I feel like, because Mercy players tend to be women, people are also much more likely to treat them worse because they know that women usually won't respond back.

I know we hate talking about sex or gender on reddit, but I've noticed in a lot of games where I've had to fill as Mercy that people would trash talk or talk shit, then I'd get on a mic and say something back, and, once they hear that I'm a guy, it's suddenly "dude I was just messing around" or they stop completely.

Like, I've never ever seen a guy rage this way towards another guy player ever. I also remember there was one streamer who, after seeing that a player on their team was a Mercy main, instalocked her before her. When she politely asked if she could play her instead, he responded with something like, "Only if you will admit that you're terrible and can't play anything else" to which she didn't respond back. I don't imagine a guy would try that shit towards another guy.