Gaming While Female: Meet the Ladies Making a Name For Themselves in Australian eSports

There's a perception that online gaming is dominated by dudebros and pre-pubescent knuckleheads.

But it's starting to change with more and more females entering the once male-dominated space.

Just check the statistics. Females occupy more than 47 per cent of the Australian gaming world and 41 per cent in the United States. (In 2005, the number of female players was closer to 30 per cent.)

And with this change in demographics comes a change in attitude. Online gaming has long been considered a toxic e-wasteland where many painful things can be said with little of the real-world consequences. And if you're thinking about taking someone's online abuse and harassment to the public, or even the police, prepare to hear the following:

It's just words.

If you can't handle a bit of trash talk, don't play games on the internet.

Stop being a snowflake. This is a normal part of gaming.

It's the culture that fed #GamerGate; a stubborn culture of maintaining the status quo of trash talk.

However, there's a counter-movement encouraging a more positive gaming community. It's the gamers that are calling out PewDiePie's countless slips. And it's the gamers and industries that are encouraging women to enter the sport, and helping them to thrive.

So, it certainly begs the question: Are women taking back part of the gaming world for themselves? We asked some female gamers how they've cemented their position as leaders in Australia's gaming scene.

Click each picture to read about their story.

jsmai
The Competitive Gamer