shilsen
Adventurer
My girlfriend and I have recently been discussing the issue of sexism in D&D. I’ve been playing D&D since 1999, coming in at the end of 2e and playing through 3e (and 3.5e) into 4e now. Almost all my groups have included women in them, ranging from a single woman in an otherwise all-male group, to groups with more women than men, to one all-female groups (well, other than me, of course). And I’ve been on ENWorld since 2002. In contrast, my girlfriend got into gaming less than a year ago, has only played in one group (where she’s the only woman), and wasn’t a member on ENWorld till today, though she has read a lot of threads here. But, despite our very divergent experiences, both of us agree about the fact that there’s way too much sexism in D&D in general, and on ENWorld too. So I figured I’d start a thread on it, partly to share my thoughts on the subject and partly to see what people think.
I’ve seen a number of discussions about gender issues and sexism on ENWorld, such as the following:
Sexism in your campaign settings
Can sexism be good for plot?
Eberron: No sexism?
But I’ve never yet seen a persuasive argument for why sexism should inherently be part of D&D. And yet it is, whether in the settings, the marketing of the game, the general climate of the game, and even on sites such as ENWorld. One of the many reasons why Eberron sticks out positively to me as a setting is (as noted in the thread above) because it explicitly eschews sexism. While I think a particular group or homebrew setting can choose to involve sexism in their games (presumably with everyone involved on board about it), I absolutely believe that the core rules and settings of D&D should be egalitarian. I think D&D is a wonderful game, which is why I spend so much time on it, and I would prefer the hobby to thrive and grow. And it seems utterly counter-productive and wrongheaded, to me, for the marketing and presentation of the game to ignore 51% (or is it 52% now?) of the population, or to treat them like second-class citizens in the game. Unfortunately, with D&D traditionally having been a game written by, for and sold to, men, it seems that many people aren’t that interested in expanding the player base if it requires catering a little more to women, as Malcolm from Channel M Publishing (which is producing a female-centered game, Witch Girls Adventures) mentions here.
The problem, I believe, is also exacerbated by the fact that gamers in general can be quite sexist, often without realizing it. ENWorld, for example, has issues in that area. I love this site, since it’s full of smart, creative and articulate people who happen to share an interest with me. And there are many people who comment on and, in their own gaming, work against the sexism that has been and is a part of D&D. But I also constantly see comments on the site which reinforce the idea of D&D as a boy’s club, where women are an aberration. Whether it be someone trying to be chivalrous and coming across as incredibly misogynistic, or someone very explicitly being exclusionary towards women in their game, or someone arguing that fantasy art is about naked women, or random posts which show that ale and whores or wandering harlots (EDIT: I've been corrected that I missed the context in which the harlots table was posted, so I was wrong there. Apologies to Piratecat!) are assumed to be just an amusing and accepted part of the game, they all support a “this is for boys” vibe. And I’m not even getting into the creepiness which shows up every once in a while when some poster in ENWorld reveals herself to be female. I’m guessing the above has at least some influence on how many female gamers we have on this site.
I understand that one of the primary reasons, if not the major one, for such sexism is because we live in a world (speaking mostly of the USA here, which has the biggest part of the D&D pie) where sexism runs rampant. So people bring their preconceptions and life experiences with them into gaming, often without realizing what they’re doing. For example, I’m currently running a round-robin game in a game setting co-created by two very creative and intelligent people whom I would never call intentionally sexist. Their setting, at least in appearance, seems a fairly egalitarian one. But somehow, the number of powerful and important female NPCs in the setting is about a tenth of the powerful and important male NPCs, even though there is no logical or inherent reason why that should be the case. The result – it seems like a setting about and for men, even though it’s certainly not intended that way.
Anyway, there’s a lot to say on the subject but I’ll quit here. In short, I think there’s far too much sexism in D&D (I’m focusing only on D&D here since that’s almost exclusively what I’ve played), whether in the game’s presentation and marketing or the player base, including here on ENWorld. And I think that’s a serious negative and hope that it will change.
What do you think?
Note: I think D&D tends to be exclusionary with regards to race, sexuality and in other areas too, but I’m just focusing on sexism here.
EDIT: I've added a post here putting forth some quick and simple suggestions towards running a non-sexist game. Thoughts and opinions are welcome.
ANOTHER EDIT: Just in case it helps, I thought I should add a bit about what I mean by sexism here. When I refer to sexism in general and in the game, I do not mean differences between the sexes or gender roles. What I mean by sexism is (stealing heavily from Merriam-Webster here) prejudice/discrimination based on sex, and esp. (with regard to this thread) behavior, conditions and attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex. An important element in my definition of sexism, again esp. where this thread is concerned, is the assumption that masculinity or male positions/attitudes are the norm.
I’ve seen a number of discussions about gender issues and sexism on ENWorld, such as the following:
Sexism in your campaign settings
Can sexism be good for plot?
Eberron: No sexism?
But I’ve never yet seen a persuasive argument for why sexism should inherently be part of D&D. And yet it is, whether in the settings, the marketing of the game, the general climate of the game, and even on sites such as ENWorld. One of the many reasons why Eberron sticks out positively to me as a setting is (as noted in the thread above) because it explicitly eschews sexism. While I think a particular group or homebrew setting can choose to involve sexism in their games (presumably with everyone involved on board about it), I absolutely believe that the core rules and settings of D&D should be egalitarian. I think D&D is a wonderful game, which is why I spend so much time on it, and I would prefer the hobby to thrive and grow. And it seems utterly counter-productive and wrongheaded, to me, for the marketing and presentation of the game to ignore 51% (or is it 52% now?) of the population, or to treat them like second-class citizens in the game. Unfortunately, with D&D traditionally having been a game written by, for and sold to, men, it seems that many people aren’t that interested in expanding the player base if it requires catering a little more to women, as Malcolm from Channel M Publishing (which is producing a female-centered game, Witch Girls Adventures) mentions here.
The problem, I believe, is also exacerbated by the fact that gamers in general can be quite sexist, often without realizing it. ENWorld, for example, has issues in that area. I love this site, since it’s full of smart, creative and articulate people who happen to share an interest with me. And there are many people who comment on and, in their own gaming, work against the sexism that has been and is a part of D&D. But I also constantly see comments on the site which reinforce the idea of D&D as a boy’s club, where women are an aberration. Whether it be someone trying to be chivalrous and coming across as incredibly misogynistic, or someone very explicitly being exclusionary towards women in their game, or someone arguing that fantasy art is about naked women, or random posts which show that ale and whores or wandering harlots (EDIT: I've been corrected that I missed the context in which the harlots table was posted, so I was wrong there. Apologies to Piratecat!) are assumed to be just an amusing and accepted part of the game, they all support a “this is for boys” vibe. And I’m not even getting into the creepiness which shows up every once in a while when some poster in ENWorld reveals herself to be female. I’m guessing the above has at least some influence on how many female gamers we have on this site.
I understand that one of the primary reasons, if not the major one, for such sexism is because we live in a world (speaking mostly of the USA here, which has the biggest part of the D&D pie) where sexism runs rampant. So people bring their preconceptions and life experiences with them into gaming, often without realizing what they’re doing. For example, I’m currently running a round-robin game in a game setting co-created by two very creative and intelligent people whom I would never call intentionally sexist. Their setting, at least in appearance, seems a fairly egalitarian one. But somehow, the number of powerful and important female NPCs in the setting is about a tenth of the powerful and important male NPCs, even though there is no logical or inherent reason why that should be the case. The result – it seems like a setting about and for men, even though it’s certainly not intended that way.
Anyway, there’s a lot to say on the subject but I’ll quit here. In short, I think there’s far too much sexism in D&D (I’m focusing only on D&D here since that’s almost exclusively what I’ve played), whether in the game’s presentation and marketing or the player base, including here on ENWorld. And I think that’s a serious negative and hope that it will change.
What do you think?
Note: I think D&D tends to be exclusionary with regards to race, sexuality and in other areas too, but I’m just focusing on sexism here.
EDIT: I've added a post here putting forth some quick and simple suggestions towards running a non-sexist game. Thoughts and opinions are welcome.
ANOTHER EDIT: Just in case it helps, I thought I should add a bit about what I mean by sexism here. When I refer to sexism in general and in the game, I do not mean differences between the sexes or gender roles. What I mean by sexism is (stealing heavily from Merriam-Webster here) prejudice/discrimination based on sex, and esp. (with regard to this thread) behavior, conditions and attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex. An important element in my definition of sexism, again esp. where this thread is concerned, is the assumption that masculinity or male positions/attitudes are the norm.
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