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from the perhaps-men-don't-like-losing-to-a-woman dept.
On Monday the e-sports industry awards take place in London to applaud the top players in the business but not one female player has been nominated.
Competitive gaming, also known as Electronic Sports or e-sports, is growing at an incredible pace. In 2016, revenues from e-sports are predicted by professional services firm Deloitte to rise by 25% to $500m (£406m). Its regular global audience will likely top 150 million people.
Unlike in traditional sport, physical advantages in e-sports are non-existent yet the most popular games are still overwhelmingly played by men.
Recent research by the Pew Center shows men and women are equally likely to say they play video games but men are twice as likely to consider themselves "gamers". It is when gaming becomes competitive that the number of women playing drops dramatically.
Steph Harvey is one of the most successful gamers in the world. She says that the number of women in e-sports is as low as 5% and the main reason is the stereotype attached to gamers. "It's still a 'boy's club' so as a woman you're automatically judged for being different," she says.
Online abuse has been prevalent in the gaming community for years and even led to a misogynistic hate campaign.
Steph has even received online rape threats in the past: "The way I get harassed is about what they would do to my body, about why I don't deserve to be there because I use my sexuality - it's all extremely graphic."
[...] Julia Kiran is the leader of Team Secret, which in October became the top female team in the world. She thinks this reflects a common attitude: "It's always felt that female teams are not a real scene. Male players see us as a side game that doesn't count."
One of the solutions has been the creation of female teams and female-only tournaments.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 23 2016, @03:14PM
So, in other words, nothing has really changed over the last couple decades. We've still got retards like aristarchus running around pretending like they're more intelligent than a lump of clay and failing to make a compelling case.
The reality here is that calling them rape threats is rather disingenuous. They are in the strictest possible sense, but they're not realistic threats. Plus, for folks that don't want that, they can either not go online at all or they can just choose a male sounding name and probably just get the normal death threats that the rest of us get.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Wednesday November 23 2016, @06:59PM
So, in other words, nothing has really changed over the last couple decades. We've still got retards like aristarchus running around pretending like they're more intelligent than a lump of clay and failing to make a compelling case.
The reality here is that calling them rape threats is rather disingenuous.
Why, thank you, AC! I would very much like to rape you too! Glad to see so much love right here on SoylentNews! But if I might inquire, do you think that my failure is due to the case I make, or to your understanding of it? I really would like to know, because one of these things I could actually do something about.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 24 2016, @04:38AM
Your failure is that you've gone full retard. You never go full retard.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday November 24 2016, @04:52AM
Ah, full, (um, you know that since the movie that featured that phrase, we have been made aware that it is derogatory, and only very impolite ACs such as yourself still use it), alright. Well, that answers my question. My failure would seem to be that you do not understand what my point was. Given your response, however, I am increasing doubtful that it would be possible for anyone to make a point you could understand, so I now believe that the failure is on your part. You haven't gone anywhere, not even a full anywhere, you just never were all there, when it comes to cognition, reasoning, and basic factual knowledge. So we'll just leave it here, OK? Remember, "ignorance is bliss", and ignorance is at least part of stupidity.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 23 2016, @09:13PM
So, you're saying that they are not legitimate rape threats?
Well, then I guess at least there's a way to shut that whole thing down.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 26 2016, @05:32PM
Rather than having discussion you're trying to allude that your opponent is Todd Akin and he thinks that some rape is just not real rape.
Of course he's not saying that and you know it.
You know that when some person starts telling you they will rape or murder you on WoW that you can sleep soundly at night. It is not a legitimate rape threat.
If you're so neurotic that you can't handle it. Maybe you'd feel safer if your house was filled with guns, the police spied on everyone, and we deported all Muslims. Because you'll never get the sort of security you require to feel safe. You may resent having to live in a world full of improbably rape threats. I'm tired of living in a world where I'm subject to a variety of inconveniences intended to soothe the countries paranoid spastics. Be they you or some dude who can't handle seeing beards and funny hats when they fly.
If he's Todd Akin, you're Donald Trump.