For the first time ever I joined a voice call while playing a game (among us) and as soon as I said something everyone immediately started going "Is that a female??" "You're a female??" "There are females here??" I get that it was supposed to be a joke but fuck it felt so alienating to be bombarded with that in my first attempt at gaming socially
That's true. But I wasn't even playing with a random online group; a dude I've been talking to invited me to play with his irl friend group and he has seemed very normal and chill so I thought his friends would be too. guess not
In that case it’s probably just pack mentality. You “invaded” their safe space, so to speak, so in turn they activate the defense mechanisms. Don’t be discouraged though, not all groups are like that, and it really depends on the culture that group has formed, and also how insular it is.