You are here

UCF Digital Collections ยป ETD Collection

Keeping Quiet: Investigating the Maintenance and Policing of Male-dominated Gaming Space

Download pdf | Full Screen View

Date Issued:
2016
Abstract/Description:
Despite the near parity between the number of female and male gamers (Entertainment Software Association, 2014), studies on gender in videogames illustrate a culture that typically reflects hegemonic masculinity and excludes women on a multitude of levels. Because these interactions occur within real and virtual space (both online and within games), a holistic approach is warranted to analyze these mechanisms of oppression. This paper seeks to uncover the ways by which gaming culture is maintained and policed as a male-dominated space, through qualitative data collection. By using ethnographic, participant observation at a large, multi-genre convention the experiences of both male and female gamers were collected and analyzed. Their stories shed light on the means by which women are silenced, or (")kept quiet,(") by voice chat profiling, verbal abuse, and hostile Internet communities. They are subject to strict policing of gamer identity, relegation as casual gamers, and their calls for inclusiveness all too often fall on game developers' deaf ears.
Title: Keeping Quiet: Investigating the Maintenance and Policing of Male-dominated Gaming Space.
45 views
25 downloads
Name(s): Charles, Christopher, Author
Pritchard, Robert, Committee Chair
Preston-Sidler, Leandra, Committee Member
Grauerholz, Liz, Committee Member
Corzine, Harold, Committee Member
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2016
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: Despite the near parity between the number of female and male gamers (Entertainment Software Association, 2014), studies on gender in videogames illustrate a culture that typically reflects hegemonic masculinity and excludes women on a multitude of levels. Because these interactions occur within real and virtual space (both online and within games), a holistic approach is warranted to analyze these mechanisms of oppression. This paper seeks to uncover the ways by which gaming culture is maintained and policed as a male-dominated space, through qualitative data collection. By using ethnographic, participant observation at a large, multi-genre convention the experiences of both male and female gamers were collected and analyzed. Their stories shed light on the means by which women are silenced, or (")kept quiet,(") by voice chat profiling, verbal abuse, and hostile Internet communities. They are subject to strict policing of gamer identity, relegation as casual gamers, and their calls for inclusiveness all too often fall on game developers' deaf ears.
Identifier: CFE0006281 (IID), ucf:51605 (fedora)
Note(s): 2016-08-01
M.A.
Sciences, Sociology
Masters
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): Gender -- Technology -- Video Games -- Gaming -- Women -- Feminist Theory -- Inequality
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006281
Restrictions on Access: public 2016-08-15
Host Institution: UCF

In Collections