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Sexist Community (at least towards me)

Silverfield·12/16/2014, 10:16:07 PM·13 votes·4,250 views

Hey there :)

So I've been playing League for about a year now, and I have made many friends through the site, some that I call and speak to even when I'm not playing. But anyway:

When I play, I like to joke and correct people when they refer to me as a 'he,' because I'm a girl. I just type a little 'she*' in the chat, and usually the reaction is 'oh, sorry dude. I mean dudette.' Yes, someone has actually responded with that one. Or, if I'm duoing, making comments about my nails, or hair, or something feminine enough to reveal my gender.

However, recently (in the last three months or so,) I have noticed an alarming trend. I'm going to open with an example:

I am a support main, and was duoing with a friend of mine in a normal non-ranked game. I mentioned to them in chat something about the dress I was wearing to my aunts wedding. Several of the other players commented "Oh, you're a girl?" and just general remarks on my gender.

Well, we ended up losing bot lane pretty bad. I was 0-3-1 and they took our turret. That's when the harassment started. "This is why women shouldn't try to play video games," came the first comment. And they continued, escalating. "Why don't you go make some sandwiches and sell your computer," was another. "You're pretty lucky to be so rich that you have a computer in your kitchen," was the third. And they got worse and worse, escalating into sexual harassment. "You better send us some nudes to make up for this loss." "Give me your number, so I can get a slice of that ass." "Unless you're ******* someone, or cooking, I'm not sure why you even exist." And so many I can't even remember. To the point where me and the person I was duoing with almost AFK'ed, but didn't want to get reported.

This is just one game. This has happened to me at least 6-7 times, and is completely unacceptable. I contacted Riot the first time it happened, quoting players, giving usernames, asking for any kind of punishment to those responsible. And 'unfortunately' they couldn't do much if they hadn't been reported multiple times. The best they could do is review the chat, and give them a warning. For that kind of harassment?

My proposition is that players that make directly sexual harassing comments should be immediately banned. Not just sexism, but racism, and homophobia as well. It's one thing to flame about losing a game. To call someone a bad player, a 'noob,' or flame in that way. But attacking someone in a personal manner like that is ridiculous, and should not be tolerated. If Riot wants to better the League community, there needs to be a zero tolerance policy on these matters. Because someone who would make comments like that isn't someone you can fix in the tribunal. That's how they actually are. And they should be banned.

127 Comments

1st HanarSpectre12/16/2014, 10:17:44 PM22 votes

Mute> report > move on. That's all there is to it.

TeemoJenkins12/16/2014, 10:18:21 PM9 votes

Provided you didn't retaliate against them in chat and reported them, they will get punished. Behavioral team has zero tolerance for stuff like that. I play with my buddy his GF all the time (My gf doesn't play :'( and would be happy to have you and your friend join us if you want a group to play with ).

Dr Clueless PhD12/16/2014, 10:30:23 PM6 votes

It's not specific to women, and it's certainly not specific to you. Revealing any personal trait about yourself gives people something to lay into.

As to your proposition, trust in the system (once it's back online). The Tribunal, when it was up, had NO tolerance for discriminatory language of any kind. Those people got axed really fast. Rioters who work on it would cite how it was consistently at the top of the punish list for Tribunal users. It simply did not fly if players did it enough to get into the Tribunal.

Once it's back up (which should be soonish, if what I've read is accurate), we'll see more of such punishments handed out.

Drunk Rummate12/17/2014, 8:01:54 PM6 votes

hello i'm a self proclaimed doctor. i read your case and i think i've identified your disease.

i recommend a healthy injection of common sense, twice daily. hopefully this will help you come to the realization that nobody cares about your gender and the only person making an issue of it is yourself.

please understand the following during your recovery fact: people will make fun of you on the internet fact: they will latch onto the topics that you respond most negatively to, whether it be "basement dweller, fat, girl, ugly, stupid, black, white, christian, etc" fact: if you keep to yourself and simply ignore the hate, they won't be able to identify what really bothers you and they will resort to generic hate comments rather than targeted ones that obviously bother you

I wish you a healthy recovery from your lack of common sense. Sincerely, Nasreth, MD.

HitYouInTheFace12/16/2014, 10:17:51 PM6 votes

It's the internet. People will cling to any fact, literally anything, to frustrate and tilt you. It's not a gender thing as much as its a foothold for them to annoy you. Just ignore.

JLau12/17/2014, 1:50:58 AM4 votes

This is what happened to my sister that made her not want to play league. She had the name "Jess" in her name and right off the bat people started making rude and sexual remarks. It isn't right and should not be tolerated.

SeCKS Egai12/17/2014, 8:58:27 PM4 votes

I think people fail to take into account that it wasn't too long ago that we were still using phone lines and dial up modems with internet culture being a brand new thing.

In the time since then, social media and the internet has a whole has grown by leaps and bounds. One by product has been negativity and hate shielded by anonymity.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the majority of males who verbally abuse even "suspected" females over the internet are in reality socially awkward and in turn end up using the internet to retaliate.

If all the gamergate hoopla is to be considered, the sexism is definitely an issue despite the increase in female gamers. What I find odd is why it's such an issue now. When I started way back with a NES, gaming was clearly oriented towards males. By the time the PS1 and PS2 hit, it was pretty normal for a female to be playing video games, and not "female-oriented" games, just straight video games. At least that was my experience growing up.

But as I said, the internet and natural anonymity provides many the opportunity to voice hateful opinions - and often with little to no reason.

@OP being a female gamer, it's both sad and unfortunate that to this day you're going to be exposed to hate for no reason than your gender. Imagine being Nikasaur and all the bs she had to endure as one of the faces of LoL. That's not to belittle your own experience but to provide perspective - the gaming community as a whole is still generally volatile. You'd think guys would be much more supporting of ladies enjoying video games - its pretty damn neat when your girlfriend can play with you, and its a lot cheaper than going to the movies =P I've met a few gaming couples and I must admit I've been a tad jealous.

To be a female gamer right now means you're going to get treated differently. In some cases, people may adore you - and in others get undeserved hated. That's not to say that sexual harassment, homophobia or anything of the like should be tolerated but that there's currently no escaping it - sooner or later it will find you.

Try to net let the haters win by taking the joy out of your gaming.

OhBoyItsaMegaman12/17/2014, 1:31:21 AM3 votes

{quoted} I contacted Riot the first time it happened, quoting players, giving usernames, asking for any kind of punishment to those responsible. And 'unfortunately' they couldn't do much if they hadn't been reported multiple times. The best they could do is review the chat, and give them a warning. For that kind of harassment?

That's not what Support says if you contact them to report someone. They'll tell you that they will investigate it and take action. Unless they have changed it in the past 2 months, the exact wording you probably received is: "We will investigate your report and take any actions we feel are necessary. Please keep in mind; we cannot disclose any disciplinary actions that may be taken due to privacy reasons. Even if you were unable to use the report feature, please continue to use our in-game reporting system whenever you can. Reports you make provide us with valuable tracking information and help to escalate players to our attention for investigation. Each report brings violators of the Summoner's Code one step closer to restricted chat or suspension by our investigative audits."

That is much different than saying they can't do much if the person hasn't been reported multiple times. It also does not say that the offending players will only receive a warning.

Surakai12/17/2014, 12:18:03 AM2 votes

oh look, another liberal who thinks racism, sexism, and homophobia are entirely bad where they deserve zero tolerance. there are facts that support all three and to be anti- any of them is to be anti-fact and that is the last thing humanity needs because if we keep ignoring the real problems they will never be fixed.

Aerothal12/18/2014, 6:15:56 PM2 votes

why do you even feel that you have to disclose your gender?

the majority of players in the game are at an age where they are figuring out how not to be boys. part of that is the behavior towards females. there is a stark difference in how a teenager treats women and how a man treats a woman. I could go on about a lot of things but maturity is actually what it boils down to.

All that said, what are you trying to achieve when you disclose your gender to a bunch of strangers you will most likely never encounter again? What is there to gain? How does it enhance your game experience? Let me answer that for you:

1) you gain nothing. 2) it doesn't enhance your game experience. 3) it opens you up to harassment that is aimed at your gender (had you not mentioned you were female, you'd be harassed without a gender bias)

If someone wants to say something negative to you (because they are raging, don't like your decisions etc) they will use everything they can to get to you.

You mentioning that you are a female just gave them a piece of information they can use to make any insult more personal.

tldr: keep your personal shit reserved for friends and just fucking play the game!

Zanathax12/18/2014, 4:22:14 PM1 votes

Uh.... ok. Why does it matter to you that the people you're playing with know you're female so much? Because, whether you realize it consciously or not, it OBVIOUSLY does. Your statements make this perfectly clear.

Refraining from throwing in other players face what your gender is, isn't about being ashamed of what you are. Until YOU tell them, every gamer will assume you're male. Maybe that's the problem?

YOU are creating this negative situation, intentionally it sounds like, and then using the fallout of that to agitate for some fairly extreme punishments about people reacting predictably - that doesn't excuse it, of course, but it is still predictable. Completely unnecessary as well.

If you don't want people judging you because of your gender, DON'T TELL THEM YOU'RE A GIRL! The problem, of course, is that you crave attention - probably positive AND negative attention, even from random strangers on the internet. I probably shouldn't be writing this, because even this is reinforcing your attention seeking behavior.

Seriously, seek professional counseling. I'm not being mean here. What you are exhibiting is considered an important part of some pretty severe mental illnesses.