To the women on here who play video games have you found you have to hide your gender online to avoid harassment?

[Still-alive]

This old study found that a good portion of women who played games online felt they had to conceal their gender to avoid harassment. is it true for you as well?

Online gaming is such a toxic place for women that 59 per cent of female gamers conceal their gender over harassment concerns, a new survey reveals.

The study, by marketing research group Reach3 and Lenovo, found that many gamers assume a non-gendered identity or even pretend to be male.

Around 900 women gamers in the US, China, and Germany were asked about their experiences, with the aim to better understand diversity and inclusion in gaming. “Despite still being mostly associated with men, gaming is on the rise with women,” said Leigh Admirand, Senior Vice President at Reach3 Insights. According to their data, in the US alone there were 28 million new players in 2020 compared to 2019, and 41 per cent of American gamers identify as women.

When talking about their experience, three quarters of women gamers said they have faced sexism and harassment, with many quitting or avoiding playing altogether. They reported being insulted, receiving unwanted sexual messages or patronising comments. In some cases, men left the game when they found out the players were women. These sexist behaviours result in “little to no repercussion” for the offenders. https://www.nadja.co/2021/05/24/most-women-hide-their-gender-when-gaming-to-avoid-harassment/

Yes i have hidden my gender to avoid harassment when playing online games

No i never do that but i do face harassment

I haven't ever faced harassment online and never concealed my gender

I don't even play online games so this isn't an issue for me.

I don't play games at all and want to see results

[Damaged00]

Harassment from guys is kind of a given doing anything when you're a female. 10 to 15 years ago when there weren't many women who played video games, guys were more surprised to find out you were a woman playing and I have to say that actually came with a lot less harassment than these days where more women play.

[Still-alive]

i can say as a guy growing up i was usually intimidated even bringing video games up around women lol.

[Damaged00]

That's probably because a lot of women didn't play video games and didn't understand the appeal so they always thought down on it. Times have definitely changed lol

[Still-alive]

yeah they have but i guess in some circles people (men and women alike) still look down on us gamers lol

[Kayla45]

I play MapleStory, lots of guys and girls play it so I don’t have to hide. Call of Duty was bad though, negative experiences.

[Still-alive]

yeah the shooters draw a certain demographic that i don't like so its why i stay away from them myself

[MemeSupreme]

yeah but it's less common now bc no one cares anymore for the most part... discord servers are 50/50 though

i just get annoyed when guys are extra nice to me online in hoping i'll like them or something? it's like bro i see what you're doing from a mile away lol just be fucking normal

[Rosexøxø]

I’ve done this before on lots of applications but never did on games 😂 wth unless they’re lvl 100 freak of nature and will track with digital stuff and whatever then yeah MAYBE but you’re hiding your anonymous identity on a cgi platform? Weirdddd.

Maybe they know something I don’t. And that something may or may not be paranoia. Can’t say for sure. If there’s any others who’ve done this here, I’ll be glad to read their responses and may be enlightened. 🤷‍♀️

[Rosexøxø]

Oh I read fully and yeah I’ve faced once or twice but I let my gaming do the talking. I’ve earned respect here and there and other times there’s so much lgbtq that there’s really no room for this cause to them- is it a hetero/biological/ cis woman or a trans woman? And vice versa 🤷‍♀️

Not only do some guys get so obsessed over defeating other guys and then some don’t want to be beat by a female of any kind so they fight them. In the end in gaming you can fight anyone and if a gamer is mad enough to do it, they’ll do it lol.

If they’re mature people and gamers then that’ll show in their gameplays. I really never had big issues with this stuff that gets highlighted in the news or YouTube and stuff like that.

[Rosexøxø]

Voted never never. 😂

[petitedollbabee]

I’ve never had negative experiences with being open about being a girl. Especially when playing Killing Floor 2. I use a mic and everyone has always treated me normally, no sexualisation or harassment. The same with AQW on PC, never had a negative experience. I’ve had the odd person here and there sexualise me on that game but it’s easy enough to avoid.

[ShellyB]

I do not play video games much but I tried it a little bit when I was younger bc my dad and my brother were into them and encouraged me to try them. Yes I got harassed and after that I had my dad make sure all the social features were turned off and I wouldn’t use a name for the game that sounded female. It didn’t bother me much bc honestly I wasn’t into it anyway and gave up it pretty soon.

[Abbycado]

Nope. I don’t play a lot and don’t want to reveal what I play because I use my face on my profile and try to keep it private here to an extent.

Have not had a problem because I have these 🪓🪓🪓

[Simslover92]

Nope I haven't had to hide my gender nor have I faced harassment but it's gta 5 so maybe that's why. It's filled with children and young guys. There's only a solid few adults that I've played with and they were all very cool.

[msmissydc]

Yes, I rarely play online with random people. If I do in some games yes. I have to expect to be harrassed if its a voice chat game. So I avoid these completly.

[LadyKitty]

Never hid myself but I did experience harassment online when I played games like overwatch.

[Morenamore]

I would just ignore. Harassment is a given in a male dominated space. No point in arguing with an incel, just enjoy your hobby.

[Smashingdoozy]

If I'm playing anything online I'm muted 😂

[Tulip_A_Dasiy]

No i never had to hide my gender