Gamers come in all shapes and sizes. The gaming community is vast and has so many different subcommunities of people who all come together because of their shared interest and love for games.
For me, it has been a wonderful experience to meet so many people and make friends. But unfortunately, not everyone has had the same experience. What may sound like a beautiful and accepting community is not perfect. The gaming community has had a long history of not being accepting to everyone who shares the same drive and passion for video games.
Women have not had the easiest time getting involved in gaming communities. Due to misogynistic individuals who try and objectify women, many females have not pursued their interest in gaming. This toxic behavior makes it very difficult for women to try and enjoy games that they love. What should be a space that anyone could participate in has become a place where people feel as though they do not belong. It is incredibly sad to hear remarks from my female friends who tell me about the awful bigoted people they deal with in public lobbies. I have winced at some of the hateful words thrown out and it leaves me scratching my head as to why gamers cannot be accepting. I have experienced toxic behavior from other players, but never such baseless hate about things like gender.
Being in the position I am with helping run the Esports club at Dean, I feel as though I need to do what I can to make Dean’s gaming community more accepting. I want Dean to become a place where people can share their love and passion without having to worry about hiding their identity.
With that being said, I am incredibly excited to announce, on behalf of the Esports club, a community game night where everyone on campus can come together and play games without having to worry about any forms of discrimination. The Esports club wants everyone to feel accepted and welcomed.
This event is taking place on March 26th and will have games such as Mario Kart and Super Smash Brothers. This event is a chance to get to know fellow students on campus and to sign a pledge agreeing to help fight discrimination in the gaming community. There will also be a raffle available to those who donate menstrual products. SGA is helping run a donation drive to help those in need of menstrual products so any donations will put you into a raffle for a gift card! I am super excited to help run this event and help clean up the community I care so much about.
(Image is from Nintendo)
-Tiger Shay
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