Hi everyone. This week, I decided to take a look at why women make up half of all gamers, but are so disproportionately underrepresented in eSports. This was a lot of fun to make, and I hope you enjoy it!
Credits/Sources:
Star Bright by Purrple Cat | https://purrplecat.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US
Equinox by Purrple Cat | https://purrplecat.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US
Background image: https://www.rawpixel.com/image/2541774/free-illustration-image-neutral-neutral-wallpaper-background-abstract
Statista gamer demographics: https://www.statista.com/statistics/232383/gender-split-of-us-computer-and-video-gamers/
Statler & Waldorf footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GoUVsHyIoU&t=304s
CLG Red footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUcyMZSInBQ
Vermeulen, Lotte, Elena Núñez Castellar, Dirk Janssen, Licia Calvi, and Jan Van Looy. “Playing Under Threat. Examining Stereotype Threat in Female Game Players.” Computers in Human Behavior 57 (2016): 377–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.12.042.
Image of magic circle diagram taken from Dr. Angus Mol’s lecture “Digital Playgrounds”, slide 10. Original concept:
Huizinga, Eco, Schendel, Eco, Umberto, and Schendel, Corinna van. Homo Ludens. Milano: Edizione CDE (su licenza della Giulio Einaudi editore), 1985.
Jenna, what an eye-opening video! As a non-gamer, I had no idea sexism was present in Esports as well. I am not sure how but it is important to speak out about this issue. I know you do not feel safe enough but I would encourage you to stream as well. The more women unite, the merrier!
Off-topic here, but I think you would enjoy ContraPoints’ video essays. Your style of production really reminded me of her content. Check it out!
This was such a great video! You really put a lot of work in this – not just visually, but also working with extra sources to provide very informative content. I think it’s important to discuss issues such as the problems women in ESports face, as they are common in many fields, but the only way to really lessen them is to create awareness in society as a whole through educating people. Thank you for making me more aware of this issue!
You can really tell you put a lot of work in this video! Your voice is great for listening to as well. I have run into videos of girl gamers ‘revealing’ trough their mics while gaming that they are a girl, and the responses of the other male gamers are ridiculous. Sorry you have experienced this as well, though I think is it great you make light of this issue with this blog!
Such a good perspective! Thanks for your contribution. As a game player, I also wondered why women players are so scarce in eSports. Ultimately, I think there is a general culture of male supremacy in the game and an inherent contempt for female players. They don’t believe female players can perform as well as they do. There is still a long way to go to change this perception.
I really liked your video! It’s about time somebody says something about this issue! Personally, I am not a gamer (only animal crossing and similar) but my boyfriend is. He plays almost every evening with his friends online, games like League of Legends or Valorant, and many times I can hear them making women jokes and being very sexist. I know my boyfriend normally isn’t like that (or I just never noticed) but it seems like being in this gaming world changes something in him, as we discussed in class as well I think. I have to say, the jokes are sometimes funny, but most of them are just over the top and very disturbing. To be honest, I think we, as women, shouldn’t pull back just because of that though. Maybe we should just give them a taste of their own medicine.
Thanks for your video! It’s really informative. I’m not a gamer myself, rather I just prefer to play video games occasionally. And honestly, I had no idea that there’s an issue with sexism in the gaming world, so thank you for making me aware of this! Sadly, tbh I guess I’m not that much surprised, and I strongly believe that this issue should be addressed to a larger public, to increase everyone’s awareness! Thank you for this eye-opening video.