when some neanderthal tries to take advantage of their passive nature.

Thankfully, my wife is not one of those weak-willed women. She decided at age 29 that she no longer wanted to just be a pharmacy technician (at a pharmacy that was, in fact, staffed by 8 women, and 1 old man BTW), and started taking online and comm. coll. classes. 5 years later, she graduated from PharmD school, and has worked for the past year at a hospital pharmacy….staffed by as many women as men. She has occasional run-ins with arrogant/condescending doctors, but she’s a smart, assertive female, and knows how to deal with people, and earn their respect. If she were passive, and gave up every time she encountered a sexist male….she wouldn’t have even finished pharmacy school.

Wait, you dont even know the whole story yet you are commenting on me liking the fact that I was groped? That’s not even the issue here. Please tell me what else in my reply makes you sick? The fact that I said there are other avenues for women in gaming? The fact that I noted 50% of all gamers are women? FACTS! My FACTS make you sick? And you hide behind a guest ID. Interesting. It’s really people like YOU who make me sick. You don’t even get the point of my reply. #ignorance

People like you are the reason that problems like this even exist in the first place. The fact that you would imply your pleasure from being touched by a woman is even remotely similar to what some women go through on a daily basis is both disgusting and demeaning to society as a whole.

While you’re right it’s a global issue, your dismissive attitude is what allows it to spread and thrive in communities like the gaming community.

You make me sick.

I really do appreciate your civil answer. I wrote this article because the more this subject it talked about the harder it is to ignore. Sure one article is not going to change a game designers mind. They have researchers and test groups to see what gamers like and will continue to do what will make them the largest amount of money.

True sexism is a cultural force, a force that has to be challenged from the bottom up. The more it is criticized and the less it is seem as acceptable the greater chance there is a change. I may be too hopeful, but I would be remiss if I did not try to be a part of that change.

If you would have read more of the article you would find that I agree with you tastes. I say several times that I love scantily clad women, unrealistically skinny and busty women, and I love being a muscle bound barbarian in some games. I am not however going to expect games to just cater to my personal tastes at the expense of others. I admit freely that several games are starting to break the mold and have less sexualized characters, but as said in the beginning this article is about the damage sexism does/can do; not a treatise of were sexism is or not.

After deeper consideration maybe these type of articles are too negative to reach the people they need to and we should focus on the more positive games that offer character variety and downplay sexism. It is hard though to ignore sexual harassment and community sexism, in favor of being positive. As I feel these have to be addressed now, rather than later.

Once again thank you for your measured and sincere opinion.

1. Sexist male gamers
2. Sexism in the workplace
3. Sexual harassment
4. Games made for women

1. you’ll never get rid of sexist male gamers. the only solution is to mute them.
2. Sexism in the workplace is bad but there are avenues for female developers to make games and get paid for it. Kickstarter is a great place to start. If I was a female gamer and was told some of the things you wrote about, I would work on my own projects on the side and find a way to either start my own development studio or find a company that is open minded welcomes female developers with open arms. (That Game Company)
3. Sexual harassment is a global issue. It’s probably never going to go away. I’ve been harassed by a female in a high position and she even groped me. I liked it though Oo
4. In order to make a game ‘for women’ you have to understand what women want in games. How about we just make a game and put it out there. Women are now 50% of all gamers. They love da Skyrims too!

That is all!

PEACE!

Personally I like BIG TITS and scantily clad women in all aspects of media, not just games. Part of the draw of Bayonetta is the whole school teacher/librarian sex appeal. That’s just part though. The rest is a badass game!

I’ll be honest, I didn’t read your whole article for 2 reasons:

1. It’s too long and I’m on the phone troubleshooting a printer.
2. I’ve already read this article at least 3 to 4 times and it’s old already.

I did read enough to get the idea behind it though. While I don’t totally disagree with it, I also don’t think it has much merit in the fact that there are games with women who are designed with less sex appeal and male characters with no muscles at all. Again, it depends on the designer. I think in the future, writers like yourself should show the world the offerings in games that show a variety of different characters so that gamers know what’s available.

I haven’t read the comment section yet, how did I do?

While I thank you for….actually I don’t sexual harassment isn’t something to scoff at. Did you read the link that was in that part of the article? Some women are afraid to go to conventions because they are being groped. That is unacceptable. When they have the audacity to speak about being harassed people like you are quick to discount them and tell them to suck it up. No. They shouldn’t. (once again: http://www.businessinsider.com/women-programmers-stories-of-harassment-2013-3)

Sure you are right, some manage to get past the blockade of discouragement and just deal with the harassment, some are exceptionally strong people, but their success does not mean that the barriers they have had to overcome are not there.

While I welcome your feedback, a few things are just not true. Nearly half of all gamers are women (45%). In order to remain intellectually honest I have to admit though that female gamers are largely consistent of mobile and facebook games, like angry birds or farmville .http://www.p4rgaming.com/over-100000-banned-from-xbox-live-due-to-halo-4-sexist-comments-ban/

That being said, a large amount of female gamers are up for grabs, and should not be ignored by the industry. Also just because you aren’t sexist doesnt mean other people aren’t. Look at Halo 4 which had to banned over 100,000 players for constant sexist behavior.
http://www.p4rgaming.com/over-100000-banned-from-xbox-live-due-to-halo-4-sexist-comments-ban/

45 per cent of people who play games are women. That’s an actual fact, not some opinion that you pulled out your backside to support the ridiculous notion that feminism is ‘crap’

In other words…STFU.