Email this article An exploratory study of sexism in online gaming communities: Mapping contested digital terrain
Abstract
An awareness is emerging of women’s participation in online games and it’s culture, however they may experience substantive challenges in laying claim to the ‘gamer identity’, within digital domains described as masculine, and sometimes hostile spaces by players, campaigners and activists. In public discourse, gaming is becoming increasingly synonymous with sexism; with media reporting harassment of female-identifying gamers as well as those who voice concern about these issues. The gendered dimension of these issues tends to be fiercely disputed and has competing understandings in online spaces. This study combined issue network analysis and grounded theory to produce a contextualised exploration of the ways in which sexism was understood in such communities. Analysis of multi-modal data revealed three categories which were strategic in framing this debate including; 1) potential (mis)recognition of such behaviours within these contexts, 2) mistaken emphasis upon the gendered dimension of identity within interactions, and 3) qualification to ‘count’ and be heard on these issues. Online spaces reproduce inequalities that exist offline and owing to the technological affordances and contextual nuances, are also sites of cultural production where relations of gendered power may be configured. The implications for transformation efforts to promote inclusive spaces are considered.
References
Angelique, H., & Culley, M. R. (2003). Feminism found: An examination of gender consciousness in community psychology. Journal of Community Psychology, 31, 189-210. DOI: 10.1002/jcop.10050
Angelique, H., & Mulvey, M. (2012). Feminist community psychology: the dynamic co-creation of identities in multilayered contexts. Journal of Community Psychology, 40, 1-10. DOI: 10.1002/jcop.20515
Beavis, C., & Charles, C. (2007). Would the 'real' girl gamer please stand up? Gender, LAN cafés and the reformulation of the 'girl' gamer. Gender and Education, 19, 691-705. DOI:10.1080/09540250701650615
Bertozzi, E. (2008). ‘You play like a girl’: Cross-gender competition and the uneven playing field. Convergence, 14, 473-487. DOI:10.1177/1354856508094667
Bond, M. A., & Mulvey, A. (2000). A history of women and feminist perspectives in community psychology. American Journal of Community Psychology, 28, 599-630. DOI:10.1023/A:1005141619462
Brehm, A. (2013). Navigating the feminine in massively multiplayer online games: Gender in world of warcraft. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 1-15. DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00903
Butler, J. (1990). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York, NY: Routledge.
Butler, J. (2004). Undoing Gender. New York, NY: Routledge.
Bourdieu, P. (1998). On male domination. Le Monde Diplomatique. Retrieved from: http://mondediplo.com/1998/10/10bourdieu
Bourdieu, P. (2001). Masculine domination (R. Nice, Trans.). Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Brehm, A. (2013). Navigating the feminine in massively multiplayer online games: Gender in World of Warcraft. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 1-15.
British Psychological Society. (2017). Ethics Guidelines for Internet-Mediated Research (2017). The British Psychological Society, Leicester. Retrieved from https://www.bps.org.uk/sites/beta.bps.org.uk/files/Policy%20-%20Files/Ethics%20Guidelines%20for%20Internet-mediated%20Research%20%282017%29.pdf
Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing grounded theory (2nd ed.). London, UK: Sage.
Citron, D. K., & Norton, H. L. (2011). Intermediaries and hate speech: Fostering digital citizenship for our information age. Boston University Law Review, 91, 1435-84.
Cole, H., & Griffths, M. D. (2007). Social interactions in massively multiplayer online role-playing gamers. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 10, 575-583. DOI:10.1089/cpb.2007.9988
Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins. Stanford Law Review 43(6), 1241-1299.
Entertainment Software Association (2016). 2016 Annual Report. Washington, DC: Entertainment Software Association. Retrieved from: http://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/ESA-AnnualReport-Digital-91917.pdf
Entertainment Software Association (2017). Essential facts about the computer and videogame industry. Washington, DC: Entertainment Software Association. Retrieved from http://www.theesa.com/about-esa/essential-facts-computer-video-game-industry/
Evans, S. B., & Janish, E. (2015). #INeedDiverseGames: How the queer backlash to GamerGate enables nonbinary coalition. QED: A Journal in LGBTQ Worldmaking, 2(2), 124-150.
Extra Credits (2009). Video games for the female audience [video clip]. Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8ZVZRsy8N8
Eysenbach, G., & Till, J. E. (2001). Ethical issues in qualitative research on internet communities. British Medical Journal, 323, 1103. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.323.7321.1103
Fat, Ugly or Slutty (n.d.). You play video game? So you are… fat, ugly, or slutty. Retrieved from: http://fatuglyorslutty.com/about/
Fox, J., & Tang, W. Y. (2014). Sexism in online video games: The role of conformity to masculine norms and social dominance orientation. Computers in Human Behavior, 33, 314-320. DOI:10.1016/j.chb.2013.07.014
Fox, J., & Tang, W. Y. (2017). Women’s experiences with general and sexual harassment in online video games: Rumination, organizational responsiveness, withdrawal, and coping strategies. New Media & Society, 19, 1290 – 1307. DOI: 10.1177/1461444816635778
Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research. Chicago, IL: Aldine.
Hamilton, M. (2012, November). #1reasonwhy: The hashtag that exposed games industry sexism. The Guardian. Retrieved from: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2012/nov/28/games-industry-sexismon-twitter
Henry, N., & Powell, A. (2014). The Dark side of the virtual world: Towards a digital sexual ethics. In N. Henry & A. Powell (Eds.) Preventing sexual violence: Interdisciplinary approaches to overcoming a rape culture (pp. 84-104). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave MacMillian.
Henry, N., & Powell, A. (2015). Embodied harms: Gender, shame, and technology-facilitated sexual violence. Violence Against Women, 21, 758 – 779. DOI:10.1177/1077801215576581
Henry, N., & Powell, A. (2018). Technology-facilitated sexual violence: A Literature review of empirical research. Trauma, Abuse & Violence, 19, 195-208. DOI: 10.1177/1524838016650189
Jane, E. A. (2014). “Your a ugly, whorish, slut": Understanding E-bile. Feminist Media Studies, 14, 531 – 546. DOI:10.1080/14680777.2012.741073
Jane, E. A. (2015). Flaming? What flaming? The pitfalls and potentials of researching online hostility. Ethics and Information Technology, 17, 65-87. DOI:10.1007/s10676-015-9362-0
Jane, E. A. (2016). Online misogyny and feminist digilantism. Continuum, 30, 284-297. DOI: 10.1080/10304312.2016.1166560
Jensen, J., & de Castell, S. (2013). Tipping points: Marginality, misogyny and videogames. Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, 29, 72-85. Retrieved from: http://journal.jctonline.org/index.php/jct/article/view/474
Juul, J. (2010). A Casual revolution: Reinventing video games and their players. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press
Kafai, Y. B., Heeter, C., Denner, J., & Sun, J. Y. (2006). Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat: New perspectives on gender and gaming. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Kean, S., Salisbury, L., Rattray, J., Walsh, T. S., Huby, G., & Ramsay, P. (2017). 'Intensive care unit survivorship' - a constructivist grounded theory of surviving critical illness. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 26, 3111-3124. DOI: 10.1111/jocn.13659
Kloos, B., Hill, J., Thomas, E., Wandersman, A., Elias, M. J., & Dalton, H. (2011). Community psychology: Linking individuals and communities. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
Kuznekoff, J. H., & Rose, L. M. (2012). Communication in multiplayer gaming: Examining player responses to gender cues. New Media & Society, 15, 541-556. DOI:10.1177/1461444812458271.
Lewis, A., & Griffiths, M. D. (2011). Confronting gender representation: A qualitative study of the experiences and motivations of female casual-gamers. Aloma: Revista de psicologia, ciències de l’educació i de l’esport, 28, 242–272. Retrieved from: http://revistaaloma.net/index.php/aloma/article/view/37 7
Markham, A., & Buchanan, E. (2012). Ethical decision-making and internet research: recommendations from the AoIR Ethics Working Committee (version 2.0). Association of Internet Researchers. Retrieved from: http://aoir.org/reports/ethics2.pdf
Maass, A., Cadinu, M., & Galdi, S. (2014). Sexual harassment: Motivations and consequences. In M. Ryan & N. Branscombe The SAGE handbook of gender and psychology (pp. 341-358). London: Sage.
Mulvey, A. (1988). Community psychology and feminism: Tensions and commonalities. Journal of Community Psychology, 16, 70-83. DOIi:10.1002/1520-6629(198801)16:13.0.CO;2-3
Nic Giolla Easpaig, B. & Humphrey, R. (2017). ‘Pitching a virtual woo’: Analysing discussion of sexism in online gaming. Feminism & Psychology, 27, 553-561. DOI:10.1177/0959353516667400
N.I.K.A (n.d). Not in the kitchen anymore. Retrieved from: http://www.notinthekitchenanymore.com/
O’ Leary, A. (2012, August). In virtual play, sex harassment is all too real. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/02/us/sexual-harassment-in-online-gaming-stirs-anger.html?_r=0
Pater, J., Moon, K., Mynatt, E., & Fiesler, C. (2016). Characterizations of online harassment: comparing policies across social media platforms. Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Supporting Group Work. November 13-16, 2016, Sanibel Island, FL, USA
Pedersen, A., Dudgeon, P., Watt, S., & Griffiths, B. (2011). Attitudes toward indigenous Australians: The issue of "special treatment". Australian Psychologist, 41, 85-94. DOI:10.1080/00050060600585502
Royse, P., Lee, J., Undrahbuyan, B., Hopson, M., & Consalvo, M. (2007). Women and games: Technologies of the gendered self. New Media & Society 9, 555-576. DOI:10.1177/1461444807080322
Salter, A., & Blodgett, B. (2012). Hypermasculinity & dickwolves: The contentious role of women in the new gaming public. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 56, 401-416. DOI:10.1080/08838151.2012.705199
Sarkeesian, A. (2013). Ms. Male Character- Tropes vs. Women [video clip]. Retrieved from: http://www.feministfrequency.com/2013/11/ms-male-character-tropes-vs-women/
Shaw, A. (2011). Do you identify as a gamer? Gender, race, sexuality, and gamer identity. New Media & Society, 14, 28-44. DOI:10.1177/1461444811410394
Shaw, F. (2013). Still ‘searching for safety online’: Collective strategies and discursive resistance to trolling and harassment in a feminist network. The Fibreculture Journal, 22. Retrieved from: http://fibreculturejournal.org/wp-content/pdfs/FCJ-157Frances%20Shaw.pdf
Shi, J., & Kirsch, B. (2013). Gender differences within online gaming: A systematic scoping review protocol. Psychology and Social Behavior Research, 1, 142-146. DOI:10.12966/psbr.12.02.2013
Sorrell, M. (2011, December, 12). Re: Dear men, please listen. Love man. [Web log message]. Retrieved from: http://www.bewareofthesorrell.com/2011/12/dear-men-please-listen-love-man.html
Sparrow, J. (2014, September). Gamergate: When outsiders become the oppressors. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved from: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-04/sparrow-gamergate-when-outsidersbecome-the-oppressors/5719584
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. M. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications, Inc.
Swim, J. K., & Hyers, L. L. (2009). Sexism. In T. D. Nelson (Ed.), Handbook of prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination (pp. 407-430). New York, NY: Psychology Press.
Taylor, T. L. (2003). Multiple pleasures: Women and online gaming. Convergence, 9, 21-46. DOI:10.1177/135485650300900103
Taylor, T. L. (2012). Raising the Stakes: E-sports and the professionalization of computer gaming. Boston, MA: MIT Press.
Taylor, N., Jenson, J., & de Castell, S. (2009). Cheerleaders/booth babes/ Halo hoes: pro-gaming, gender and jobs for the boys. Digital Creativity, 20, 239-252. DOI:10.1080/14626260903290323
Thompson, J. R. (1984). Studies in the theory of ideology. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Vanderhoef, J. (2013). Casual threats: The feminization of casual video games. Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology, 2. DOI:10.7264/N3V40S4D
Veltri, N. F., Krasnova, H., Baumann, A., & Kalayamthanam, N. (2014, August). Gender differences in online gaming: A literature review. Paper presented at the Twentieth Americas Conference on Information Systems, Savannah, FA.
Wingfield, N. (2014, October). Feminist critics of video games facing threats in ‘GamerGate’ campaign. New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/16/technology/gamergate-women-video-game-threats-anita-sarkeesian.html
Full Text: PDF
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
