âWeâre used to death threatsâ 6 years after GamerGate, nothing has changed
(Itâs impossible for me to continue playing Valorant. To be provoked, harassed, insulted as soon as people hear my voice, all of this because Iâm a woman, is unacceptable. I wonât accept undergoing this constantly, and having to signal people constantly. Iâm sickened.)
If for some years now, awareness of the bullying that women suffer from in all parts of society has been increasing, everyday changes appear to be barely noticeable.
The world of video games is one glaring example. Or how, behind the grand speeches, the life of female gamers hasnât changed â maybe even got worse since GamerGate, an event that has triggered the first large-scale wave of online harassment against women.
In partnership with the YESSS podcast, Numerama investigated the sexism in the community of male and female gamers, with a saddening but certain report: since 2014 and GamerGate, nothing has changed. What we gathered from the dozens and dozens of testimonies that we collected, is that the daily life of women gamers is punctuated by these microaggressions. Tweet after tweet, insult after insult, from sexist comments to targeted bullying, these are individual actions that, when added up, create an incredibly violent wave of online harassment. A wave that swallow them again, day after day.
âGamergate had set the toneâ
âGamerGate had set the tone in regards to sexism, and this changed thingsâ assesses Julie, who mostly plays on League of Legends. âWhen they discover that you are a girl, itâs rampageâ adds Leiden, a World of Warcraft player: âAs soon as youâre a girl, youâre gonna eat shit. There are comments like âYou donât know how to play (...)â, itâs a very common behavior on WoWâŠâ Kash, who also plays MMORPG, laments that âtoxic comments became the normâ. One example: during a session, the presence of three female players triggered a collective cackling from the members of her guild, who said that âthe disabled quota has arrivedâ. âI told them that we were fed up with these kind of remarks, that is was not normal. They responded by saying it was just humor. (...) Thatâs really a bummer, because when the game launched, this didnât exist, we were a community. I wasnât judged based on my sex.â. âPlaying as a woman, itâs a hassleâ confirms Lisa*, tiredly âThere is always some pig there to tell you to âgo back to the kitchenââ. Laughter always follows.
She however assesses that GamerGate did not launch online bullying. Gamers are known to vehemently defend their passion: âIn 2005, a wave of online harassment had been launched against the very controversial Jack Thompson, an american lawyer who declared that shootings in the USA were the result of the violence of video gamesâ Brad Glasgow, a journalist who then published a study on GamerGate, reminds us, now asked by Numerama. Some gamers at the time sent death threats to his home, or even developed games in which the objective was to hit the lawyer⊠What GamerGate changed, is adding a sexist aspect to online bullying, focusing hate and attacks on multiple women.
Between journalistic integrity and harassment
On August 16th 2014, Eron Gjoni, a 24 years old programmer, published on his blog âthezoepostâ, a 9000-words vitriolic announcement, describing in detail how his now ex-girlfriend, Zoe Quinn, had cheated on him. The story could have ended there. But here is the deal: Zoe Quinn is an indie video game developer, and the man she cheated on him with is a journalist specialized in gaming-related press. That was everything gamers and the Internet needed to ignite: this man is writing for a journal which recently published a highly positive review of Zoe Quinnâs new game, Depression Quest. Between blogs, subreddits and 4chan, the GamerGate movement was born.
âThey wanted to be able to continue playing with half-naked female characters without anyone saying something about itâ
What did gamers really want? They would say that they were fighting for âmore ethics in videogame reporting, less cronyism between developers and magazinesâ Brad Glasgow, who conducted a study on this subject, explains. âThe gamergaters who I interviewed had the impression that the industry was pushing on them more censored, family-friendly games. They wanted to be able to continue playing with half-naked female characters without anyone saying something about it, and without being considered misogynistsâ. The GamerGate contributors were for a long time believed to be clichĂ© young gamers, however Brad Glasgowâs study show that the median age was 30 years old, very different from the often depicted carefree youngsters. All the people targeted by the supporters of this movement were women. The victims and numerous reporters commented afterwards that GamerGate was never about claiming anything, but simply a way to express their hate and disdain towards Zoe Quinn. Zoe Quinn, as well as the video game creator Brianna Wu and blogger Anita Sarkeesian received so many rape, torture and death threats that they were forced to move out out of their homes, fearing for their lives. In the United States, this event was huge, so much that the New York Times described it  as âthe beginning on alt-right hegemony on the Internetâ, and even as a culture war. In France, despite being covered by the media, it didnât have such an impact outside of the affected community. The problem however, doesnât only exist on the other side of the Atlantic. The blogger Marlard was talking, since 2013, about a "sick community", soaked in sexism, fetishizing Lara Croftâs new design, and, in the famous 18-25 forum on jeuxvideo.com, misogyny was already the rule. She was actually one of the first to receive numerous waves of online harassment for daring to point out the sexism in the world of video games.
A masculine universe
Why talk again about Gamergate today? Because six years later, despite the problem being under the spotlight and having media coverage, female gamers still suffer. Video games seem to stay a masculine universe, a space where the famous rule 30 of the Internet âon the Internet, there are no womenâ could be a reality. Itâs nevertheless false: according to a IFOP study published in 2018, women play as much video games as men do.The Internet and Twitch are full of casual and professional gamers, like Kayane, Trinity, Little Big Whale, Zulzorander, Marie PalotâŠ. But, inescapably, the presence of women in online games startles, surprises, annoys.Â
âBeing misogynistic is trendyâ
To insult women and social justice warriors (nickname given to anti-discrimination activists by their opponents) is still seen today as a way to make your audience laugh, to gain a place inside the boyâs club, sometimes even to become famous. French streamer Jean Massiet admits it: âBeing misogynistic is trendyâ.
(Iâve been streaming for 5 years and there is an absolute constant: being misogynistic is trendy, make your chat laugh by playing the rebel. To be feminist is to oppose retaliations and gatekeeping. Conformism really isnât where most people think.)
The âyoung boyâ trick to conceal your voice
One of the main problems encountered by female players online, is âvocalâ, the act of talking with other members of the team to coordinate certain attacks during a game. In this moment, itâs impossible to hide behind the neutral usernames of characters typically associated with male players: âAs soon as people hear that Iâm a girl, itâs over. Many women donât want to communicate because of itâ reveals Lisa. âYou really feel a difference in behavior when comparing the before and after.â
Julie, another player, explains that the âafterâ is often synonymous with saucy flirting. âImmediately, dudes will come talk to you in private, ask for pictures and lewd requestsâŠâ To avoid this, almost all the female players that we interviewed explained to us that they use the âyoung boyâ trick: passing as a young male player whose voice has not dropped yet, to justify their high-pitched tone. Lying to stay undisturbed is a common strategy. Some even prefer playing with the account of their male partners, thus avoiding unrequited comments.
The #MeToo aftermath is even worse
But itâs not always sufficient. Kate laments that âThe #MeToo movement created a mistrustâ, revealing a violent rejection of the liberation of feminine and feminist voices. âIt has become a PMU* (âPMUâ or âPari Mutuel Urbainâ is a bar/gambling place chain. Nowadays it is synonymous for many people with armchair psychology, politics and chauvinist behaviors) Everytime you want to point out to players that they are making sexist comments, itâs always the same reaction âyou canât say anything nowadaysâ, âfeminaziâ....â Far from letting those concerned question themselves, it seems that the #MeToo movement has reinforced their aggravation, which then leads them to be even more defensive or to conduct gratuitous attacks, especially on Discord, a chat/vocal platform often used by players to communicate with each other.Â
âThe memes are more aggressive, everyone jeers at feminists⊠There is some sort of frustration towards feminist awareness, a very violent reaction. It is even sometimes almost incel behavior,â explains Kash, referencing the men's rights activists movement of "involuntary celibates". âYou wonât make friends talking about feminismâ Natâali, streamer, confirms to us.
 â#MeToo has revealed the privileges that men have, and they didnât like seeing itâ
She isnât the only one who saw the situation getting worse after Gamergate and #MeToo. âSince I started playing in 2007, I truly saw the atmosphere deteriorateâ Kash told us. âI saw more bullshit these last two years than in the ten years prior, "I now see things that dudes never dared to do before. The whole community got worseâ. Lisa also observed the explosion of sexism after #MeToo. âItâs really then that I started hiding the fact that I was a woman. #Metoo has revealed the privileges that men have, and they didn't like seeing it. Donât touch cis white hetero men, or you will get branded a fucking feminist, a whore, a feminazi.â Lisa reached the point of ânot wanting to play anymore, too toxic. Gets on my nerves too quickly.â There is, too, a fear of underperforming: âIâm scared to play certain FPS (First Person Shooter, like Call of Duty) because Iâm no very good at them, and I donât want to help the belief that âgirls sucks at video gamesâ to persistâ laments Natâali.
The liability of professional streamers
In the eyes of Julie, part of the problem resides in the fact that the gamer community is growing rapidly. âThere are more and more gamers, and the newcomers are usually very young and very sexist. Even if some people change and gain understanding regarding this problem, they will be drowned by comments by teens that have no reflexion on sexismâ.â In addition to the jeuxvideo.com 18-25 forum, numerous streamers and professional players are accused of perpetuating sexism. As Numerama showed in a study made in April 2019, members of the Solary team, a french esport structure, have encouraged online harassment against several women, and have contributed in spreading sexist insults (a woman receiving compliments from a stranger, not responding to them and âcalling them out on social mediaâ is in their eyes a âwhoreâ)
âItâs an environment in which men pat each other on the backâ*
(Translatorâs note: a more literal translation would be âmen forgive each otherâ but the underlying idea in this sentence was that they allow themselves to forgive each otherâs faults without actually hearing the people targeted.)
Sardoche, a League of Legends streamer and Twitch partner (video creators able to monetize their videos) has also been known for years for his very violent remarks against female players, that he calls âshitty little virginsâ or âhuge whoresâ. In addition to being aware about inciting his followers to harass, he often mocks feminist activists on twitter, and his followers always join the party. âThe problem is that he is followed by a lot of boys that want to imitate himâ Natâali tell us.
âTrolling feminists, best thing to do in the morning. Thanks to @MrKryorys for archiving these kinds of clipsâ Yet Sardoche is not called out, and can still enjoy the free publicity made by numerous other streamers, promoting him and condoning his unacceptable speeches. At the start of June however, the streamer announced that he was now suffering from online harassment on his Twitch lives, coming mostly from 18-25 users. These behaviors have no influence on the mentioned playersâ and streamersâ careers. âThey still donât understand that they are participating to the trivialization of hatred against womenâ Natâali angrily adds âSardoche is now co-hosting PopCorn, one of the most viewed programs on Twitch. Itâs an environment in which men pat each other on the back.â
âOne girl per team, no moreâ
This impunity is reinforced by the erasure of female players, firstly because some are reluctant to present themselves as women in online games, and secondly, because the professional environment is not giving them a platform. We call that âthe quota effectâ. âThose who want to become professional know that there is only one âgirlâ slot per teamâ. complains Natâali. This infamous âquota womanâ reminds us of the âLara Croft effectâ a overused argument often put forward when criticism against the lack of female characters in video games arise: You got it wrong, look over here, there is one woman.
âAt the beginning of big web TV, 7 or 8 years ago, there was a of of competition between female players. No sisterhood whatsoever, girls were awful with each other because they knew there wouldnât be a spot for everyoneâ Natâali, who had seen the problem herself, continues.
Once hired, these female streamers still have a lot to face. A friend of Natâali told her last year that her team forced her to wear a mini-skirt during a marketing campaign. According to Leiden âPeople still see their female players as sexy props, instead of focusing on their playing skillsâ.
The ambience is now healthier, and âthere is a real solidarity on Twitch between us, we talk a lot. With #MeToo, we understand that we needed to help each other. These topics have the spotlight, we feel more comfortable talking about them. Dudes still behave the same, but the relationship between female players changed. This is the big victory of #MeToo.â Â Â
âStreamers need to question themselvesâ
Should we see this whole problem as unsolvable? For AurĂ©lie, âin practice men are not yet supportives. The knowledge is here, we know that âsexism is badâ But if you point out that a comment is sexist, they will immediately jump and respond that no, itâs just humorâ. There are many hard to unlearn habits,â Lisa remarks: âItâs the patriarchal structure: nice guys sometimes have awful reactions. Itâs rooted inside of them, they donât even realize what theyâre doing.â For all of the interviewees, the education of men regarding these problems is the solution. Kash affirms: âThis men-only community create a unease. Streamers need to be the example. They need to question themselves, and they shouldnât hesitate to take clear stances regarding this.â Still, it would be easier if these stances were the norm, and taking them was not a risk.
âWhen you keep talking to them about it, our male friends realize the problemâ Lisa happily notices. One of Kashâs friends, with whom sheâs been playing for years, has evolved a lot despite starting as âmostly uninterested in the sexism problem in gamesâ. After our interview, she decided to talk to him about her experience, and he listened to her testimony. âLast week, during a raid in which I didnât introduce myself, a player made a sexist remark about the body of a woman. My friend told me he felt uncomfortable and talked to the guild leader about it. Nothing happened, the player wasnât sanctioned, but Iâve known my gamer friend for 11 years and it was the first time he reacted like that. So Iâm hopeful!â
Aurore Gayte for NumeramaÂ
*names have been changed This article was created in partnership with the YESSS podcast. .Their latest creation, "Warriors and Games" is available here. Every month, the YESSS team gathers testimonies of women who triumphed against sexism: those who responded, who corrected, who snapped and resisted. YESSS is a podcast for warriors, positive and decidedlyfeminist. It is conceived and hosted by Margaïd Quioc, Elsa Miské et Anaïs Bourdet, produced by the Popkast label in Marseille.
