Gender Stereotypes: Perception of Gendered Roles in FFXIV

Lakisha Rodriguez
Nov 6 · 5 min read

Remaining objective whilst writing is hard, especially when the topic you are discussing is something you are passionate about. In the articles covering Final Fantasy XIV I haven’t really gone into my personal experiences in the game (beyond the anti-Semitism I caught) but today I felt that I had to. Keeping my character name secret is pretty important to me at the moment mostly because of the harassment I experienced for simply having wrote on a topic of racist tropes within the game and community. So with that being said one might think that talking about an interaction that was directed at me might allow the trolls to figure out who I was right? In some ways I wish that really was the case, but my story is one that isn’t unique to me or any woman; its just one of many examples of everyday sexism that the female bodied and trans-women in this game experience as a cost to us playing.

This problem goes back years in game so it shouldn’t be surprising

Unlike some complaints I have regarding the game this one is entirely down to the community and there isn’t much that Square Enix can do to stop it. The world of Eorzea is in a sense a micro version of our own society but one where the pressure to be what is expected of us isn’t there, we play this game for fun and thus we are drawn naturally to what we find to be fun. Stats do not differ between the sexes and whilst they do between races (story purposes I guess) the changes are so miniscule that they have no effect on your ability to play. So in this kind of world you would expect a kind of true equality to emerge, whether you are a male bodied or female bodied, cisgender or transgender it shouldn’t matter to your experience or play style, right? Unfortunately it seems that is not the case, for whatever reason there is the perception out there that women are casual players who are primarily interested in crafting and roleplaying whilst men are mostly interested in the competitive aspects of the game such as extreme primals, Savage and ultimate raiding.

Now to my personal experience, I was running E1 savage with a couple of my friends one of which is a transwoman who has cleared up to Leviathan and has their augmented weapon. In all honesty I was still nailing the fight down, I had cleared but was making a couple of mistakes when it came to some of the more complicated mechanics. Everything seemed to be going alright until one of the DPS noticed my RP tag and told me that I should “ Go back to roleplaying your savage clears in NM” and “ Maybe you can find a sugar daddy to craft food for and they’ll carry you”. To say I was insulted is an understatement, just because I enjoy roleplaying does not mean I cannot do hard content, just because I enjoy crafting does NOT mean that I am going to find a raider and craft things so they will carry me. The insinuation that I need a man to do the hard things for me is a sexist trope as old as time, savage isn’t a jar that needs opened, its not a door to be held I am an independent smart woman of color and I do not need any cis white man telling me what I should be doing.

During E4S a well known male streamer called out a female streamer accusing her of not clearing a fight before making a guide on it.

This sparked an argument regarding gender and women’s ability to actually raid, the entire conversation was disgusting. When my friend pointed out that they had cleared the third floor of the raid as a trans women themselves the response they gave just ended the instance for me and quite a few of the others as well. “Yeah well that’s because you aren’t a woman, you’re really a guy”. Having shared this experience with my Free Company (FFXIV’s guild equivalent) I was told that this is a common occurrence and only really got worse as savage progressed. I don’t think anyone in the game can disagree that raiding is a hot bed of toxicity, disparaging comments fall from the sky like rain and it got me to thinking that perhaps like in real life this was the reason for the perception filter I was experiencing.

With enough practice, I know that I could clear all of the savage floors; time and personal life aside I could run hard and put in the time as could anyone in my shoes. In our real-life women experience this same kind of barrier, in higher levels of business we are barred not by ability or willingness but by a cocktail of stereotypes, toxicity and testosterone. We are put off seeking promotions, entering STEM careers and chasing our dreams not because of physical barriers but by emotional and societal. It is not that women cannot raid, or that we do not want to its that raiding is so toxic that we just cannot view it as fun.

I would love to say that there is some hope for this to change, and maybe one day as our society becomes more diverse and inclusive it will. But for the moment the best that those of us who want to raid as marginalised individuals can do is play with our friends in our own spaces and shame those who promote toxicity and bigotry.Till then the only thing I’ll be crafting for these toxic men is a nice serving of female empowerment.

PoC mixed Latina/Black gamer with unpopular opinions

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