In games, sexism has a bright future ahead of it

According to an upcoming IFOP survey, 40% of women who regularly play video games online have already been victims of sexism.

Sexist stereotypes, sexist insults, cyberbullying, threats… According to an IFOP study for the specialized site GamerTop Out Thursday, April 27, the practice of online video games for women can turn out to be violent, due to environmental sexism.

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24% of players have already received comments about their physique

The polling institute polled a panel of more than 4,000 players. So the study reveals it 40% female players interviewed testify that you have already been a victim of sexist behavior, insults or threats or of a sexual nature by interacting with other people online.

A figure jumping to 66% for fighting games lovers. Among other highlights, 24% of players say they’ve already received observations on their physique, 23% to have suffered sexist comments on their level of play e 23% they were the target of sexualizing commentswhile 15% of the women questioned had already been subjected to threats of sexual violence.

Isolated players

However, the world of video games is far from masculine. According to the FIFG, there are almost none as many players as there are players currently in France : 62% of women report having gambled in the last three months, compared to 66% of men.

But, in the face of these sexist behaviors, “players have developed a distrust”analyses Enora Lanoe-Danel, head of studies at the IFOP, in the report of the investigation. From 40% of female players use fallback strategiesand prefer to play alone, avoiding voice chats or abruptly leaving a game to avoid being confronted with sexism.

But the survey also asked gamers about their gender biases and the numbers are alarming. Thereby, 62% of them adhere to at least one sexist stereotype. For 22%,“Man’s job is to earn money and woman’s job is to take care of the home and family.” For 30% of very active players, women “they have acquired too much power in today’s society”. While 23% believe it “When you want to have sex with a woman, many say ‘no’ but they want to say yes'”.