Something I just wanna say is that: There doesn’t need to be an intention for sexism to take place
(false talked about this on her stream, but since it’s now deleted and I don’t wanna butcher her words, might as well try to give my take. but i will still reference moments from that stream)
A lot of people tend to think that sexism is limited to very obvious, direct actions. That sexism is only when people think “I am superior to women” and then actively work to harass and degrade women. They assume sexist behavior is clear and easily identifiable, when in reality: it’s far from it.
It’s important to distinguish between sexist behaviors and sexist people. Anyone can do something unintentionally sexist. But being sexist is a deliberate and continuous mindset. Sexism is an enduring social problem. And we need to recognize that it’s perpetrated through the actions of multiple people and not just limited to those that think “I hate women”.
People will get defensive when they’re accused of doing something sexist, arguing “But I’m not sexist!” And that’s somewhat fair. But you don’t have to BE sexist to do something sexist. Because sexist acts are far more than just telling women they’re inferior or taking away their rights. Sexism is prevalent in a lot of day-to-day activities, and if it were only the blatantly “sexist” people who perpetrated it, then maybe it wouldn’t be such a problem. But that’s not how it is, and the sooner we recognize this: the sooner we can fix it.
Cause as someone who’s been watching False for quite some time (and why I’m saying this here), I can tell you she’s had some very unique experiences in the Minecraft community, because of her gender.
(And before I continue, I just wanna say: I am not victimizing False or trying to paint her as this innocent, defenseless victim. Nor am I saying that she’s been constantly bombarded with sexism all her career. She’s a grown adult, capable of speaking up and handling her own issues. And to try and blame everything negative that’s happened to her as “sexism” would be stupid)
But something I’ve noticed happening, SOLELY with False, is that: she gets talked over and ignored. A lot. The most obvious and recent example is the most recent Twitch Rivals: the MineDraft finale. During this event, False’s team had extremely poor communication. She kept suggesting a certain strategy, but no one listened. When they finally tried it- at someone else’s suggestion- they did well. But the fact that: 1. it took them so long to try her strategy 2. they only listened once someone else recommended it, made False tangibly frustrated. From there, any communication dissolved.
Even though some might say, “Oh that’s clearly sexist”, the issue is that: if you watched it from ANYONE ELSE’S perspective, it’s clear that wasn’t intentional. False’s team had chaotic communication from the start, since there was no clear leader. And with everyone constantly shouting, of course some things aren’t going to be heard.
But is that enough to make it not sexist? Cause even if her teammates didn’t intend it, False- the only woman on the team- never got her suggestions across and couldn’t get them to listen, unless she shouted.
Personally? I’d consider it sexism. I’m NOT saying that Pete, or Fulham, or ANYONE from the team is sexist. They’re all great guys! But what I am saying is that: what happened was the result of sexist behavior. And it comes back to: sexist people vs sexist actions. Just because no one was actively targeting her for being a woman, doesn’t mean it wasn’t unfair that False had to fight for her voice to be heard.
“Okay, that is unfair. But how do you know it’s sexism? Could’ve been just a one time case of bad comms. And everyone’s had a time when they’ve been ignored”
Simple. Because this has been a pattern since the beginning of False’s career. If this were the ONLY time her ideas were dismissed/ignored, then I wouldn’t be making a big deal. But it’s the fact that I’ve seen this happen to her specifically, time and time again, that I’m willing to call this sexism. The problem isn’t that they weren’t listening to her, because she’s a woman. The problem is that she wasn’t being heard, because she’s a woman.
Something False mentioned during the MineDraft finale (which admittedly, can’t be confirmed since the stream was deleted) was that this happened countless times before, when she was in previous events like UHCs. And when someone in chat said something along the lines of, “this is why i love playing with the hermits”, False clarified that some of the UHCs where she had issues was WITH the Hermits.
“Oh. So now you’re saying the Hermits are sexist?” NO! Absolutely not. The Hermits are some of the nicest, most accepting creators out there today. And they’re the FURTHEST thing from discriminatory. It’s why I adore them. The reason I bring this up is to say that: No one is immune from doing something sexist.
It’s the way people always say, “Oh _____ could never be sexist” and this idea of exceptionalism and purity that allows sexism (and other bad behaviors) to go unnoticed. By putting creators on a pedestal, you’re allowing their actions to go unchecked. So when something bad happens, you’d just say, “Oh well it couldn’t be ___ since they’re too pure”. People that do this are absolving the creators of their responsibility and accountability, which explains why they’re able to get away with such things.
Furthermore, it supports the idea that sexism only comes from extreme, women-hating monsters. If that were the case, then sexism wouldn’t be so common. Gender-based discrimination can come from anywhere. And in order to fix this, we need to be able to critically examine our actions to know when and where sexism is happening.
Because part of what upset me- when False made that comment- is that I knew exactly what she was talking about. Like I said, I’ve SEEN this happen to her time and time again, and it’s always stuck with me.
One moment is from another, recent Twitch Rivals event, Cube Clash, when False made a side comment to chat. Someone in her chat complained that no one ever listens to her in these events. And she said,
“Chat, they don’t listen. No, I know. It’s what happens, when you play Minecraft with 3 guys, chat. I’m joking. ...am I really?”
And another event where this happened is MCC17. Even though it happened quite a bit, throughout the event, the clearest example is towards the end. When they’re in the Decision Dome, about to go into Game 8. If you watch False’s POV (at 2:30:08 in her video), you can hear that she keeps trying interject. But whenever she speaks, someone talks over her, until eventually she just forces it out.
And that isn’t just me over-dramatizing things. Even Pete mentioned it. While he’s signing off his MCC17 stream, Pete comments (at 07:01:38 in the highlights VOD),
“I feel bad for False though. Because I think False, her mic was really quiet, and the rest of us were screaming pretty often. So I feel like she got cut off a lot. Hopefully she didn’t feel that way. But obviously, it’s understandable if she did.
*reading chat “ ‘she got background’ed a bit?’ Yeah. Even by myself too, like all of us were just talking pretty loudly. But I had a good time teaming with her”
There’s a HISTORY of False not being heard in these kinds of events, a recent one. And I chose these moments specifically, because 1. I wanted video evidence of this issue, and 2. These are people who know False
During the MineDraft event, a lot of people in False’s chat were saying it was because they were all a bunch of randoms. Yet here we see that False gets background’ed more often than that. She struggles to communicate, even with people she’s known for YEARS. And that is the issue. The fact that False isn’t heard, regardless of what the event is, or who she’s playing with. It’s the consistency of this treatment and disrespect that makes me willing to call this sexism.
And this also shows why intention isn’t relevant! We know, with the last 2 examples, that these are False’s friends who greatly respect her. Pete explicitly says that he enjoys having her as a teammate! It’s clear these aren’t intentionally mean people. But it doesn’t prevent them from unintentionally ignoring her. Like False’s chat was saying, this behavior is subconscious. But that doesn’t stop it from being hurtful. ‘Cause even if they don’t intend to, it still results in a pattern of False’s input being regularly dismissed and overlooked, and that is what’s sexist about it.
So what’s the point then? “People should never try to talk over a woman, and if you do, you’re sexist?” No! “Your intentions don’t matter. Men will forever be sexist.” NO!
I’m not bringing this up to start a crusade against men, or say that all men are evil. And this is absolutely not me trying to stir up hate against any of the creators directly, or indirectly mentioned. Pete, the Hermits, and everyone on False’s MineDraft team are all genuinely good people, that have ZERO interest in being mean or discriminatory. Many of them are False’s friends and servermates, and obviously they respect each other and get along. And what I’ve discussed here does not accurately reflect their FULL moral character.
My point is: an action can be sexist, even without the intention. Just because it wasn’t planned, doesn’t mean actions can’t- as a final result- end up hurting women. We are all capable of doing sexist things, without being sexist. So we need to be considerate of the IMPACT of our behavior. Otherwise we risk contributing to a harmful phenomenon, even if we don’t intend to.