For this week's blog post, I chose to focus on the reading, "Replaying Video Game History as a Mixtape of Black Feminist Thought," by TreaAndrea M. Russworm and Samantha Blackmon. I grew up playing lots of video games with my dad. I think because he ended up in a family full of women, he wanted my sister and I to at least enjoy some of his hobbies with him. The article describes multiple experiences of black women with video games, but I related most to that of Anna Everett. In her story, Everett discusses how she was left out of any and all video game conversation because she is a black woman. I think this is so interesting because I do not think men will ever truly feel what it is like to be excluded solely because of gender, and even if they do, they likely will not feel the loneliness that accompanies that feeling because if there is one organization that turns him away, ten others will be dying for a white man to come share his thoughts. It is not easy to be a woman in a male dominated field, and this article made me reflect deeper on the experiences I have had solely because I am a woman, and these feelings are infuriating and irreparable.
For women of color who do play video games, like Everett, they have been left out of the design conversation. Video games are designed for white men, and anyone else who happens to spend money on them is just an added bonus for the industry.
Russworm, TreaAndrea M, and Samantha Blackmon. “Replaying Video Game History as a Mixtape of Black Feminist Thought.” University of California Press, University of California Press, 1 Jan. 2020, online.ucpress.edu/fmh/article/6/1/93/109838/Replaying-Video-Game-History-as-a-Mixtape-of-Black.
Iris, I really like your reflection of problematic issues within the video game industry and sharing your personal experiences! While I did not grow up even owning a gaming console, I've spent many hours in the last decade watching and playing video games with my friends and partners. I've always found the lack of representation to be incredibly problematic, but especially in recent years, I have witnessed so much discrimination against women, particularly women of color, queer, and gender-queer women. One example I think of immediately is a woman twitch streamer I watch on occasion who frequently gets bullied off of gaming servers. Her expulsion from these servers is not a result of her own misconduct, but the sexist marginalization from her male peers. She has spoken out about the issues of such a male dominated industry and has created a platform surrounding gender equality in the tech industry as a whole which I think is an awesome step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteHi Iris,
ReplyDeleteI think you made an important point in this post as to the difference between men facing exclusion vs women. There have been countless times where I have been in a room full of men and realized that I was treated astronomically differently, just because of my gender. Or the feeling of being close friends with a group of men, but not being invited unless their girlfriends are there, once again because of gender. It is interesting that even in this day and age, it is a constant constraint on what we are allowed to do. It is as if even if we are allowed in the room, we are expected to feel out of place within in, and therefore not speak up.
I can only imagine (and educate myself) as to what the intersection of being both black and a female must feel like. While I struggle with being a woman, I have the privilege of being white. Black women face endless hardships, especially when it comes to STEM. It is frustrating and disheartening to hear that a black woman, even in a field where she knows as much or more than the others, will continue to face disrespect due to her identity.
Hi IRIS, I agree with you about the personal experience you shared in your article. Sexism by video game developers is more or less hidden. But in the increasingly popular world of video game streaming, discrimination and harassment occur in public. When playing in front of the camera, men and women are not treated equally by anonymous viewers because women are judged based on their appearance and often endure sexist comments. "E-sports is dominated by men. There is clear sexism.
ReplyDeleteHey Iris,
ReplyDeleteI think you are right on the money with one of the biggest problems of the gaming industry, there is no question that the gaming industry has been completely dominated by men. I like how you brought up the emotions of loneliness and the ideas of organizations turning away from people. Sadly this idea is still happening today. For example we see neglectful companies like Blizzard showcasing this behavior.
One thing I found interesting is you brought up the idea of woman, specifically black woman, being left out of the design process of game development. In my blog post I pulled an outside source that also attributed a lot of the problems to this same feature. In the article I found they argued that having a more diverse community within design could open the doors to a better game development community.
Hi Iris,
ReplyDeleteI think you are exactly right when it comes to the gaming industry being completely dominated by men. I have never been really interested in video games but I used to watch my brothers play it so ever since I was little I just always associated video games as something that only men do. I have definitely seen women gamers receive very rude and sexist comments and all that does is discourage them from wanting to play. I think the gaming industry would benefit from including women, especially black women, it would allow for diversity and inclusion.