Thanks to blog hopping, I came across a series of articles talking about a piece of software that came out a few months ago. Doing a Google search on it shows that many sites wrote articles about it, so I’m a little behind on this subject.
Regardless, it pissed me off enough to write about it. A quote that appears on all of the articles (one which doesn’t seem to actually be on the software’s site anymore) is this:
“However, most women have a common concern about the long-lasting existence of “male chauvinism” in the world of online games. In considering this point, Voice Changer Software Diamond proves very helpful to solve the problem.”
How’s that? Perhaps by educating the males that are ignorant of the female game populous, and by extention, our skills as gamers? Of course not! What a silly idea, trying to actually change preconceived ideas about gender and gaming. Instead, why don’t we just mask the female populous by making them sound like deep, masculine man’s men? That way, the guy gamers can continue in their own little world of gaming feeling safe in their notion that there is no estrogen there and girl gamers can see what it’s really like to be included as a true gamer, reveling in her digitally altered testosterone dripping voice.
Sarcasm aside, this is something that (obviously) gets me fuming. I don’t mind using crappy software to have fun with voices, even using them for role playing purposes. The implication that girls and women should hide themselves in the online gaming community by pandering to the patriarchal norm to avoid being harassed just because they’re female….. Gah! Megan mad!
I’ve been in the online gaming community for years, and it’s certainly not easy as a woman. While I do think the numbers are higher than a lot of people think they are, we are outnumbered, and for various reasons. The biggest, as many many people have noted is the conception that “girls don’t game”. With that idea, many guys presume masculinity, be it in an MMO like World of Warcraft, or in other online games such as Halo 2.
I know most people in my guild just assumed by default I was male because to them the idea of a woman playing is rare enough to them that they always assume others are male. It wasn’t until I spoke during a TeamSpeak session that they realized this elf woman was actually a woman. Speaking in a match in Halo gets an almost instant “Dude, it’s a chick!” from at least one player, sometimes also including various sexist tripe. It’s really annoying and it only seems to escalate the more ass you kick. Many of the guys online get very uptight if they believe their masculinity is being questioned when a girl kicks his ass.
This isn’t something that’s new. Being beaten by a woman, especially in something considered “masculine” would often emasculate the man. It’s patriarchal crap, placing men in a dominant position just because they’re men. Amazingly in the 21st century, it still goes on! This isn’t to say all men do it, I know and have played with many guys who have no issue playing with or against a woman, nor do they freak out if I kick their ass. It does happen and all too often, which is where this software comes in.
Using our frustration with being harassed in various ways for being female, they promote assimilation rather than change. Some sites even laud the idea as innovative, which is absolutely idiotic. If this were a time period where the idea of women doing “man things” was frowned upon or absolutely forbidden, it might make sense. It’s why there are so many women who have gone to war under the guise of a man in the past. That’s the past though, when women didn’t even have the legal right to vote, much less work in anything outside of basic unskilled labor. You’d think this would be different in the year 2006, that instead of awoman having to pretend she’s a man, she can be herself, a strong-minded independent ass-kicker without worrying about retribution beyond the usual trash talking.
I think the majority of my frustration comes not from the company itself. Companies often, in an effort to make a profit often pander to the lowest common denominator. This isn’t exactly a benefit for society, nor is it excusable, but for the purpose of this article I’m focusing more on the individuals that see this as a good idea. Most even cite the company itself, which is totally contradictory in its premise: “prove that playing online games is not a pastime for men only, and that their talent can make male partners goggle.” Prove it by sounding like a man? How the frak does that prove anything?
The more girls and women make a showing in games, the harder and harder it will be for the male gamers to keep up the macho/misogynistic crap. Covering up our voices doesn’t make things easier, it doesn’t stop the problem. It’s sticking your head in the sand and hoping the problem will go away. This problem will not go away until our voices are heard and heard as they really are: unapologetically female.