Esports is held on a different league from the realm of traditional sports.
It is held in a virtual reality where physiological factors are almost non-existent and competitors challenge each other’s skills mainly on mental factors. Yet, one might question the lack of females at the highest levels of competition.
Sexism is a discrimination based on gender, and a subset of sexism includes stereotyping and even sexual harassment. In this episode, our guests Amanda and Zanthel explore the silent culture of sexism that Loo part-time too. While Zanthel has not faced many challenges as a female in management, she shared some unpleasant in-game experiences on this podcast.
The Gender Stereotype
When one hears the word “gamer”, the common image that might come to mind is a boy who is in a dingy room decorated with posters and figurines. As such, an association with gaming would not come naturally when a female reveals that she is a gamer. “Most of the time, when girls share with their friends about their interest in going competitive for a certain game, they are asked to try out streaming instead,” Zanthel pointed out. Such is the culture within gaming, where the thrill of conquest and rivalry is not something you would link with the image of females. Instead, females are seen as “entertainers” who serve to please the masses.
The gender stereotype does not end there. Within games where players have different roles, females are often shoved with the “support” role. “When I first started playing DOTA, the guys in my team always gave me the support role because it was easier,” Amanda shared annoyedly. “Since then, I never played with that group of friends as I felt that they did not believe in me.”
Sexual Harassment
Games provide a space where individuals are welcomed warmly and are allowed to communicate with each other without judgement. The gaming community and online multiplayer games act as a place for warmth and acceptance, yet attitudes against you can change the moment they find out about your gender. In the case of Zanthel, she recalls one incident during a popular First Person Shooter (FPS) game, Counter-Strike (CS) where she was matched with a group of boys. The group was amicable and cooperative, up till the point when she turned on her microphone and spoke.
After realising that she was a girl, she became an object of their catcalls and lewd comments through the in-game chat function. Thus, she no longer wanted to continue the match for its objective. “Usually, I am able to brush off such incidents but it overwhelmed me that day and I broke down,” Zanthel recalled. She went on to explain that while sharing the incident with a close friend, he merely laughed it off. The extent of normalisation of such in-game incidents becomes a subject of concern when some are unable to empathise with the frustration and the hurt a female gamer has to undergo.
Through this podcast, we wanted to highlight the troubles behind the lives of female gamers as well as the challenges faced by them.
Featuring strong female role models Amanda and Zanthel, this episode hopes to encourage aspiring female gamers who wish to go competitive. With the scarcity of fellow women in the gaming industry, it is indeed encouraging to witness our guests share such vulnerability in hopes of inspiring others.
Does this interest you? Are you inspired by Amanda and Zanthel?
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