12/15/2023 0 Comments Invisible video game![]() ![]() If I enthusiastically express my fondness for video games no one will automatically assume I’m faking my interest just to "get attention" from other gamers.I will never be asked to "prove my gaming cred" simply because of my gender.I can publicly post my username, gamertag or contact information online without having to fear being stalked or sexually harassed because of my gender.I am never told that video games or the surrounding culture is not intended for me because I am male.I can choose to remain completely oblivious, or indifferent to the harassment that many women face in gaming spaces.Similar lists could be created for white, straight, cis, or able-bodied privilege and there would certainly be some overlap with the conditions identified below. However, impunity for the overt sexist behavior some men engage in is also a core part of how male privilege operates.įor the purposes of this list I’m referring primarily to straight men who are not transgender. ![]() I’ve decided to chronicle only those benefits granted to men regardless of our individual actions. I say "some of the privileges" because I’m certain that I have missed a whole host of others that remain invisible to me. With that in mind this checklist is my attempt to identify some of the concrete benefits and bonuses my fellow male gamers and I are afforded simply by virtue of being male. ![]() So when men, even well meaning men, hear the term male privilege it can sometimes be difficult to understand exactly how it relates to our everyday lives. ![]() We have been taught and socialized not to see it and to think of our own experiences as universal. This blindness allows many men to remain blissfully unaware of what roughly half of all gamers experience on a daily basis. One of the luxuries of being a member of the dominant group is that the benefits afforded us often remain invisible to us. As in the rest of society, male privilege can manifest in both overt and subtle ways inside gaming culture. The term may sound a little bit like academic jargon, but it’s useful in helping describe the set of unearned advantages men automatically receive, and which women do not given the same social circumstances. This phenomenon is often referred to as Male Privilege. When women as a group are systematically targeted by discrimination, it means that men are elevated by default. We can't work to fix something unless we first see and understand its effects. Working towards solutions requires that, as male gamers, we become aware of the ways in which we unconsciously benefit from sexism. It’s not all bad news though as a result of the expanding discussion in and about gaming spaces, it’s been encouraging to see a small but growing number of male gamers who seem to genuinely want to understand the problem and be part of the solution. We can't work to fix something unless we first see and understand its effects The fact that a great number of women have been speaking out about how they experience prejudice, alienation or worse on a fairly regular basis seems to hold little weight. Despite the abundance of evidence, I’ve seen many of my fellow male gamers, in comment thread after comment thread, dismiss the issue as "no big deal" and insist that everyone is essentially treated the same. One particularly astounding theme I’ve noticed running through online discussions surrounding these incidents has been a consistent denial that there is any real problem with the way women are treated in gaming. This backlash, along with a number of other recent high-profile harassment incidents targeting women, has highlighted sexism in the gaming community and brought the issue to wider public and media attention. During that time, I have been taken aback by the intense and often abusive reaction to the project. Over the course of the past two years I’ve had the opportunity to serve as producer on the Tropes vs Women in Video Games web series. ![]()
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