Sexism and video games

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Sexism in video gaming is prejudiced behavior or discrimination based on sex or gender as experienced by people who play and create video games, primarily women. This may manifest as sexual harassment or in the way genders are represented in games, such as when characters are presented according to gender-related tropes and stereotypes.

Since the 1980s and 1990s, video game culture has veered from its original perception as a space for just young men. Women make up about 50 percent of all game players as of the 2010s.^[1] However, many video games condone instances of sexism against women through not penalizing users who demonstrate this kind of behavior, or weaving themes of sexism against women into their storylines. The growing presence of women in the gaming sphere, and subsequently publicized incidents of harassment towards women in this field, has pushed industry professionals to pay attention to sexism in video gaming.