In regards to how I address people online in games, I simply use their handle/sn/toon name until asked to do otherwise. I don't think there is a right or wrong way to address someone. If they call me he, I simply correct them. It's not a big deal, but it is a concern if men are still working with this illusion that everyone they play with SHOULD be a guy.
Now, this idea that there are more men/boys are playing games then women... completely false. In the 25-34 age group, there are more women playing games than men. And if you didn't know, this age group is a shifting age group that grew up with consoles being pretty much mainstream as kids and is a pretty large group and significant in that this group is just not growing out of gaming, so to speak. They have haves careers, and families and other things going on, still play games. This BS about more guys playing only works if you remove things like the Nintendo DS, the best selling handheld at the moment, remove The Sims players, one of the best selling franchises in the industry ever, and remove the Nintendo Wii, one of the biggest surprise successes in recent years. Not only that, it would be a ridiculous idea that women who play these games, don't play other games or wouldn't be interested in other games. I'm not floating around Stardock forums to get Sims information here. I have Gal Civ II and was thinking about an upcoming title and starting, slowly, to use Impulse as a service.
Second, boys will be boys so they can treat women like shit has been used to justify keeping women out of the workplace, out of sports, out of business, out office. It's not okay. It will never be okay and to hear someone justify that attitude in this date and age just proves that sexism is as rampant as ever. It's just veiled behind so called-jokes and people actually accepting the behavior.
Lastly, not all communities tolerate open sexism as this one does. They simply do not. It's either not allowed or when a pig open's his mouth, the others say oink and send his ass out of there pretty quickly.
I've not been in this community very long. I have been told its not a very good community to be in because you can't turn the corner without some sort of racist, sexist remark and that there is open hostility towards players that don't play very well or don't know very much. I've had the game for longer than I have posted here. In the short period of time I've been on these boards, I've had plenty of opportunities to show up and say hey, you know what, this isn't cool anymore, but I haven't. Kitkun, you want to paint me as someone who gets angry at every little thing, but that isn't the case at all. I am pretty tolerant, but it was past time someone said something. You can't go a day without seeing this kind of behavior here and the Stardock staff, they pretty much play along with it. It's despicabble.