This week women in the gaming industry took to Twitter in order to expose sexism in the industry. While many men and women alike used this opportunity to share their own experiences and to demonstrate their support for their female colleagues. And it all started with one simple hashtag #1reasonwhy. From that hashtag sprang #1reasonmentor where women in the industry “committed” to mentor other women in the industry in order to make it a less hostile place and to increase the numbers of women in the industry.
We all have our reasons for what we do. Why we continue to game and work in a hostile environment. Why we play games that sexual and trivialize us. We thought that this would be a great opportunity to share our own #1 reasons. So here we go!
Sam
#1reasonwhy I struggle as a female academic studying games is because when I walk into a room of men who do similar research they still insist on telling me that I’m in the wrong room because this is a meeting on games and try to direct me elsewhere.
#1reasonwhy I started Not Your Mama’s Gamer is to try to illuminate the sexism and misogyny that is present in the games and gaming community with the hopes that we can effect some kind of change. My number one reason is just that…hope.
Nicole
I wanted to preface both of my #1reasons by saying that these lists could go on forever, but I believe reading this blog and listening to the podcast will give you a good idea of why we work on this site and what we think of the industry.
#1reasonwhy… I struggle as a female who plays games, is mainly because of the endless harassment and under-representation that there is in the industry. Let’s be honest, this site wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for the way women are treated in games and the industry.
#1reasonwhy… I continue to strive to be involved in the video game industry, is because I love video games. Video games have blessed my life for so many different reasons and I cannot wait to work in the industry to not only make my voice heard, but to help initiate change and introduce young female gamers to a world of video games with less misogyny.
Alex
#1reasonwhy… it is difficult to get other women to play games is because I know I am asking them to be part of a community that 1) does not want them there and 2) believes harassment and assault of women is the norm and is ok. How can I convince my friend to buy a AAA title and play online with me when the first thing she hears upon logging on is “suck my dick, bitch” or “I totally raped that guy”?
#1reasonwhy… I choose to be part of a community that oozes hate for me is because I believe that our voices far outnumber the hateful ones. We just haven’t gotten loud enough yet.
4 thoughts on “#1ReasonWhy: Women in Games Speak Out”
Can we all continue to add?
Because men think it’s ok/funny to threaten to sodomize female employees when they call a game store.
#1reasonwhy I struggle as an academic gamer is because my dissertation committee made me cut gaming studies from my dissertation.
#1reasonwhy I struggle as an academic studying games is when I told a colleague that’s what I do (and it’s what he does too) he said “YOU? REALLY?” like it was the strangest thing in the world. This response is not uncommon.
#1reasonwhy I feel like I don’t belong is that I don’t play the “right” games and I don’t even care to. The “right” games seem to be set by the industry and media, neither of which–I feel–represent me very well. I tried Skyrim, I did, and I’m finally “good enough” at WoW, but most of the time I’d rather be playing Skylanders and LittleBigPlanet, and I still love the Rabbids and <3 retro-gaming….
Or that people think that it’s ok to interrupt when you are gaming (alone or with students doing research) because you are “just playing”.
Or that people think it’s ok to make sexist jokes about sexist content in games because if you play games you must think it’s ok, right?