Article originally published in February 2017
Four-time Counter Strike world champion Stephanie Harvey now lives in Los Angeles, where she has decided to devote herself full-time to her favorite video game. The young woman doesn’t hesitate to loudly denounce the online harassment women are constantly subjected to.
Your online name is MissHarvey, which obviously reflects your gender. Some women choose to have a neutral name to avoid being harassed. Is this something you’ve thought about?
Stéphanie: When I chose my name, I was 17 and didn’t give it much thought. Now, my name is a brand and I wouldn’t dream of changing it, but I’d definitely choose a gender-neutral name again. It would have made my career a lot easier.
You’re often referred to as a feminist spokesperson. Is this a role that suits you?
Stéphanie: I don’t see myself as a feminist spokesperson. I give my opinion loud and clear and I encourage equality between the sexes. Right now, there are still big problems for women and I want to denounce them. I’m clearly a feminist, but I’m not trying to wear that hat. It’s been given to me in spite of myself, because I’m one of the few who talk about it. I didn’t choose it, but I accept it.
Your team is 100% all-female, but you’ve already played in mixed teams, what are the differences?
Stéphanie: My female team-mates never question my skills because I’m a girl, but because I haven’t worked hard enough.
My male teammates used to insinuate that the problem was the fact that I was a woman: “Maybe we should replace her because she’s a girl?”.
Despite your success and recognition, do you still suffer harassment?
Stéphanie: Yes, very much so. There are a lot of messages on forums, social media, etc. I get as many as anyone else. I get it just like any other public figure, in fact.
Before you became a celebrity, what did the harassment look like?
Stéphanie: They were game-related messages, but I don’t want to talk about them any more than necessary, it gives them importance and they’d feel like winners. I wasn’t always silent in the face of harassment, but that’s the attitude I adopt from now on.
Is it really necessary to organize video game championships just for women?
Stéphanie: There are only two or three tournaments a year for women, so we’re far from talking about “a lot of championships”. I think it’s really necessary to have women-only events. Throughout the year, my team and I play against men, and only three times a year do we play against women. This promotes the game at universities, for example. We create a hype. It’s thanks to events like these that I started playing 15 years ago. Two days ago, I received a message from a young girl in Montreal who took up Counter Strike after one of these tournaments, and she’s qualified for a championship in Poland, where I’m going myself, in a month’s time.
You co-created MissCliks, what do you hope to achieve with this organization?
We want to create a healthy space where women and anyone who suffers from online harassment-not just women-feel free to express themselves safely, talk about video games, geek culture and so on. For example, we have an online network where people can learn how to navigate inside a game like Dungeons and Dragons, and exchange ideas with others.
How have things changed between 2003, when you started, and 2017 for women in video games?
“It hasn’t really changed, actually, other than the fact that the media have stopped being surprised that a girl wants to play video games.”
The rest is pretty much the same. It’s the universe that’s changed. It’s no longer for guys in their basements, it’s for everyone. It’s accepted by society and it’s become mainstream. I think that’s positive. There are obviously more women playing now, too.
