Sexism has spread from the real world to the virtual. The increasingly popular realm of World of Warcraft, a massive multi-player online role playing game, is an Internet community dominated by males.
Females who play it have the option of keeping their gender a secret - as though it is shameful - or enduring harassment if the truth is declared.
Gamers play video games for the same reasons that someone has a couple of beers after a long day at work: to escape reality, if only for a little while. Unfortunately for the women out there, World of Warcraft is no escape when it comes to sexist beliefs which still pollute our society. While WoW is virtual, real people are represented by the characters they play, and they bring their biases with them into "Azeroth," the name of the world in which the majority of the Warcraft series of games is set, according to http://ww.wowiki.com.
For a woman to enter Azeroth, she must first create a character to represent her. At this point, she has the option to play a male character, or sex symbol. The design of female characters, especially the elves (which appear particularly human), are clearly intended to appear "sexy." On the other hand, Blizzard, the company that created WoW, claims that issues such as harassment and sexism will not be tolerated. This creates a paradox, for these 3-D models of the female form encourage sexist viewpoints.
The embarrassment for women who dare to play female characters gets worse as they gather armor, which serves as clothing for the character, during their gaming experience.
The same piece of armor that provides full-coverage and looks tough on a male character will appear provocative on a female. While that piece of armor protects each character from the same amount of damage, it certainly does appear that way on screen.
A woman playing a female character is safe from harassment until she declares herself to be a real-life female, or she joins other gamers on a "vent" channel, which requires the use of a microphone. The microphone is particularly useful in large groups of individuals working together to achieve a particular goal. Yet, it is best if women avoid using one because as soon as their gender is known, they are subjected to ridicule.
It is automatically assumed within the WoW community that female characters are actually being played by "G.I.R.L.s" (guys in real life). This assumption has spawned from the prevalent myth that females do not play WoW, which implies that they are incapable of learning and understanding a relatively complex video game.
While women might be a minority, they are definitely present. When players discover the presence of a real-life woman among them, she becomes subject to comments like "you must be fat, ugly, and acne-ridden." The attacks do not end there. If the woman dares attempt self-defense and say that there is nothing "wrong" with her appearance, then her mental state is assaulted.
In a male-dominated realm, the general consensus is that if a woman does participate then it must be because she is cursed with some appalling characteristic.
I am female and have played WoW for close to a year now. Yes, many of the female characters are "sexy," if cartoon avatars are your thing, especially the elves. I will even give you the point that they are most likely designed to appeal to male players. However, perhaps you haven't seen the female orcs, taurens or, my favorite, the undead. The undead women are scary and the orcs are downright badass. It is entirely possible to play the game as a female without being a sex object.
I also belong to a great guild in WoW that was started by and is run by a woman. I often play with both men and women in the World. I have not seen the type of discrimination that you write about in this article.
The number of female gamers is growing, and it would be nice to see a well-researched article that explores this and presents different viewpoints, especially from someone in the college demographic.