#1reasonwhy tweets expose sexism in the video-game industry

It all started with this seemingly ignorant tweet from Kickstarter's Luke Crane: "Why are there so few lady game creators?"

Overnight, video-game developers took to Twitter to provide a myriad of answers to this question. Using the #1reasonwhy hashtag, women spoke out about the sexist attitudes and treatment and even sexual harassment they have faced in work situations.

The impact of this oppressive climate is that women remain a minority in the video-game industry. Indeed, when I interviewed Zoe Curnoe, co-chair of Women in Games Vancouver, in September, she said that women only comprise 10 percent of game developers.

In case any aspiring developers found all the #1reasonwhy tweets discouraging, the informative discussion spawned the hashtags #1reasontobe and #1reasonmentors. These tweets highlighted the positive aspects of the industry and offered women opportunities to connect with other developers.

Twitter user @mcdaldno put together this great compilation of tweets showing the start of the conversation, which continues today.

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