User blog comment:StormWarriors2/Game Study/@comment-33731050-20150211205007/@comment-1536954-20150212054644

No, it's definitely about assumptions. Look at the language used. Let me quote what you've written. "...Mastery. Males enjoy mastering things"

- Owing to the structure of our society, men are quite often brought up to expect mastering things, yes. It does not mean that it is a natural thing for men, and it is not something only men can feel. Come on, explicit gendered language here.

"...Males really enjoy competing against others to prove that they are the best. For females, the bad feelings that can come from losing the game (or causing another player to lose) often outweigh the positive feelings that come from winning."

- Note the usage of definite statements rather than using language like "trends show", "statistically", "based on research", etc. Instead it's merely stating "males really enjoy", "for females, the bad feelings..." like straight factual data. Secondly it - thanks to the type of language it uses - portrays women as emotionally weaker than males, which is both incorrect on a biological level (remember, it is making definite statements about genders, not showing statistical trends) and therefore is sexist.

"Women often joke that men hate reading directions, and there is some truth to that. Males tend to have a preference for learning things through trial and error."

- "Women". What, all women? If simply "some", which women? What statistics back this up? None of the women I regularly hang out with met have really said anything along these lines about men. Also, a lot of males I know are totally fine with directions. The usage of "tend to" here is slightly better than blatant statements, but it's still assuming women don't learn that way, especially when it claims that it is "easy to design interfaces for them".

Sure, maybe you're not trying to be sexist. But you're certainly quoting from a source that is. Even unintended, unaware sexism is still sexism.