Milktea Gives TEDYouth Talk On Sexism In Gaming

[KhanYe]

It's hard to imagine that there are real issues that affect a community of people who play video games competitively. Alas, when you go to any local or national tournament, if you even take the quickest of glances at the crowd, you'll notice an overwhelming gender imbalance of mostly males and a small number of females spread throughout the venue. This has led to an environment that hasn't always been the most welcoming to female gamers. Yesterday, old school Smasher Milktea gave a TEDYouth talk on the topic of sexism in gaming communities.

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Milktea is well known for educating not only the Smash community, but all competitive gaming communities as a whole. In this TED talk, Milktea shares her experiences of sexism in gaming, and she preaches a message of empathy in order to educate those who perpetuate sexist behaviors. By giving this talk, Milktea is bringing light to an issue that necessitates our attention. Watch the video below!

What do you think of Milktea's message? How do you feel the Smash community could improve its accessibility to female gamers? What do you think Smashers should do to tackle this complex issue?

KhanYe is craving chicken and waffles. Talk about it with me on Twitter @aymangolassi.

 

[Phan7om]

Yo Milktea tho! You Go! Tell em!

 

[J.P]

This girl is the proof that not every smasher is a "loser" and some can be super successful people. Love you Milktea <3

 

[Zelbur]

I'm glad we had a female win a tournament in Oceania.

 

[suarsuar]

This is important and really hard to face as community.

This is great.

 

[BuTTNutz]

As long as it's not Anita sarkeesian who says every game ever made is sexist. This is what Anita should be doing!

 

[MapleWooD]

Well this is a surprise

 

[Jam Stunna]

Congratulations Milktea, so proud of you! Thank you for offering your voice on this topic.

 

[Dr. Tuen]

Great talk! I hope it catches wind!

 

[ChikoLad]

I think I might have watched a TEDEd presentation before in college over the past year. This reminded me of that.

Very good presentation though. Those comments Milktea showed were a real eye-opener to how awful some people can be, but also to how good and appreciative some people can be. I liked how she didn't take much of an accusatory side, and just presented things how they were.

 

[bksbestbwoy]

Such a great presentation. She was very poised, confident and knew how to keep the audience entertained. Her general messages were totally on point as well. I wish if this had come out for me to do a piece on for my semester of Public Speaking critiques. Good job.

 

[Artryuu]

Nice video =]. Totally agree with all of it <3. My sister and I are the only female gamers in my community, and so far I'm the top of the pr placing first most of the time. It's just in the net where I get comments like that =/. But definitely would like to see more females around my community. =P.

Other than, I'm happy with the friends I've made. Thanks for the vid!

 

[MintChipper]

I love TEDEd and the fact we got a talk about sexism in Video Games that isn't crazy biased is a god-send. Congrats Milktea.

 

[SDFox]

Wow, this is a suprise.

 

[CaptainJimmBob]

Lol, I bet those people that insulted her are ashamed now.

Never realized this was this severe. I knew the Smash Community had some whiny brats, but I never knew it was actually such a large portion of the community.

Great presentation!

 

[E-Mann]

As long as it's not Anita sarkeesian who says every game ever made is sexist. This is what Anita should be doing!

I 100% like this. Milktea is doing a far better job than Anita Sar****sian.

 

[Deleted member]

It must be incredibly intimidating being a female smasher considering they are like 1% of the community. Great Job!

 

[Camalange]

This is important, and how conveniently timed with this whole Australia debacle. The fact that the video has so many dislikes and needed comments to be disabled is truly a shame too. I love the gaming community but there's so much work that still needs to be done.

 

[ミスティック Speed]

Inspirational. <3

 

[X WaNtEd X]

Why does her video have so many thumbs down? I would think this would be something people would unanimously support without a second thought.

 

[Luco]

I think this is wonderful. I've always wanted a more diverse scene, and it's difficult not to freak out over female smashers who are dedicated because of the relative rarity as compared to males (not that this excuses the behaviour that has been shown in the past of course). This may be, as Milktea mentioned, one of the biggest reasons for the skewing of such social situations.

I think we really need to make a focused effort as a smash community. Competitive gaming has traditionally been a male-dominated sport, but with the rise of esports in general, these demographics will change, and hopefully for an even more diverse community. We should make certain that we're being supportive of these initiatives and progressing our scene socially. It's good timing for it too, with smash 4 growing ever larger.

Good stuff Milktea!

 

[erico9001]

Good video. Imo, people care too much about gender. Yes, the person is female. Stop obsessing over it.

This is important, and how conveniently timed with this whole Australia debacle. The fact that the video has so many dislikes and needed comments to be disabled is truly a shame too. I love the gaming community but there's so much work that still needs to be done.

Whoa, 32% of people are disliking the video. Unbelievable...

 

[Dylan_Tnga]

Why does her video have so many thumbs down? I would think this would be something people would unanimously support without a second thought.

I think it's because milktea is constantly seeking attention, using this issue to achieve good results.

I agree with her message, but I find her annoying as a person. Not gonna lie, was tempted to thumbs down it myself... not because I disagree, because I'm sick of this same person bringing up the same issue for the past few years. You're a girl, guys can be assholes, we get it.

 

[Camalange]

Whoa, 32% of people are disliking the video. Unbelievable...

Can't tell if sarcasm…?

When I first checked it was practically half, and comments aren't generally disabled for these videos as I checked if it was a trend. All of which are unwarranted, if you ask me.

 

[Venks]

Really glad to see Milktea continuing to bring light to this issue. This isn't some event that needs to be highlighted once and forgotten overtime.

 

[Indigo Jeans]

I think it's because milktea is constantly seeking attention, using this issue to achieve good results.

I agree with her message, but I find her annoying as a person. Not gonna lie, was tempted to thumbs down it myself... not because I disagree, because I'm sick of this same person bringing up the same issue for the past few years. You're a girl, guys can be *******s, we get it.

Because giving one or two talks on the subject doesn't solve the underlying problem. Also, which other smashers do you see stepping up to tackle the issue? Your thinking is completely backwards.

 

[BuTTNutz]

I 100% like this. Milktea is doing a far better job than Anita Sar****sian.

Agreed

 

[erico9001]

Can't tell if sarcasm…?

When I first checked it was practically half, and comments aren't generally disabled for these videos as I checked if it was a trend. All of which are unwarranted, if you ask me.

hmm? No, it's not sarcasm. I'm appalled that the video has so many dislikes - that 32% of people actually pressed that thumbs down button. I agree, there is no reason the video should have so many dislikes. I wonder what nasty things were being said in the comments section for the comments to have to be disabled.

 

[Camalange]

hmm? No, it's not sarcasm. I'm appalled that the video has so many dislikes - that 32% of people actually pressed that thumbs down button. I agree, there is no reason the video should have so many dislikes. I wonder what nasty things were being said in the comments section for the comments to have to be disabled.

Ah, my apologies for the confusion then! It's hard to read tone online sometimes.

 

[Zoa]

It's good we have a prominent female gamer to educate those who act in such a manner, and to educate those who don't to prevent possible future acts. Education and empathy are some pretty powerful tools to convey one's thoughts, and increase overall communication between others for a more harmonious environment. My girlfriend is a major gamer just like I am, and she's experienced a couple of incidences like what Milktea is trying educate people about, so I can understand the whole concept of the necessity in getting the point out there completely. Just treat your fellow gamers with respect. It's not that hard to do.

 

[Dylan_Tnga]

Because giving one or two talks on the subject doesn't solve the underlying problem. Also, which other smashers do you see stepping up to tackle the issue? Your thinking is completely backwards.

I think my friend (female) who goes by the gamer tag "X" tackles the issue much better by showing up to the events, and playing the game, and not making a big deal out of being one of the few girls. Haven't once heard her bring it up. People there treat her like family and I think that she gives a strong message "I'm a girl, I play top level peach, so what?" Rekt.

Girls cause problems in the gaming community because they think their girl status changes something. "Im a girl, go easy on me!" etc. And we have a few girls like that at the weekly.. they expect you not to play 100% or 4 stock them, because they're used to having things handed to them. It leads to guys sometimes resenting them for it. (Not a reason to be sexist, mind you... but annoying none the less)

So, I think that the best statement you can make is going to events, play the damn game, male or female, and not making a big deal out of gender issues. If someone is rude or sexist to you, report it to the TO or just ignore it. The more attention you give to sexists ******** the more they feed off it.

Regardless of the purity of the message, milktea is, and always will be, an attention seeker. Hence a lot of the downvotes imo.

 

[Diamond Octobot]

Didn't watch the video yet, but I have one thing to say.
We need more players like Officer Jenny and Nyani.

 

[90007000]

Every game is sexist, what are you guys talking about?

 

[Zebkeet]

Great speech milktea.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Why does her video have so many thumbs down? I would think this would be something people would unanimously support without a second thought.

It's an odd conundrum. Most likely, people disliking her video are not sexist. They just feel like she is attacking a community, which is common amongst feminist activists.

 

[Dylan_Tnga]

http://milktea-ssbm.tumblr.com/post/64300739224/growing-up-in-the-super-smash-brothers-melee

This is from 2013. I dunno, but it's kind of annoying when someone goes off about the same topic all the time.

While I'm at it :

http://milktea-ssbm.tumblr.com/ - February 2014. Exact same topic.

http://ideas.ted.com/whats-it-like-to-be-a-woman-in-competitive-gaming-a-female-gamer-explains/ - September 2014. Same ****ing topic.

You get the idea. Just google it, there's literally like fifteen articles about sexism and smash involving milktea in one way or another. She loves the attention, clearly.

 

[CaptainJimmBob]

http://milktea-ssbm.tumblr.com/post/64300739224/growing-up-in-the-super-smash-brothers-melee

This is from 2013. I dunno, but it's kind of annoying when someone goes off about the same topic all the time.

While I'm at it :

http://milktea-ssbm.tumblr.com/ - February 2014. Exact same topic.

http://ideas.ted.com/whats-it-like-to-be-a-woman-in-competitive-gaming-a-female-gamer-explains/ - September 2014. Same ****ing topic.

You get the idea. Just google it, there's literally like fifteen articles about sexism and smash involving milktea in one way or another. She loves the attention, clearly.

I guess Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King Jr. were just attention whores because they said the same thing over and over again.

Who cares anyway? It is a good message that has literally no downside.

 

[Luco]

I think my friend (female) who goes by the gamer tag "X" tackles the issue much better by showing up to the events, and playing the game, and not making a big deal out of being one of the few girls. Haven't once heard her bring it up. People there treat her like family and I think that she gives a strong message "I'm a girl, I play top level peach, so what?" Rekt.

Girls cause problems in the gaming community because they think their girl status changes something. "Im a girl, go easy on me!" etc. And we have a few girls like that at the weekly.. they expect you not to play 100% or 4 stock them, because they're used to having things handed to them. It leads to guys sometimes resenting them for it. (Not a reason to be sexist, mind you... but annoying none the less)

So, I think that the best statement you can make is going to events, play the damn game, male or female, and not making a big deal out of gender issues. If someone is rude or sexist to you, report it to the TO or just ignore it. The more attention you give to sexists *******s the more they feed off it.

Regardless of the purity of the message, milktea is, and always will be, an attention seeker. Hence a lot of the downvotes imo.

Good for your friend, but it's a bad idea for you to assume that female smashers only want the attention by appealing for people to "go easy" on them. That's really disrespectful. Chances are, you don't know what it's like because you're not in that situation. I certainly don't, and I have plenty of family and friends who know that these issues are serious stuff. Of course we're not going to know because we're not the ones stepping into a room of people who are probably surprised to see us there and expect certain things of us, and should we go against that, and furthermore try to change a status quo, people accuse us of seeking attention. If anything I'd say that's the exact reason someone would be justified in trying to change it.

And important subjects need to be brought up, again and again if necessary. If I was being treated unfairly by the people around me, of course I'd speak up, and if they didn't change, I'd speak up about it again and again until something changed. That's not attention seeking, that's trying to instil awareness and change within the community. Furthermore, smash is a growing game, and not everyone will have been exposed to previous articles.

Just because you're being a good person and your friends are, doesn't mean the rest of the community is. Stand up and support this stuff and stop assuming its just an attention-seeking stunt.

 

[Dylan_Tnga]

I guess Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King Jr. were just attention *****s because they said the same thing over and over again.

Who cares anyway? It is a good message that has literally no downside.

Oh wow. Milktea being compared to Dr King. I give up at this point.

 

[Space Stranger]

I really like Milktea's approach to the matter. Sexism is a difficult topic to cover in our society today with all the bad apples out there. In order for our community to grow, we need to become aware of issues such as sexism, homophobia, racism, etc.