Poll: Females: have you ever pretended to be male while online

[mechashiva77]

I have male characters, but I will not hesitate to let those who are curious know I am female in real life if the ask.

 

[Zarkov]

I'm a guy, who has a few female friends online, and I don't think they've ever had incidents but I myself have been harassed on female characters with male names even >_>
I reading through this thread makes me feel almost ashamed to be male

I know right? I was browsing the Escapist like I do every so often, and I find this thread. And man, I didn't realize this alienation of girls on anonymous media was so bad. I mean, I knew it was obviously bad but damn... I couldn't finish the video posted earlier.

But then again, I really shouldn't have been surprised. Male teenagers...
I do feel sorry for those out there that want to enjoy video games online but can't just because of their gender. That's horrible.

 

[Chemical Alia]

I don't usually correct people when they assume I'm a guy unless it's really relevant somehow, and I don't bring up my gender unless it's related to the topic. I've never said I was male, though.

 

[smurf_you]

I think I might need to start pretending to be a guy..... I'm really sick of all the crap I have to put up with, like the bazillion people on chat sites who assume I'm only there to cyber (I just like talking to people... I dunno what it is D: ) so this may be a tactic that I need to employ, might save me a LOT of problems.....

 

[Epicspoon]

It can get this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRkao-gyZC0] bad.

:/

I have no words.
Except complete and utter rage actually. Yeah, rage sounds about right.

I kind of stopped playing online because of that - Not only did I ALWAYS end up having to play with sexist douchebags, but they were also most of the time racist.

you should get a voice synthesizing headset. I use them because it's hilarious but due to you being a girl there are practical uses for them.

though I really do wish girls played on x-box live(with headsets that is) it's nice to be able to chat with a girl without having to worry about them assuming I'm trying to get in their pants.

 

[DementedSheep]

Occasionally. Tho gender usually doesn?t even come up so its not much of an issue. I just don't correct people calling me a guy.

 

[Colour Scientist]

Unfortunately, that's yet another disaster waiting to happen -_-'

I like guys. As long as they treat me equal, and they're funny and witty. Those guys are fun to play with. That usually includes goons (people from Something Awful). Those are mature, and waaay past the stage to hit on girls online, if they ever had that urge in their life.

A girl only group is just so.. boring. And still I find a lot of girls to be "oh, tee-hee ^_^ how do I play this again? Boy I'm bad at this! LOL!". That's fine, and you're still a really great girl and nice person! I just get a little bit ticked off if my team is performing really bad. That's my problem, and I guess I'm sometimes more of a lone wolf than a team player. But still.

It also attracts those smug "feminist" types that like to berate the men for being men.

Just my experience, no real facts.

This is depressing.
Can I ask you, and this is an honest question I'm not trying to be an ass, do you really believe that or is it a "show of to the guy gamers" spiel?

It just bothers me when I see girls, particularly on this site, just reinforce stereotypes of girls who play games and merely state that they are the exception and "one of the guys".

 

[Mariena]

Unfortunately, that's yet another disaster waiting to happen -_-'

I like guys. As long as they treat me equal, and they're funny and witty. Those guys are fun to play with. That usually includes goons (people from Something Awful). Those are mature, and waaay past the stage to hit on girls online, if they ever had that urge in their life.

A girl only group is just so.. boring. And still I find a lot of girls to be "oh, tee-hee ^_^ how do I play this again? Boy I'm bad at this! LOL!". That's fine, and you're still a really great girl and nice person! I just get a little bit ticked off if my team is performing really bad. That's my problem, and I guess I'm sometimes more of a lone wolf than a team player. But still.

It also attracts those smug "feminist" types that like to berate the men for being men.

Just my experience, no real facts.

This is depressing.
Can I ask you, and this is an honest question I'm not trying to be an ass, do you really believe that or is it a "show of to the guy gamers" spiel?

It just bothers me when I see girls, particularly on this site, just reinforce stereotypes of girls who play games and merely state that they are the exception and "one of the guys".

These are my experiences, that's all I'm saying. And my experience tells me that the average male gamer seems to be more savvy when it comes to games. Perhaps I experience it that way, because there are more male gamers in FPS and other action oriented games. Yet a lot of the female gamers I've played with just didn't seem to know what they're doing. Granted, I have seen a number of girls that play well. Perhaps the men are generally just more interested and dedicated. Or pick the game up quicker. Or just have more experience in general.

Maybe I am an exception. Maybe the ratio of clueless male players is higher than the clueless female players. You tell me. I can't deny what I have seen, though.

Though there is usually a hint of truth behind a stereotype.

I have negative experiences with voicechat, and acted accordingly. I have negative experiences with all girl groups/teams/guilds/whatever, and I'd like to stay away from them. I'd much rather join a group with a good ratio of men and women.

 

[Mariena]

It can get this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRkao-gyZC0] bad.

:/

I have no words.
Except complete and utter rage actually. Yeah, rage sounds about right.

I kind of stopped playing online because of that - Not only did I ALWAYS end up having to play with sexist douchebags, but they were also most of the time racist.

you should get a voice synthesizing headset. I use them because it's hilarious but due to you being a girl there are practical uses for them.

though I really do wish girls played on x-box live(with headsets that is) it's nice to be able to chat with a girl without having to worry about them assuming I'm trying to get in their pants.

A voice synthesizing headset? Not that I'd buy one, but I'd like to see an example of that.

 

[Evidencebased]

I don't usually correct people when they assume I'm a guy unless it's really relevant somehow, and I don't bring up my gender unless it's related to the topic. I've never said I was male, though.

This is basically what I do, too. Unless I thought it was the only way to get someone to stop harassing me I wouldn't directly lie -- though I've occasionally lied by omission, or at least heavily implied I'm male/left it very ambiguous.

 

[VanQ]

I'm a male but I'd like to say that if you are that one guy, you know who you are, you're that one guy that seems to be on every multiplayer server capable of voice chat. I'd like to ask you, can you please stop telling every girl that logs on that they "have a nice voice."

Jesus Christ with a shotgun, you aren't even talking to me and you're even creeping me the hell out. I can't imagine how bad it must be for the girl on the receiving end of that.

Ugh, that line makes my skin crawl every time, so please stop using it.

 

[Mariena]

I don't usually correct people when they assume I'm a guy unless it's really relevant somehow, and I don't bring up my gender unless it's related to the topic. I've never said I was male, though.

This is basically what I do, too. Unless I thought it was the only way to get someone to stop harassing me I wouldn't directly lie -- though I've occasionally lied by omission, or at least heavily implied I'm male/left it very ambiguous.

I think it's kinda sad that you can't really go about and tell the public your gender without being "punished". Like it's some sort of crime.

I might be exaggerating a bit, but that's what it sometimes feels like. "Whoops, did I just say I'm female? Gah! Duck and cover!"

I never really bring it up, but somehow they seem to get suspicious (even with my male avatar/character) and eventually ask whether I'm female. I usually reply with "does it matter?" and that usually stops the conversation. I'm not going to deny who I am, so downright saying I'm male just feels so wrong to me.

 

[silversnake4133]

I don't try to be a dude, people just assume I am because of my usernames most of the time. I don't know, I guess it just behooves some people that there are females trouncing about the internet who aren't solely on there to take off their clothes in front of a webcam. It just doesn't seem to bother me as much as it used to though.

 

[Phasmal]

It can get this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRkao-gyZC0] bad.

:/

OMG, that's unbelievable.

My wife only plays female avatars, but she doesn't use voice so most ppl assume she is a guy and she doesn't correct them.

My last gf stopped using voice and switched to male avatars after getting repeatedly harrassed.

Precisely why I stopped the whole "ventrilo/voice required" thing. Dumped my microphome/headset and got a good pair of headphones. My days of raiding in WoW and such are over anyway, but still. I want to play Firefall, yet not be bothered by these juveniles. Hoping I can find the right group to play with.

This never happen to my sister, women online I am acquainted with, or any girl gamer I know. Is it really that big of a problem(as in does it happen alot)?

BTW, I think that guy was a little special, so he couldn't know about rejections.
(i still lol'ed)

OT:As a man, I cannot say, good sir.

It does happen quite a lot. If you think thats bad you should check out: http://fatuglyorslutty.com/ for some more examples.

As for me, I dont like harrassment, but I dont hide being a girl. Otherwise we wont ever get accepted.

 

[BanicRhys]

I'm male but I once pretended to be a female pretending to be male if that counts.

 

[Treblaine]

I don't usually correct people when they assume I'm a guy unless it's really relevant somehow, and I don't bring up my gender unless it's related to the topic. I've never said I was male, though.

From this thread and other places, it's apparent this is quite common practice.

I'm tempted to name this "The Samus Effect" like the very first Metroid game no mention was made of Samus' gender till the end of the game. In a way, aren't most girls on the internet following the lead of the of the armoured Bounty Hunter - who never actually claimed she wasn't female, but left assumptions.

Still, I think publishers, developers, network managers and admins all need to work harder for better etiquette on gaming networks. There are well established rules against racism and threats, yet it seems measures against sexual harassment are lagging far behind.

 

[Whateveralot]

It can get this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRkao-gyZC0] bad.

:/

I laughed. I just laughed. The pushy thing must've been really annoying and all, but I couldn't help myself. I'm probably the only person on earth thinking this, seeing all the responses in this topic and the vocal response of those guys.

But me being a guy, well, I just don't harass girls that way. I find it silly that this topic has to excist because I kind of don't get where all the sexcism is coming from.