“Pitching a virtual woo”: analysing discussion of sexism in online gaming

Nic Giolla Easpaig, B. and Humphrey, H. (2017) “Pitching a virtual woo”: analysing discussion of sexism in online gaming. Feminism and Psychology, 27(4), pp. 553-561. (doi: 10.1177/0959353516667400)

Abstract

Issues of sexism and gender-based harassment have been divisive within online gaming communities with contested understandings of the presence of these issues, prevailing explanations and potential solutions. This report was prompted by the discrepancy between problematic representations of women observed in online gaming community discussions of these issues and women’s rich and complex accounts of their gameplay. Poststructural theory facilitated exploration of the construction of women gamers as important in the reproduction of and resistance to problematic gendered discourses. Analysis illustrates the politics of (in)visibility that women gamers negotiate: limited possibilities for women as “active” subjects and little recognition of women’s desires in gaming motivations. Findings highlight a need to engage with both the re-inscription of women as denoting a “secondary status” and the poverty of discursive resources available in discussion of these issues for transforming existing understandings.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Humphrey, Dr Harvey
• Authors: Nic Giolla Easpaig, B., and Humphrey, H.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Sociology Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences
• Journal Name: Feminism and Psychology
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• ISSN: 0959-3535
• ISSN (Online): 1461-7161
• Published Online: 20 September 2016
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2016 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Feminism and Psychology 27(4): 553-561
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy