Statement on Sexism in Gaming: „Suddenly I was no longer funny, but bitchy“

In 2021, women also struggled with resistance and prejudice in the gaming industry. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, several German influencers, journalists, the marketing manager of Xbox, the community manager of Bethesda, and Twitch streamer Hand of Blood issued a statement – and called for more equality.

“For over 15 years, I have put myself in public game lobbies. I play a lot of shooters, and especially as a young girl, I had extreme fears. Fears of being laughed at, fears of not being good enough, fears of being hit on. But also just being insulted.” With this story, Maxi Gräff introduces the video she released together with several other well-known names from the German gaming community on March 8 – International Women’s Day.

A clip with the statement appeared on the Xbox channel for Germany. Gräff has been with Microsoft since 2015 and manages marketing for Xbox.

Her fear was later confirmed by comments when she became a games journalist and moderator: “After ten, twelve years in the video game industry, I still read on social comments that question my competence because of my gender or simply refer 100% to my appearance.”

A situation that women in gaming still often experience – as several affected individuals explained in a video on International Women’s Day.

Below, we link to the respective Twitter profiles of the participants:

• Maxi Gräff (Xbox Marketing Manager)
• Ann-Kathrin Kuhls (GameStar YouTube)
• Lisa Ludwig (e.g., Rocketbeans)
• Jasmin alias Gnu (YouTube Content Creator)
• Rae Grimm (GamePro)
• Eva Sykora (Community Manager Bethesda)
• Lara “LaraLoft” Trautmann (Twitch Streamer)
• Maximilian “HandofBlood” Knabe (YouTube Content Creator) spoke about the issues:

“One must prove that it’s not just some kind of show”

The fact that Maxi Gräff’s fear is not an isolated case is also shown by the other stories. For example, Rae Grimm, the editor-in-chief of GamePro.de, reports on the beginnings of her career – in which she was often read as a man due to her gender-neutral name:

At the beginning of my career, I was often mistaken for a man. As a “man,” my style was appreciated as witty, biting, or even grim. At least until the point when our readers gradually realized that I was a woman. Suddenly, I was no longer funny; I was just grumpy. Suddenly, I was no longer biting; I had my period. And suddenly, I was no longer a “real gamer” – I was a woman who had wandered out of the kitchen.

It was only a few days ago that the YouTuber Jasmin alias Gnu became the first woman in German gaming to break the one million subscribers mark.

In the video, Gnu reports on the difficulties she encountered during her career. She was told: “You won’t make it; especially as a woman, it’s even harder. You need a push; without a push, you can’t make it.”

She had to prove herself again and again: “One has to prove to people that one knows about gaming and loves games. And that it’s not just some kind of show.

Also in an interview with MeinMMO, the YouTuber reported in 2020 about sexism in the gaming industry and that she did not dare to say anything for a long time.

Lara “LaraLoft” Trautmann shares in the video: “I often struggle with comments, especially regarding appearance.”

They often went in the direction of weight or commented that she looked “sick and pale” when she wore less or – on the other hand – too much makeup: “One always has to pay attention to how one looks, what one wears, that one doesn’t have too deep a neckline. Or I often receive comments that my nose is too big – and then one thinks about having it operated on, even though I am very satisfied with my nose and my appearance.”

At the end of the video, YouTuber Maximilian “HandOfBlood” gives insight – and says that he hadn’t given much thought to sexism in gaming for a long time because he wasn’t directly affected. This changed when he witnessed how his girlfriend was treated while gaming: “I passively experienced this in our everyday life. What she has to endure just because she plays video games. Since then, I have become very sensitive to this topic”

At the end of the video, the influencers emphasize that significant progress has been made, but there is still work to be done. They advocate for more respect, diversity, and solidarity. Gaming is for everyone – and not for exclusive groups.

In general, the topic of equality in gaming is playing an increasingly important role – just as the conversation about sexism is. Streamer QTCinderella recently sparked a discussion on the topic of how women present themselves on Twitch in hot tub streams – criticizing it as simple advertising for services like OnlyFans.

Disclaimer: Ann-Kathrin Kuhls and Rae Grimm both work for Webedia Gaming, for GameStar and for GamePro. MeinMMO also belongs to Webedia Gaming.