Buttercup
Princess of Florin
Chaos Kitten, I'm posting this after reading your initial post, and nothing more. The discussion may have ranged far and wide since then, but I thought you deserved a quick response.
I haven't had the problems you mention, though plenty of women who have posted here over the years have reported them.
I've played online, both as a DM and a player, and never had this sort of issue. Then I started DMing a PnP game in late 2000, and I haven't had any problems there either. Perhaps as DM, I wouldn't be as likely to run into those issues, or perhaps it's because all the people I play with were friends first. I've been playing in a PnP game for some months now, and haven't been made to feel uncomfortable, though I can't imagine the DM would allow anyone to pull that sort of crap. Mind you, there have been some bawdy moments, but they weren't hateful or abusive, and they were ligitimate methods of dealing with the situation we (the PCs) found ourselves in. We all laughed our heads off.
I've been perplexed by the fact that women gamers get mistreated in-game. I genuinely don't understand why guys would do it. What fun could it possibly be? I hear frequent laments about how there aren't enough women in gaming, yet some contingent, however small, evidently can't control their testosterone poisoning long enough to behave like humans for the few hours they sit at the gaming table. It's weird.
You have my sympathy, Chaos Kitten. However, I think you should find another group to play with, because I promise you that not all gaming groups treat women badly.
I haven't had the problems you mention, though plenty of women who have posted here over the years have reported them.
I've played online, both as a DM and a player, and never had this sort of issue. Then I started DMing a PnP game in late 2000, and I haven't had any problems there either. Perhaps as DM, I wouldn't be as likely to run into those issues, or perhaps it's because all the people I play with were friends first. I've been playing in a PnP game for some months now, and haven't been made to feel uncomfortable, though I can't imagine the DM would allow anyone to pull that sort of crap. Mind you, there have been some bawdy moments, but they weren't hateful or abusive, and they were ligitimate methods of dealing with the situation we (the PCs) found ourselves in. We all laughed our heads off.
I've been perplexed by the fact that women gamers get mistreated in-game. I genuinely don't understand why guys would do it. What fun could it possibly be? I hear frequent laments about how there aren't enough women in gaming, yet some contingent, however small, evidently can't control their testosterone poisoning long enough to behave like humans for the few hours they sit at the gaming table. It's weird.
You have my sympathy, Chaos Kitten. However, I think you should find another group to play with, because I promise you that not all gaming groups treat women badly.