to feel scared for our girls when kicking prostitutes in a video game

[Duckierub]

gets you more points.

Did anyone see the program about women's roles in video games? I was utterly horrified when I saw the imagery of how women are portrayed as sexual objects and kicking female prostitutes to get your money back earned you points. I was also shocked that the teen girls interviewed said it was normal for them to be molested by boys.

AIBU to think that we should be campaigning against some of this stuff?

I wanted to ban my ex from playing bloody COD. Horrible constant gunfire noise all the time, used to drive me mad!

At least DH is into boring games like Final Fantasy Online And he uses headphones to play shooters.

My teen is into WoW BertieBotts.

Women do create games too, not just geeky men as you put it.
Think games should be a restricted product like alcohol. If you think the game is being bought for a minor no sale.
I don't think there should be a ban though, up to parents to be more aware and tougher.
I love gaming. I used to love a bit of gta too, cant say i was very good at it though.

Askbasil I agree with you - tbh I have no idea whether they are genuinely coming out or whether it's a phase, I couldn't possibly say, but DD has mentioned that it's happening to a lot of girls at school and I do see it as being a way for them to justify refusing sex with men and boys. It's a very convenient way to get everyone to back the hell off and I think I would be doing the same if I had been exposed to the misogynist crap that they see on the web at such a young age.

Perhaps it will continue into adulthood, fine by me - their loss really, girls have everything to gain. And when they are outsmarting them in education and then at work, the revolution will truly have come of age and the patriarchy will have shot themselves firmly in the foot while our girls take over and reclaim their rightful position in society.

DH used to play Wow but enough of his friends stopped playing it. I'm not sure which games he plays now. There's an MMO which his company runs though which is aimed at preteens called Wizard, if anyone is interested. It's designed to be child friendly and is heavily moderated.

Kali, although women work in the gaming industry (and I think it is getting better) it is still a misogynistic industry.

BertieBotts Yes :) I'm still finding new things in it, and with mods it's even more versatile.

Oh sorry, Wizard 101.

I'm scaring myself now with my world domination talk.

Oh yes, I'm currently running a challenge where I play without mods or EPs and it's really weird! I'm looking forward to getting further in it so I can add my EPs and mods back in :)

I keep dabbling in sims 3 but it's just not holding my interest in the same way. I'm very intrigued by sims 4, though.

(PM me if you want - derailing the thread a bit!)

Bertie I agree about gaming still being misogynistic. I test and review games and still see the attitude that it should be a men only world. That isn't universal, thankfully, but that Comicbook Guy stereotype is based in reality to an extent.

Saying that, I also write about sport and see a LOT more of it there.

Sport is probably worse, I agree. I am definitely a typical woman in that respect though - I hate sport and avoid it as much as possible.

Perhaps I should say "stereotypical" rather than typical, actually.

I don't agree that on the whole it is a misogynistic industry. I don't think the belief is there on the whole that women shouldn't be involved. In fact most of the guys I know think getting women involved would be incredibly positive.

I do think though from the outside it is viewed as intrinsically a "geeky boy" industry which does, I expect, put young women off wanting to be a part of it.

Which is a shame

I'm not really against 'men only' environments, just not a whole industry. I do think that there are areas where men just need to do man things with other men, women have areas like that too. The trouble is they are using misogyny as a way of keeping women out rather than being relaxed and manly and 'letting in' the odd few women that like shooting the shit out of things.

The drinking song in the programme was an example of this - extreme misogynistic words in a song designed to say 'we are blokes and our mission (to get pissed) won't be swayed by some lily-livered girls'. The comedy is a similar thing - 'we are not going to have our language and behaviour tempered by anyone so we are going to attack those who are most likely to do this' (interestingly that's not the government - it's women).

Men seem only able to define their own personal liberation by excluding women. Women, to them, are the oppressor.

There is still that attitude that sport is for men and women should stick to knitting. (Actually was told that, it's probably the least offensive insult thrown at me, others have been more unpleasant).

Also, politics can be nasty. Some people have a real problem with women holding opinions different to theirs. I know men get this too, but they don't get the stalking and rape threats as far as I can tell.

Fleta I totally agree! It does anger me that girls are deterred from going into gaming (either professionally or as gamers) because of a minority of asshats who are always portrayed as being far more important than they really are. Most men are not like that. I actually got into gaming because of men like my DH and his friends who encouraged me to have a go. At the time I didn't know a single woman who was into gaming - this was nearly 20 years ago.

I think women's influence in sports and politics are that they change the unwritten rules. The unwritten man rules which underpin the notions of strength and power as being more important than compassion and intelligence.

Look at any society where women have been excluded from politics and you can see where it leads - it is essential for a healthy society that women are included. If we bring up a generation of girls who play games whose rules are written by men who knows where we are taking them.

I'd support a campaign for sure. I know boys of 5ish who play this, call of duty and nazi zombie killer (I shit you not, that last one is an actual game).

Can lead to delightful play time banter: "give me that back or I'll come up behind you and stab you in the throat".

Saskia, it might encourage you to know that on a mostly-male gaming forum I frequent, there's a thread dedicated to mocking the moronic Reddit MRA types who get really angry about Sarkeesian and such.

Someone said that women face abuse in games and I have to say ive never come across that. I played an MMO some years ago, where people knew I was a girl. My clan didnt care what my sex was, they'd flirt a bit but never overstepped the mark. Now I play league of legends, again I have never ever experienced any misogyny or any issues like that. Then again I dont usually seek attention or broadcast my gender.

Some women used sex (webcams, pictures or actual sex if they lived close enough) or the promise of sex to get what they wanted from men (gear, money, extra help levelling characters).

I work in games development and there are other women in the industry but they generally work in localisation and marketing rather than development.

FengMa you should check whether that's a child protection issue, as it would probably be classed as neglect - the parent is failing to protect the child from emotional distress. Things like that should be reported.

Oh I saw this documentary, it is on iplayer.

I found it shocking and really opened my eyes even more.

When i think about some of the things that was said done when i was younger Im horrified...