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As many women come forward in video game communities for mistreatment, we need to hold the creators of the games we play accountable for how their representation of women affects how women are treated in real life. thread (1/8)
Even with many women that play video games, it is still viewed as a male space. An activity for men, created by men, with a very small percentage of programmers and designers being women. (2/8)
This leads to women being underrepresented in video games and when women are represented, they are sexualized in ways that appeal to men. (3/8)
An important quote from Fox and Tang (2014) stated that “Playing games with sexualized characters lead players to normalize sexual harassment, and men indicate a greater likelihood to harass women after play.” (4/8)
This leads to the character design of female characters promoting the harassment of women as well as the female players experiencing worsened self-efficacy and self-objectification. (5/8)
This harassment, sexualization, and a diminished sense of self are all factors to women ending their hobby of playing video games and careers in the industry. (6/8)
"the content of many video games may promote
harassment of women. Given that female users also experience diminished self-efficacy and
self-objectification when exposed to these portrayals, it is no wonder that women may self-select out of such environments" (7/8)
harassment of women. Given that female users also experience diminished self-efficacy and
self-objectification when exposed to these portrayals, it is no wonder that women may self-select out of such environments" (7/8)
It is no surprise with how women are portrayed in video games that there are many male abusers in our communities as well as men who do not believe victims and this needs to change. (8/8)
Source: Fox J, Tang WY. Sexism in online video games: The role of conformity to masculine norms and social dominance orientation. Computers in Human Behavior. 2014;33:314-320. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2013.07.014.
