16 Minutes of Abuse and Harassment in One Overwatch Match
As we game online, we inevitably come into contact with toxic communities. But it takes a special kind of venom to stand out among the rest. And this time around, one dedicated Overwatch player found herself harassed online on account of her sex. Things like this are not uncommon, unfortunately, but this lasted 16 minutes, and it was so bad that she had to share her experience with everyone:
The video is here not for laughs (because the harassers aren’t funny), but because it highlights a problem within the gaming community. Glisa is the uploader and her video shows how the online experience can be on account of sex. Here are just some of the comments shared by her nice teammates:
• “Mercy, heal me. I won’t call you ugly again. Just kidding, you’re probably ugly.”
• “I like how this Mercy’s trying to heal me because she wants me.”
• “I’m assuming Glisa’s setup is in her kitchen — as you know, she is a woman.”
• “We honestly lost because we had an e-girl on our team”
• “Can you stop talking please?”
• “I don’t care, post about it on Tumblr, you sexist.”
• “I like Americans because they’re good at raping people.”
• “This isn’t sexual harassment, this is gender equality.”
• “You’re a woman, do you even have a right to give your opinion?”
Around the 3:45 mark, Glisa speaks up for herself, and things just get worse from there. As you’ll note, player Acayri isn’t doing the character of Hanzo any favors by leading the verbal assault. Nothing Glisa says can stem the tide of sexism and haterade. At least one other teammate, the Soldier 76, steps in to say something at the 6:30 mark:
“Do you guys actually care about winning or do you just want to troll?”
No dice, though.
None of the terrible comments during this Overwatch competitive match seem even remotely warranted. We all like ourselves a bit of fun; it’s why we play games, but when a YouTube comments section comes to life before your eyes, you would also feel compelled to record for posterity.
Unsurprisingly, further down the line, the trolls talk more sexist nonsense:
Acayri: “Why do the female humans always play the female characters? Like, they’re always playing Mercy.”
Joel: “They can’t play games and be good at them.”
Aycari: “That’s true, so they just pick the hottest girl characters.”
In the end, it seems Glisa wasn’t phased by the ordeal. Maybe because she’s used to it (still not a good thing). Despite the fact that they’re team lost (unsurprisingly), she was probably just happy to leave.
Have you ever experienced this kind of ordeal online? Was it Overwatch? Comment down below; we’d like to learn more. And we’d like to know your thoughts on this video. Until next time.
Happy gaming… hopefully.