5 Myths About Women In Gaming

Imagine for a moment that for several decades the video game industry has portrayed your status group as essentially the same character in different clothing (unless you're a woman or a minority, in which case this doesn't need to be imagined and that's the point I'm making). After a while, you might start to question whether the industry actually cares - or has any interest in understanding - the reality of your group.

Put simply, this issue is what sparked the 2014 uprising of popular female icons in the gaming community. Several entertainment news outlets let loose their sexism and misogyny on game developers Zoë Quinn and Brianna Wu, pretty much chastising them for suspected behaviour that turned out to never actually have occurred. Anita Sarkeesian, who had already been treading water because of a YouTube series where she addresses sexism in gaming, was accused of being unfair and baseless. All three were doxed (their personal information was released to the public), and they received death and rape threats.

One of the more outspoken social-justice-oriented female voice actresses, Felicia Day, wrote a blog post in response to the incidents unraveling, attempting to address her fear for safety of herself and other females. The GamerGate spokespeople responded by doxing Day, in true chivalric style, and threatening her.

Several male celebrities spoke out against GamerGate but were largely disregarded. Stephen Colbert pointed out GamerGate's disregard for the male voices, questioning why it was only females being targeted.

But of course, women are free to challenge the stereotypes assigned to them by the industry. It's not like anyone in the gaming community is going to fight back, right?