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.

摘要

性别定型观念是视频游戏中的一个已知问题，在这种游戏中，女性角色经常被过度性化，并沦为丧失职权的角色。大量的定量研究描绘了视频游戏社区的严峻局面，因为超男性化的空间有助于复制有害的性别意识形态。从文献中缺少对游戏玩家赋予他们参与一种以女性代表性不足和客观化而著称的媒介的意义的定性查询。这项研究对一个有影响力的，流行的互联网视频游戏论坛进行了定性的文本内容分析，这是同类论坛中规模最大的一个，在该论坛中，游戏玩家可以回答会员提出的有关视频游戏中性别的问题。我的发现表明，游戏玩家会集中性机构和性授权的角色来构建多个，理解游戏中性别刻板印象的细微差别。这些论述反映了关于女权主义在超性文化背景下能否实现性的更广泛的女权主义辩论。随着视频游戏的普及，其在越来越多样化的受众中产生意义的能力需要继续进行调查。通过与游戏玩家互动，让他们了解游戏中的性别代表性，研究人员可以洞悉游戏玩家在视频游戏行业中构想变革的多种方式。