Ive had a few ideas on this whole "misogynistic attitude to females in games" thing for a while now, and while they are a little different from whats been said here, I still agree that this is a really dumb idea. I dont however think this is as much female gamers being singled out, as it is general trash to talk from people playing online.

Okay so maybe this is a little more serious than usual, becuase its blantly sexist behaviour towards women. Still, while it varies in severity, everyone will most likely get some form of this abuse at one point or another, but in different ways for different things. I mean, is the reaction that a female might get online, so different than the reactions I sometimes get? Ive often entered a game, and been barraged with a wave of anglophobic comments, simply because my accent has somehow upset people.

And Ive often experianced racist remarks being made towards others too, and practically anything some people can use to insult or distract someone, they will. Although, while Im not saying this behaviour is acceptable and has to be put up with, Im trying to point out that I think my case for example, isnt so different than a woman getting flak because of her gender. Maybe Im making a mistake and am downplaying this plight for women, but I think its less "misogynistic males vs female gamers", more like the usual "moron gamers vs normal gamers."

Still, maybe that was all irrelivant, but I totally agree that to think female gamers should want or need to disguise there voice to avoid that kind of behaviour is insane. As its been suggested, they should put more effort into teaching the annoying players to respect others they play with/against, whoever they are, and avoid stupid and annoying ideas like that.

I agree, trash talking takes many forms.

I think the issue is part of the problem the industry has always held. Men are competitive and some can't stand the idea that a mere woman could be better than them or have any control over their fates.

One of the worst cases of going overboard with the gender-related comments I've encountered in my life happened when I was moderating some forums on an MMO site. I was tasked with cleaning up the forums (rampant personal attacks, profanity and more) and I did so, in the process upsetting the readers of the forum greatly. The comments directed towards me included raping me then killing me slowly in very graphic detail. It was rather shocking to me to read this (I was pregnant at the time too, so the emotional shock was greater than it normally would be.) It gave me tough skin to go through this, but really, should any woman be subjected to this kind of disgusting behavior by any man?

Women are subjected to a variety of sexist related comments, but the more common ones tend to be rape and violence related, simply because they are more shocking and women have a real fear of those things happening. Instead of targetting something about that person, like an accent or a name, they target women sexually, and that's a violation that no one should have to endure, even in an anonymous online environment. It's a reality of being a woman gamer and I've gotten used to it, but at the same time, it's an extreme barrier to more women playing. Most women wouldn't put up with it, they'd just put down the controller.

And that's why my site exists and why women's issues are gaining more popularity in this industry. Because we don't want the women to put down the controller.

Owner/Editor
Killer Betties
Proud Mother of 2 little boys, Nicky and Z

Well, for me that was something of a slap in the face. I had thought about comments directed towards women in that manner, but while its obviously something I can never really understand, I recognise how difficult it would be to put up with them.

Maybe I was a little naive, but they were more at the back of my mind. Id consider that a serious step out of line, and something worth banning players for. Still, when I look at it in that sense, there is a distinct difference between the usual flurry of insults players get, and that sort of personal attack.

Maybe I missed the point somewhat, in thinking this is aimed at stopping generally unpleasant comments towards women altogether. Those comments that are just like singling out people of a different nationality say. But I certainly agree that that is something completely apart from the usual "Hey its a chick! Wanna have cyber?" or "Girls suck at games, you shouldnt be here!" crap that I assume comes from morons playing online.