Let's dig in here.
@Omo: For what it's worth, I didn't think your post was racist or sexist (or any other ist). I suspect we're probably agreeing with each other and just missing something in the syntax. So here's the thing - roughly 50% of gamers are women. (And somewhere in the neighborhood of half the kids in the BJJ class were also girls, including one who was VERY good and competed in tournaments. I watched a boy show up and watched his parents try to strongarm the teacher because he was "advanced," and then watched him try to push this girl around - dude hit the mat HARD. Straightened him RIGHT out, although I REALLY had to struggle not to laugh. The girl in question proceeded like it was business as usual. Which, y'know, it probably was.)
Girls are just into different things? SOME girls are into different things. Some like Barbie and dresses and pink. My little girl was listening to Napalm Death at four years old, and not because I made her listen to it. It was on during a car ride, and she fell in love with it. Four years old, listening to grindcore and enjoying it. I should have seen the writing on the wall then
So while your point that everyone is good at different things is obviously valid, this isn't about that - it's about the way people are treated while doing those things.
And actually, the cost to society of systemic inequality is incalculable, because we don't know what we lose when kids are steered away from scientific or other pursuits (and this happens, especially frequently in inner city schools where resources are scarce). We don't know which kid might cure cancer if encouraged, or who might find a brand new antibiotic or develop a new chip architecture.
Adversity and inequality don't make us strong, they make us weak because instead of progressing, we fight each other and spend time with segregating schools (as one example) to enforce that inequality or support it instead of making sure every kid has a chance to get a decent education. Systemic inequality wastes resources that could be put to vastly better use, and it wastes human potential. And the argument that if people are driven enough that they'll overcome this if they REALLY want it?
Why should they have to? Why shouldn't everyone have the same chance and the same level playing field? Why should some people - because of their gender or skin color or who they love - have to spend as much time overcoming some form of bias as they do actually working? As a practical example, when Don't Ask, Don't Tell was still in effect, the military forced talented linguists out of the service simply because they were gay, meaning that our ability to gain intel was compromised. How does that benefit us in any way? Did that adversity benefit the linguists in question? Did it benefit our military? Did it make us safer?
How, in that example, did that policy and systemic inequality make America stronger?
I'm not saying people shouldn't have to work at things. I'm simply saying that they shouldn't face harassment or discrimination, and that we shouldn't excuse these things as a way to separate the proverbial men from boys. It's harmful. It wastes our potential. It holds us back as a people, as a nation, as a species. It doesn't encourage overcoming things. It doesn't show us who really wants it. It shows us who is willing to tolerate abuse.
And since you have a daughter and you recognize the harassment women face in COD lobbies (and seem to react to it in much the same way as I do), it seems that you both understand and agree with the point that this harassment and abuse is wrong and unacceptable. And that's really the issue here - we are not, for example, talking about the other Jeffrey Lebowski or people who micturate on rugs.
@slay: I completely agree that people should be treated fairly and have equal opportunity. That is, in fact, the entire point. That is not happening in the gaming industry as a whole, although different developers obviously have different work environments, some of which may be less hostile to women.
@XGC: Concur. I simply want my little girl to have an environment which is less hostile and more welcoming. Every parent should want to put their kid in a better situation than they had. Gaming is something that's important to my little girl, and I want her to have a better, less toxic and less hostile gaming community. A while back, I was running a game night for disabled folk and it drew a few women, most of whom had not done online multiplayer because of these issues - I told them explicitly that it was a safe space, that they would not be harassed and that if anyone tried it would be sorted IMMEDIATELY. There's nothing PC about that, it's a matter of respect and ensuring that everyone gets a chance to play without harassment or hostility. Like you, I'm looking at the gaming world my little girl will inherit, and I don't like it, so I'm doing what is within my power and ability to change it.
