The Verge: Back in 2018, Guardian editor Keza MacDonald wrote that “the video games industry isn’t yet ready for its #MeToo moment.” But whether or not that’s still true, people are attempting to hold abusers and their enablers accountable. Over the past day, multiple high-profile men in the video game industry have been accused of sexual assault. Many of the accusations are years old — in some cases, more than a decade — and they all point to a toxic environment where developers not only have to live with a constant fear of abuse, but also the significant professional and personal repercussions of outing their abusers.
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Though this article discusses experiences of women creators in the video game industry, I feel that it is still thoroughly important to women in other artistic industries. That is, the shared stories of these women who come forward create insight and exposure to an issue that (very unfortunately) spans so many industries. As I hear more and more of these happenings, I do slightly fear my own experiences going forward in an artistic industry. As a young, starry-eyed female theatre designer just now getting my foot in the door of the industry, I can't help but notice the prominence of men in high design positions, who might be my superiors on projects. To hear these women express in the article that they felt they couldn't speak up due to risks of losing their jobs, people not caring for their viewpoints, and staying quiet due to risking their pay resonates with me because I know that these women have spent their entire lives working to reach that point in their career. And then to be faced with the internal conflict of career versus personal justice? I think that it is wonderful that women in the artistic industry of video game design are coming forward and pioneering a pathway for other women in industries to get the justice and treatment they deserve.
The post by "n" was made by Natalie Eslami I don't know why it only says N but I fixed it
People in the world of theater often remark at how little recognition designers receive, but I think this issue is even more prevalent in the world of video game development. With such a cohesive end product it can be hard to remember and differentiate the people behind all of that work. Fortunately, we are entering an age in which we want to be aware of all the people behind the projects we support, which was of much less importance to most people before the #MeToo movement. Though it is always terrible to hear about, I am also pretty unsurprised by these reports and am glad they are finally being given a platform because since the 1990s the video game industry has been known for the objectification of women, which can largely be attributed to a lack of women in major design positions. Video games produced with women as lead designers often show much more empowering and accurate depictions of women. Removing the developers in these companies who would take advantage of women and scare them into silence is most likely the only way that the culture around video games and within these companies will change, and hopefully this can occur soon so that the generation that has been fed these misogynistic views has time to change their mentality.
The importance of this article honestly cannot be over-exaggerated. The idea that any industry is "not ready" for the Me Too Movement is arbitrary. We all need to be ready for a conversation about the mistreatment of women and marginalized groups. In an industry where many of the products depend on the objectification of women, this is not shocking, but is still saddening. Almost nothing makes me sadder than seeing educated, talented, professional women be discouraged from pursuing the careers they desire and be traumatized by the bosses and co-workers that they are supposed to be working with collaboratively. In the theatre industry, trust is vital to making sure productions go smoothly and, despite what we like to think, we are not immune to these issues. I personally have experienced harassment and inappropriate behavior in the theatre industry, especially working as a teenage girl. It makes me so sad that there are girls and women who have to go through much worse than I have.
Immediately after opening this article and seeing the words: “the video games industry isn’t yet ready for its #MeToo moment," I cringed. I don't think there should be such thing as "not ready for a Me Too moment." People should always be ready to have a conversation and get the word out about sexual assault. Sexual assault is an issue that multiple women, AND men, go through every single day, and the fact that some people feel that they are simply "not ready" to have a conversation about it is appalling. I'm so glad that the women working in the video gaming industry as well as those in countless other professions are finally able to speak out about their sexual assault situations and informing the world about what really does happen out there. At the same time, however, I hate the fact that there are so many stories to tell. No human being should be afraid or uncomfortable going to work, or living through daily life in general, because someone there is harassing them, sexually or otherwise. Sexual harassment shouldn't be something that so many people can come together and relate about to one another. It shouldn't be something that happens so commonly. It breaks my heart that there are women out there who go through these traumatic experiences and get shut down or even fired from their jobs when they speak up about it.
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