Women and Video Games: You Scared?

I haven't played video games since I was younger-- the last I remember was a Mario game on Nintendo 64. Yeah... I'm way behind.

However... I've never wanted to, and never have, played a stereotypical feminine game such as these.

Gaming companies rely on marketing surveys to tell them what the consumers want, and when faced with criticism for producing these types of games while limiting female gamers into reproductive roles, they simply throw up their hands and say, "We're just giving consumers what they want".




Hmmm... No.
Female participation in gaming culture is largely invisible, and when it is visible, it is in these stereotypical and marginalized ways. If you want a visual, it is like when you go to a women's clothing store... women are all in the middle searching for an item, while men are on the sides surrounding them either impatiently sitting or half falling asleep.

Male dominated spaces are calling for gender segregation. Women in such gaming conventions provide a service in a masculinized type of culture, labelled as, "Halo Hoes" and "Booth Babes".
This maintains the binary framework of culture and nature. "Women can't play games" is often endorsed by many gamers, mostly men, on a regular basis. When a female gamer participates, there is a disruption to the normalized gender order within the game culture--- and the men either throw insults involving our menstrual cycle, or they panic. Oh no, a girl.
Often times, sexual harassment and hate speech are done through gaming against women, especially with interactive games online. Women are threatened with rape. Women are threatened with getting beaten.
Have you heard of this?
When Anita Sarkeesian tried to focus on depictions of women in popular culture, the men reacted like this:

First, Ben Spurr of Ontario decided he was upset about Sarkeesian trying to speak out about the flaws of games and made a video game that advocated physical violence against Sarkeesian. You can beat her in the face all you want, that's the aim of the game. He still maintains his misogynistic views.

Beat Up Sarkeesian Game

Secondly, when other Twitter users were speaking out against the game, the women were threatened with the same physical violence and rape.

Sonia Blade- Mortal Kombat

Chun Li- Street Fighter

Even within games, you will rarely find the main character as a woman, and if so, they're very much sexualized characters, or a Damsel in Distress one...

Lara Croft

The internet is deemed to be "anonymous" and knows no social marker exclusions. But it actually does.
It is assumed, as with many contexts, that those who belong in any space are always first and foremost a figure that fits into the hegemonic framework--- white, middle class, male, straight, able bodied and able minded.