Gaming chair and accessory maker Vertagear has apologised after the company tweeted a sexist meme on their official account.
The image, which was tweeted on 18 July, showed a male streamer whose screen was focused on a game, and a female streamer whose screen was focused on the streamer. It was captioned “is this accurate”.
The meme perpetrates the sexist notion that women are not interested in games and instead choose to stream for attention.
Vertagear issued a statement regarding the now-deleted tweet on 19 July, where they acknowledged they “have hurt many people with a recent Tweet”.
“Discrimination and bias are the opposite of what we want to create, and they completely jeopardize the values we stand for,” they said. “We take full responsibility for the pain that it has caused to members of our community.
“We will make things right and set ourselves as a better example for others.”
As other users pointed out, the company has previously posted similar images and tweets which serve to promote sexist stereotypes and have also used slurs in the past.
Vertagear issued a second statement later that day in which they explained that they will increase gender diversity across the company.
“While it was never in our intention to come off as sexist, nor do we in any way condone these types of thoughts and behaviours, it was an unacceptable mistake,” they said.
“Unfortunately, over the years, our social media content has on multiple occasions included similar language and themes, which is a pattern we are certainly not proud of, and need to rectify immediately to be more respectful of not only the gaming community, but everyone.”
The statement also said that the person who made the tweets no longer works with the company.
Words by Ellen Leslie
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