LEVEL TOXICITY: WOMEN, VIDEO GAMES & MISOGYNY- SENIOR THESIS
THESIS PROPOSAL
In July 2021, I stumbled across news/videos on social media along with mainstream media news reports from CBS2 News (New Jersey/New York Area), and The New York Times all reporting about how a video game company named Activision/Blizzard Entertainment was being sued by The State of California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing claiming that the company fostered a “frat boy’ workplace culture.” where it alleges that a variety of issues including female employees being “subjected to constant sexual harassment” were all part of a two-year-long investigation into the company (Ultimately, this lawsuit became the inspiration for this thesis project). This lawsuit is just one of many lawsuits that have reflected on how the video game industry as a whole is reckoning with a HUGE problem that involves women in all corners, from gamers to game developers. This male-dominated “bro-culture” has stigmatized the industry as a “breeding ground” for toxic, misogynistic behavior that has been swept under the mainstream media’s eyes for decades. But this issue when it comes to women steams deeper than just lawsuits detailing sexual harassment and misogyny, It’s filled with all sorts of issues ranging from r**e to federal laws that make video game companies get away with crimes. As someone who likes to play video games as a hobby, I am disturbed by the fact that these video game companies make millions of dollars profiting off the pain that women had to deal with to create the games that we've come to know.
To be clear, I AM IN NO WAY TRYING TO SAY you should stop playing video games whatsoever because of these reasons. What I am trying to get across in this thesis is "It would be great if gamers and people, in general, are educated about how the video games we play to relax are built on a misogynistic environment where “bro-culture” negatively affects females physically, emotionally, and mentally. This would be achieved through designing something that'll uplift gamers to show support towards women in this industry in a trendy way!
This senior thesis project was split into three parts- the blog, the thesis book, and personal project. To see how I created my entire thesis project from beginning to end visit the blog link below. To see my thesis book click the tab below the blog link tab! Thank you so much for taking your time to scroll through, I hope you learned something about the video game industry and remember be kind to one another. :)
