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Finding the Invisible Player and Understanding Women’s Experiences in Online Multiplayer Video Game Environments
Catherine Lukianov May 30, 2014MA Media Studies Thesis Syracuse University
Purpose
Gender plays a role in women’s gaming experiences
Feminist Standpoint Epistemology
Women’s lived experiences in potentially hostile gaming environments
Battle games
Team based, cooperative and competitive
Online multiplayer modes
Playing with or against strangers
Call of Duty, Halo, Counter-Strike, Left 4 Dead, League of Legends
Research Questions
RQ1: How does a woman’s gender impact her gaming experiences?
RQ2: How do women video game players navigate their real world gender in battle games?
RQ3: How do women video game players negotiate their gameplay experience in a potentially hostile gaming environment?
Literature Review
Gaming culture masculinity: “Real” games and “real” gamers
(Dovey & Kennedy, 2006)
Hypermasculine discourse
(Taylor, 2012)
Anomalies who challenge gender norms
(Taylor, 2003; Taylor, 2006; Royse et al., 2007)
Literature Review
Gender identity
(Foss, Domenico & Foss, 2013)
Performativity
(Butler, 1990)
Other masculine environments
How do women perform gender within battle games?
Method
Qualitative in-depth interviews
Textual analysis of journals
Optional journal prompts
Follow-up interviews
Participants: 16 women, ages 19 – 40
13 wrote journals, 12 follow-up interviews
Analyzed using Dedoose
Findings: Denying Gender Performances
Male generic language
“Well done, boys.” - Jean, journal
“You mad, bro?” - Charlotte, journal
“(At times like those there is a small little part of me that wants to shout I’M NOT A BOY but thankfully it is tied up and held down by my common sense)” - Jean, journal
Pronoun use – Friends participate in gender performances
“Just like, even if my boyfriend were to out, like oh... she. Or she, if he uses ‘she’ or ‘her’ or any kind of those uh pronouns and people catch onto that, they’ll start making like sexual jokes or whatnot about me.” - Cass, interview
Findings: Denying Gender Performances
Denial of skill
Rejection of gender performance
“And yeah, I think most guys just don’t, you know, believe that girls can be as just as good (laughs), or better than them, so. I was kind of, it was just kind of funny to see the reaction, like complete denial.” - Laquita, follow-up
“I’m just ‘a hacking bitch.’ I’m just some stupid bitch making my boyfriend play with me while I talk and I should be in the kitchen making him a fucking sandwich.” – Gwen, interview
Findings: Denying Gender Performances
Male assumption
High pitched voice assumed to be a child
“So um, obviously on Xbox, you know, it was inevitable sometimes. You know, you talk and they’ll be like, ‘Oh are you a little boy?’ I’m like, ‘No, I’m a chick. Please.’” - Rain, interview
Findings: Denying Gender Performances
Findings: The “Girl Gamer” Stereotype
Concealing one’s gender becomes normalized
Agency in gender performances
“Girl gamer” stereotype
Lack of skill
Attention seeking
“Like uh they would say a woman who has, or a girl who has her picture, or a feminine nickname, or uses the microphone and she’s asking for negative attention. She’s asking for the sexist comments, right. Obviously she is not, that is victim blaming.” - Zoey, follow-up
Findings: The “Girl Gamer” Stereotype
Assuming a male identity
Challenging the stereotype
“I would trade all that in an instant just to um be like a normal person. Just to be on par with the regular people, regular dudes who just play. And like they receive no special treatment but they also receive no special hatred.” - Allison, interview
When you’re a girl on the internet, “Eh everyone hates you. Like you’re not allowed to do anything and you’re either, you know, what is it, fat, ugly, or slutty, so. Like as long as you’re, but like if you’re anonymous you’re read as male and then it’s okay, and then you’re just everyone else.” - Emily, interview
Findings: The “Girl Gamer” Stereotype
Distancing from the stereotype
A troubling lack of agency
“... it’s kind of sad that girls are in a position where, you know, pretty much every girl who ever speaks on microphone is representing like all female gamers just in general cause the number of us who choose to speak is so little, so few.” - Sis, interview
Conclusion
Rendering women invisible
Lack of female gender performances
Assuming a male identity
Monitoring and adapting gender performances
Reinforcing gaming culture expectations & women’s exclusion