the male gaze defines how the girl gamer is lived and produced
eye-candy
cute, pretty, and slender
stereotypical hyper-feminine female
someone’s special little girl
regularly relegated to sexual objects
othered
what’s at stake for the expert player who is tangled in the production of femininity of being placed as a gamer girl?
a tradition of imposed limitations
power dynamics
patriarchal structures
gender imbalances
toxic attitudes
exclusionary institutional practices
corruption
threats
controversy
28,000 dislikes
treacherous terrain
the mainstream projection of girl gamer femininity
made to run the gauntlet as a gendered object
portrayed not simply as a player
these dominant conceptions of gamer identity
in this actively hostile and misogynistic space
affirm male privilege
untouchable
boys’ club
symbolic of the male hardness
an of masculine stereotypes
toxic practices
structural failures
the pyramid of power
unmistakably masculinized
traditions of violence, sexism, homophobia
vitriolic and aggressive
pattern of harassment
prejudice and assumption
a misogynistic mob
enables this behavior
this permissive culture
designed to exclude female participation
the result of the patriarchal social order
this long history of violently silencing women
between games that feed binary gender constructions and a toxic and fragile masculinity
create a cycle
a misogynistic
pop!
What's at Stake?
the situation is paradoxical
but the creative potential of women with a feminist agenda
presents a potential turning point of inward examination and reform
because the potential to play presents potential for the subversion of current
norms of gamer masculinity
a growing network of
to disrupt the heteronormative gaze
by addressing gender trouble, intersectionality, and the challenges of inclusive feminism, a glitch within the male-dominated e-sport arena
advocates meritocracy over gender bias
the work of women who play
flock to this industry
forging a feminist alliance
as consumers and producers there is much we can do
to clearly address mistakes
to disrupt processes that fix female gamers with heteronormative categories of femininity
to support people who have been attacked
to acknowledge the current power structures and allow diverse voices to feel safe enough to act
to advance new policies and practices that support inclusion and improve working conditions
to acknowledge the creative potential and feats of women within it
to intensify and expand indie incubators that support women
to transform the games industry, games education and gamer culture putting gender squarely on both curricular and pedagogical agendas
in order to improve the current condition, the game industry needs
safety measures
more transparency
inclusivity
accountability
responsiveness
networked caretaking
energy and persistence
to “deal more openly with problems
a (proactive) code of conduct
structural changes in recruitment
a buddy system
to lift one another up
so upper echelons of the industry begin to reflect the of game players
giving everyone at the studio a voice
refusing to stay silent
and the boy’s club
of the industry
will
The situation is paradoxical
This is a found poem highlighting the hegemonic culture of the gaming industry, created by synthesizing quotes from the following works:
Choi, Y., Slaker, J. S., & Ahmad, N. (2020). Deep strike: Playing gender in the world of overwatch and the case of Geguri. Feminist Media Studies, 20(8), 1128-1143. doi:10.1080/14680777.2019.1643388
Gach, E. (2020, July 6). Ubisoft employees have 'grave concerns' over Toronto studio's misconduct allegations. Kotaku. https://kotaku.com/ubisoft-employees-have-grave-concerns-over-toronto-stud-1844277486
Jenson, J. & de Castell, S. (2016). Gamer-hate and the “problem” of women: Feminism in games. In Y. B. Kafai, G. T. Richard, & B. M. Tynes (Eds.), Diversifying Barbie & Mortal Kombat: Intersectional perspectives and inclusive designs in gaming. Pittsburgh PA: ETC Press.
Witkowski, E. (2018). Doing/Undoing gender with the girl gamer in high-performance play. (pp. 185-203). Cham: Springer International Publishing. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-90539-6_11
Vysotsky, S. & Allaway, J. H. (2018). The sobering reality of sexism in video game industry. In Woke Gaming: Digital Challenges to Oppression and Social Injustice (D. Leonard & K. Gray, Eds.). University of Washington Press.