Forget about the sticks and stones, let's talk about the words: challenging the normalizing of sexual harassment in online video gaming

Sexual harassment in online video gaming is a systemic social problem and part of a larger conversation about the treatment of women online. Frequently, sexual harassment in online gaming spaces is falsely characterized as just trolling and/or trash talking that is a natural and expected part of gaming culture. Consequently, bystander techniques for intervening in individual incidents of sexual harassment have been under-researched to date. This research project's objective was to address three research questions: 1) What are the different types of sexual harassment that typically occur within online gaming contexts? 2) What are the commonalities amongst individual instances of sexual harassment in online gaming that demonstrate the problematic normalizing of these behaviours? 3) What are the different active bystander techniques used to intervene in incidents of sexual harassment in online video gaming? To do this, qualitative content analysis examined two websites where female gamers publicly documented their experiences with incidents of harassment. The types of sexual harassment identified were consistent with four key themes: the spectrum of solicitation; insults abound; no girls allowed; and threaten the women away. Analysis also showed that individual incidents of sexual harassment demonstrate the normalization of a common cultural practice and the conceptual flaws of the "it is just a game" justification that reinforces the normalization of harassment behaviours. Finally, the different bystander intervention techniques identified are described by five themes: the "shut down!" interjections; the "is that the best you can do" reactions; the attention redirection technique; the skills and kills defence; and the stereotype challengers. Together, these results contribute to an evolving area of social inquiry in an effort to demystify sexual harassment in online gaming spaces, recognize it as a systemic social problem, and highlight the bystander intervention techniques that could help shift existing cultural norms.