A new campaign from Maybelline New York targets gender-based harassment in video games, by running a social experiment to see how male players in an online match would be treated if they appeared to be female, GamesHub reports.
The video is part of Maybelline’s Brave Together mental health initiative, and is titled Through Their Eyes. The video speaks to gaming influencers Luminumn and PaladinAmber about their experience playing online through voice chat, before male gamers JoelBergs and DrewD0g try the experience themselves by playing with audio mods and female player profiles.
From the start, Joel and Drew have a different experience than they’re used to, with many players leaving a match as soon as they hear them talk. Once he’s loaded into a new game, it won’t take long for another player to say “Shut your mouth,” with other annoyances directed at influencers including suggesting “go back to the tub” and “call me daddy.” Both players also receive a number of “suggestions.” sexuality that was almost completely deleted because of the Maybelline video.
Maybelline cites a recent study that showed 83% of female identifiers have “Has directly experienced and/or observed abusive behavior or language during online gaming. The video ends with an appeal for all players to “speak up and help each other” when faced with this type of harassment.
Maybelline is not unique in trying to bring attention to this problem in online gaming. Recently, Twitch’s SteffyEvans called out sexual harassment in online games by challenging herself to make sandwiches every time someone told her to make them in the game — and pointing out how much sexual commentary still gets thrown in online matches.
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