Damsels and darlings: decoding gender equality in video game communities

ABSTRACT

Gender stereotypes are a known issue in video games, where female characters are often hyper-sexualized and relegated to disempowering roles. Numerous quantitative studies paint a grim picture of video game communities as hyper-masculine spaces complicit in reproducing harmful gender ideologies. Missing from the literature are qualitative inquiries of the meaning gamers assign to their engagement with a medium that is known for underrepresenting and objectifying women. This study uses qualitative textual content analysis of an influential, popular Internet video game forum—the largest of its kind—where gamers respond to questions posed by members about gender in video games. My findings show that gamers centralize the role of sexual agency and sexual empowerment to construct multiple, nuanced discourses for understanding gender stereotypes in games. These discourses mirror broader feminist debates about the achievability of sexual empowerment within hyper-sexualized cultural contexts. As video games grow in popularity, their ability to generate meaning among increasingly diverse audiences requires continued investigation. By engaging with gamers as they make sense of gender representation in games, researchers can glean insight into the many ways gamers envision change within the video game industry.

KEYWORDS:

• Video games
• gender
• sexualization of culture
• interactive audiences
• decoding

Acknowledgments

I would like to extend special thanks to Dr. Amin Ghaziani for his methodological guidance.

Disclosure statement

The author acknowledges no potential conflict of interest.

Notes

1. AAA games (pronounced “triple-A games”) is an informal way of classifying video games that are produced and marketed with the highest industry budgets. They tend to come from prestigious game studios, and promise a high-quality gaming experience.

2. Intentionally provocative or jarring comments aimed at eliciting a negative response from others.

3. An emergent body of literature is tackling issues of representation in independent games, and the cultural and economic challenges faced by smaller gaming studios. See Brigid Kennedy (2020) for a discussion of queerness in Gone Home, and P. Crogan (2018) for a discussion of the growth of independent game development in the context of global neoliberal consumer culture.

Additional information

Funding

The author received no funding for the completion of this research.

Notes on contributors

Kelsea Perry

Kelsea Perry is a graduate student in the sociology department at the University of British Columbia. Her primary research interests include: security and surveillance, including cyber-security, corrections, and social control; inequalities, especially as perpetuated by the criminal justice system; as well as textual and media analysis and the expression of power through texts. Her current projects range from feminism in video game communities, to risk-taking by adolescents on social media, to emotional management and mental health in correctional occupations (e.g., police, correctional officers, etc.). E-mail: [email protected]