Reviewing Gamer Culture 2020: The Others’ Experience
Abstract
In the spirit of competition, sporting is traditionally categorised by gender due to physical biological sex differences. Video games are an accessible activity where the same divides need not apply — despite this the culture surrounding gaming has consistently favoured the male gender whilst shunning all others. This literature review explores the state of affairs in gaming culture, and the factors contributing to the facets of sexism prevalent in the games industry. It signals the ties between the gamer identity and masculinity, the social dynamics surrounding gamer identity, and the barriers preventing more progressive change in our diversity and gender representation in gaming. I seek to highlight the existing research on gaming culture’s exclusionary practises, gendered harassment, social barriers, and peak bouts of sexist behaviour and abuse towards specific individuals. I go on to form a link between these key occurrences of misogyny with that of the waves of feminism, exposing how far behind is gaming culture’s recognition and acceptance of other races and genders, in comparison with that of society having experienced its third wave feminist movement. This review concludes with the suggestion that a more widespread change of mindset is needed to break through the social barriers; hindering the acceptance of female and gender diverse peoples within the culture — and that this may be achieved through a call to action for creatives to form statements and teach through their work.
Introduction
The objective of this literature review is to form the foundations of gaming culture, as a signpost for future research. I seek to contextualise the segregation of genders within gaming culture, and the associated social dynamics with the gamer identity. Intrinsic to this aim is to question what defines a gamer, what role gender plays in that definition, and how the guarded definition of a ‘true’ gamer has contributed to a culture of inequality and gatekeeping: the gaming ‘boy’s club’ for the cisgender male — a term I employ to describe the exclusionary practices of men and the resultant status quo in gaming culture. This review concludes by connecting lines between this systemic issue with feminist agendas, to better illustrate the overarching ‘bigger picture’ within the industry today.
Historically, mainstream video games to a large extent have been designed for and marketed towards males (Fox & Tang, 2014). Consalvo (2012) exposes us as an industry still using ‘booth babes’ as marketing assets; attractive women hired as promotional models to drive commercial interest in a product or brand by interacting with potential consumers (Cornfield, 2017). Articles written by journalists for popular game news outlets such as IGN are a testament to this, showcasing which booths at a large convention featured the most attractive women (Carle, 2016); the spokesmodel marketing practices are a longtime staple of misogynistic corporate culture (Cornfield, 2017).
The industry has made steps towards change in a more progressive direction (Siutila & Havaste, 2019). Saving the princess from a castle is now considered unacceptably old-fashioned by today’s standards, but we have yet to fully renounce our exclusionary deep-set attitudes (Kowert, Breuer, & Quandt, 2017, pp. 140–145). We continue to see more and more strong female characters play the hero, however despite this shift in role representation, female characters often continue to be sexualised and made appealing to a male-dominated audience (Downs & Smith, 2010; Fox & Tang, 2014). Stermer & Burkley (2015) cite particular instances in games such as Mortal Kombat (NetherRealm Studios, 2011) where strong female characters, despite their own prowesses, continue to play subordinate roles and require assistance when interacting with dominant male characters. Paul (2018, pp. 17) highlights commentary, that “gaming’s obsession with breasts is part of a juvenile medium’s awkward process of floundering towards mature themes”. Downs & Smith (2010) reinforce that notion by revealing that female characters are ten times more likely to be shown with full or partial nudity than their male counterparts. Female character representation is one factor amongst many that is indicative of a systemic issue of sexism deeply embedded in gamer culture.
Despite the clear industry biases video game statistics show that the total number of male and female gamers are closer to equal than ever before (Entertainment Software Association, 2019; Interactive Games & Entertainment Association, 2019). Many journalistic video game articles place undue focus on how those numbers show that the gender playing field is now more balanced than it has been historically (Anderton, 2019; Harwell, 2014; Media Kix, 2018; Saltzman, 2019). This is implicative that females and gender diverse peoples are acknowledged, and receive equal treatment and representation in their valid consumption of games and gamer culture. I argue that these observations, commending the increases in female game players, bear a diminished significance in their being made from the position of power within gamer culture. I perceive it as belittling that male gamers — the known gatekeepers — would lavish praise upon female and gender diverse gamers, for their partaking in what should be a culture of equality. These are the early steps of where our gender segregative issues begin, whether it occurs in a positive or negative light, the singling out of anyone who does not identify as a cisgender male is a mindset we need to cease.
To form a statement by focusing on the total number of players in each gender pool is a selective use of data. It is apparent that these comparative data sets are cherry-picked observations that are being presented as positive news; but this is telling readers only technically-true information that is lacking in the proper context that analyst Yee (2017) provides. Many females certainly enjoy playing games, this has been the case for a long time if not always. However the manner of their media consumption — their ‘gamer habits’ — have historically differed in comparison to their male counterparts. This is apparent in how game genre preferences differ across gender lines; females are observed to play less often and for shorter periods of time, and also prefer thoughtful games less focused on action or competition (Greenberg, Sherry, Lachlan, Lucas, & Holmstrom, 2008; Van Looy, Courtois, & Vermeulen, 2011). Gender and the sentiment that gaming is a gendered activity has been conceptualised as an explanatory factor for this (Dovey & Kennedy, 2006; Fox & Tang, 2014; Van Bauwel, 2020).
Gamer Identity
Shaw (2011) notes the label of ‘gamer’ as one of over-simplistic assumptions; gamer identity is not a binary application, the act of playing video games does not necessarily define one as a ‘gamer’ (Grooten & Kowert, 2015). Many people who play games do not define themselves as gamers nor invest much stake in the hobby being defining of their social identity (De Grove, Courtois, & Van Looy, 2015), others try to downplay their levels of investment by justifying their actions as being motivated by social dynamics (Thornham, 2008). Feasibly, this may be attributed to an avoidance of otherwise partaking in what is an undeniably sexist and toxic culture (Consalvo, 2012; Paul, 2018; Van Bauwel, 2020). There are a myriad of potential valid reasonings to avoid the culture and association with the label that comes with it — both outliers and participants of the culture agree that the term ‘gamer’ carries negative connotations (Shaw, 2011; Williams, Yee, & Caplan, 2008).
Thornham’s (2008) research suggests that individuals do not feel that their partaking in playing video games as a leisure activity is defining of their identity; not being an important enough factor to be deserving of the label ‘gamer’ as one of their character traits. I suggest another reason for avoiding associating with the gamer label may be due to some form of pressure or inadequacy, where players do not feel they meet the criteria of what the social construct of a ‘true’ gamer entails (Paaßen, Morgenroth, & Stratemeyer, 2017), like a title earned only through trial. Given that women are preconceived to enjoy games of a less dominative and skillful nature, this contributes to their not ‘qualifying’ as true gamers, which allows the harmful stereotype to sustain. Vossen (2018) contends that even if a player was to invest more time and effort than a more ‘hardcore’ player, into a game that required less mechanical skill, they would still not be considered a true gamer — implying that the identity is a declaration of prowess. Contrary to arguments about skill; Ratan et al. (2015) revealed that — in a study on the gender disparity in popular online game League of Legends (Riot Games, 2009) — female players accrued game skill at the same rate as males, and that it was factors of time investment and social dynamics that would instead form a gap between the amount of skilled female players in comparison to males.
Paaßen et al. (2017) discuss the effects of the male gamer stereotype, and how it persists from its own feedback in a looping cycle. That the common association between games and the male gender forms a social barrier, leading to a reduction in female participants. As there are less females, this leads to reduced visibility in the female demographic, which in turn further reinforces the male gamer stereotype. Though an effort was once made to design certain games to be more appealing to females, ‘girl games’ and ‘pink software’ has become an infamous era in game history (Dickey, 2006).
The Boy’s Club
It is important to realise that from both participant and researcher perspectives, gamer culture was late to recognise and acknowledge its gender dynamics; not to suggest that games research arriving earlier would have caused a cultural shift today, but it does support the notion that we’re behind — still relatively archaic in our social dynamics in comparison with other more socially-progressive creative mediums. Van Bauwel (2020) indicates how females were all but invisible during the earlier studies in gaming, and that academia would only show more of an interest closer to the 21st century.
Vermeulen, Abeele & Van Bauwel (2016) target society’s concept of the gamer identity, linking their research with that of Dovey & Kennedy (2006) and Fox & Tang (2014), who explore the close ties of gamer identity with hegemonic male masculinity. Vermeulen et al. explain the toxicity against aspects of feminism as a stratagem of ‘identity management’, protecting that masculinity. Misogynistic abuse towards feminism peaked with the Gamergate movement (Chatzakou at al., 2017; Mortensen, 2016), which saw organised online harassment taken to extremes, launched against several female figures within the professional games industry for daring to attempt affecting change. This is evidenced by the individual experiences of Anita Sarkeesian (TEDx Talks, 2012) who found herself as the target of an organised anti-feminist hate campaign, involving numerous threats against her safety. Anita’s story is but one amongst others (Heron, Belford, & Goker, 2014; Quinn, 2017; Wu, 2019). Salter (2017) draws some interesting connections between the Gamergate movement and their affiliation with the ‘alt right’ political agenda, writing about a term called ‘geek masculinity’; where “technological mastery forms the basis of masculine esteem and status.” Gamergate would seek to defend not games explicitly, but technologies; the internet. The ordeal would expose the fragility of hegemonic technological masculinity, and mark a juncture where Mortensen (2016) emphasises; we need to take the study of game culture seriously. Mortensen was correct — the Gamergate scandal was one of the rare occasions where the sheer level of toxicity — representative of gamers’ hegemonic geek masculinity — surpassed our usual cultural bounds and bled into mainstream society’s news (ABC News, 2014; The Guardian, 2019). That literature such as “I Can Defend Myself”: Women’s Strategies for Coping With Harassment While Gaming Online by Cote (2017) even needed to be written is indicative of the state of affairs.
Paul (2018, pp. 22–23) uses the popular game Skyrim as an example; noting that before players have a chance to customise their character’s identity — which would include selecting race and gender — they play through a prelude which is to set the context of the narrative. In this slice of gameplay, almost every encountered character within the narrative is a brutish white male; Paul argues that the game took few risks in choosing how to represent those early characters, exposing that Skyrim effectively assumes the player as a white male. Paul goes on to address game designers directly: challenging them as contemporary creatives to escape the meritocratic thought process rife in our industry, and discussing the difficulties in doing so. While participants of gamer culture may be showing signs of taking more progressive steps towards informing themselves regarding industry issues of representation and misogyny, from a development perspective we are still presenting with the hegemonic masculine gamer male in mind.
While we touched on player gender comparisons earlier, the same implications do not apply regarding the disparity in total developers and professionals within the creative industry; females may be playing games, but they continue to be the minority in creating them. Prescott & Bogg (2011) take a quantitative approach to their research investigating this point, breaking down the disproportionate number of males and females employed in the games creative sector, providing tables and statistics. The same authors would go on to continue their research in 2014 with a combination of both quantitative and qualitative, not only covering play preferences, identity, and representation from the perspective of women; but also the career issues female game developers face, including self esteem, work-culture and work satisfaction. Kowert et al. (2017) support the findings of Prescott & Bogg, surmising that the underrepresentation of females in game development likely plays a part in games’ failure to provide content more relevant and relatable to females. From a feminist perspective, Harvey & Fisher (2014) explore the negative experiences of individuals’ participation in industry events such as the Game Developers Conference — they too link these experiences to a low female presence in games design.
Cheryan, Master, & Meltzoff (2015) analysis of a games-adjacent topic also complements the above research, where they investigate the potential social barriers to diversifying male-dominated fields: computer science and engineering — fields that have ties to games development, particularly computer programming. Their findings support a similar thought process by Paaßen et al. (2017), who argues that the lack of female presence in the games creative sector is a primary reason that the harmful stereotypes against women endure; and that the disallowing of females to enjoy video games unhindered is a factor in their being less likely to pursue a career in the fields of science, technology, and engineering. Cheryan et al. (2015) support Ceci, Williams, & Barnett (2009), who question that while females make the choice to not pursue these industries, it is more of a constrained choice rather than one of freedom, due to the prevalent and significant social barriers.
Of all the research I covered, the most niche I found to be that of Thornham’s (2008) — where the first sentence of the document aptly reads: “Videogames are gendered”. Thornham conducted a long-term investigation on the gendered social dynamics surrounding gaming — their research observed gamer households; dwellings with cohabiting individuals each with differing levels of investment in consuming video game media. What was most curious about this research was reading how the participant’s responses or attitudes towards gaming would change depending on their then-present company, whether they were amongst friends or if they were interviewing alone. When the women would watch the men play, they would ask questions about the game itself in a social sense, expressing an interest in the experience and how the player was navigating it. When the men were spectating however, their conversations would be more about directing or instructing — this seemed to occur regardless of whether or not the women were competent players or required assistance in performing their role as the game player. A female participant of Thornham’s study admitted to intentionally feigning having inferior gaming skills when playing with male friends: “But that’s boys isn’t it? They have to instruct you […] it was how I chose to bond with people […]”
This participant chose to navigate their situation in a way that better fit the expectations of their gender within that social context: a female playing games. Gender performativity is a core concept discussed at length by Judith Butler (2009), who argues that when people fall short of the societal expectations of their gender, then they are judged and treated differently, usually negatively — they are denaturalised. Butler discusses how gender is a social construct, that respective genders have certain presumptions pertaining to how that individual is expected to act and present themselves, and that performing these expectations is a form of language; a way of defining oneself through verbal and nonverbal communication as a process of maintaining identity.
Choi, Slaker, & Ahmad (2019) focus on a particular case regarding a professional gamer by the username of Geguri, at the time of writing they are the only female player in the esport Overwatch league (Blizzard Entertainment, 2016). Geguri was subject to harsh criticisms that their male counterparts were not, even going as far as to be accused of cheating by competitors because their skill — as a female — was difficult to accept as legitimate. Choi et al. speak about the contrasting levels of surveillance that differing genders receive as professional entities; implying that Geguri would not have had the same experience were they ‘one of the boys’. An arguably unfair series of events would take place, where Geguri was made to prove in a recorded and spectated live performance that they were competing of their own prowess — something no male has had to endure thus far. Though Geguri was absolved of cheating, the community seemingly sought to simply find something else about them to criticise, instead proceeding to remark about aspects of their appearance and femininity — as Butler (2009) teaches, they did not perform to the expectations of a ‘normal’ female: lacking well presented hair and wearing non-feminine clothing. Given the turn of events, it is safe to assume that even if Geguri presented themself more to the hegemonic gender expectations motivating the placing of these criticisms, then the commenters likely would have sought some other aspect of Geguri’s identity to debate, continuing their pursuit of disallowing a female to perform in their arena. Ruotsalainen & Friman (2018) fielded a questionnaire on the subject of females entering competitive gaming; finding gender an explicitly mentioned preventative factor in responders’ participation.
In deconstructing the potential causes for the reaction of sexism — which was manifest in the form of the rejection of females from male-dominated arenas — Kasumovic & Kuznekoff (2015) highlight how there is little research that focuses specifically on the triggers behind sexist behaviour. Conducting a study using the Halo 3 (Bungie, 2007) online multiplayer first-person-shooter game as their ‘arena’, Kasumovic & Kuznekoff found that sexism towards female players supports an evolutionary argument regarding social status. Males with a lower social status and poorer game skills were found to be more likely to direct hostility towards female players — this was a form of mitigating their loss in the chain of social hierarchy. Higher skilled players had less to fear in terms of loss in social hierarchy, and were found to be more likely to react positively to female teammates — this may either be out of support for their position, or attempts to garner their attention. These findings support the events that took place surrounding Geguri entering the competitive gaming arena; the initial accusations of Geguri cheating were made from their direct competitors following a loss against Geguri’s team (Choi et al., 2019). Simply being recognised as a female when gaming online is cause enough to become a potential target; this state of affairs has led to many women — Geguri included — not using identifying social-play game features available to them, such as voice communication. Kuznekoff & Rose (2012) experimented with using male and female voices when playing online; finding that the female voice received three times as many negative comments than its male counterpart.
The Gamer Girl Oxymoron
Progressive discourse about equality in gaming is difficult when the problematic term ‘gamer girl’ is so widely incorporated by participants within the culture. It is a term of segregation which defaults ‘gamer’ to imply males, and makes females an oddity within the culture (Storla, 2011) where a different term is deemed necessary to describe their presence — despite this, many female gamers continue to define themselves as gamer girls. The term is not acknowledged as a problem therefore it endures; and it is terms such as gamer girl that will continue to block our eventual overcoming of sexism in gamer culture. Holistically, the progression of gamer culture and its acceptance of females draws interesting parallels with that of the waves of feminism; a term used to distinguish between different generations of women’s rights movements in society.
‘Gamer girl’ shares the problematic nature of its terminology with that of the ‘waves of feminism’, yet both are widely employed terms in their respective cultures. The metaphor for ‘waves’ of feminism is debated as being reductive; it is a simplistic word attempting to define a complex history, and it implies the feminism movement is related to that of a trend, like waves, having periods of peaks and recessions (Nicholson, 2010). Contrary to this concept, feminism in fact has strong lines of continuity between its peak periods, therefore it is a term that is unlikely to be helpful in its reference to future feminist movements, potentially curbing the significance of those happenings by riding the expectation that the activity, in that period, is at that time a trend which will predictably peak and fade.
The writing of Mary Wollstonecraft (1995) played a key role in inspiring the first widespread women’s rights movement which took place approximately from the mid-19th to early-20th centuries; Wollstonecraft would eventually be recognised as one of the first feminists. Later known as the first wave of feminism, it was focused on securing legal rights for women, primarily the right to vote. Second wave feminism began in the 1960s and lasted for approximately two decades, spurred by the far reaching publication: Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique (1984) — which taught that women had a right to be unhappy with the status quo; which saw their role in society primarily as that of the housewife. The second wave fought the prejudices which formed along with the rights gained from the first wave, and strived for increased civil rights and equality; issues such as the gender pay gap, and reproductive freedom. There was prejudice in valuing a woman’s opinion differently to that of a man’s, and only considering it because of an obligation to the law — it was not true equality. The third wave of feminism is more heavily debated in relative comparison to its predecessors; its point of origin is less discernible, and it encompasses a holistic societal change of mindset, opposed to a more clear and direct mission. It began in the early-90s, and was driven by values of sexual positivity, personal agency, individuality, and increased acceptance and inclusion of all genders and races; it pushed to expand the umbrella of equality that has been steadily growing as we progress further into the 21st century (Mann, & Huffman, 2005; Snyder, 2008). Currently there is speculation about a potential and inevitable fourth wave of feminism, but this discussion is outside of the scope of this review.
The problems that inspired second wave feminism approximately three decades ago are reminiscent of the current state of the games industry. That the feminist movement of the early-90s sought to overcome prejudice against women’s subservient role in society, is testament to how far behind the games industry culture is regarding issues of gender and sex — a culture still seemingly making little progression in overcoming its preconceptions tied to the inclusion of all genders within the culture as equals. Anita Sarkeesian’s initial kickstarter campaign (Feminist Frequency, 2012) was created to form a series of educational videos, with the objective of better informing children about harmful tropes against women present in video gaming culture. This was arguably the most notable event in recent history that can be compared to a tangible feminist movement within the games industry. Given that the notoriety of the severe misogynistic backlash it received, it is feasible that this turn of events is acting as a deterrent for future like-minded individuals attempting to affect change.
Taylor, Jenson, & De Castell (2009) investigate female roles in professional gaming through a somewhat unique lens; analysing the limited positionalities made available to female participants of industry events. The mothers of competitors are dubbed cheerleaders, promotional models become booth babes, and in a Halo 3 tournament event, female competitors were reduced to being called ‘halo hoes’ — each a supportive or subordinate role in the male arena. During Taylor et al’s research, they interview a particular young female competitor with the username Fatal Fantasy, who had previously placed first during their regular attendance of these tournaments. Fatal Fantasy presents as a loud, taunting, trash-talking, strategy-caller for their team — essentially the traits of an alpha-male in a hegemonically masculine environment. They demonstrated that in terms of professional gameplay, there is in fact nothing inherently masculine about their skills as a player despite societal preconceptions. Taylor et al. forms a link between the technological skills, intense communication, strategising, and stresses of competition in competitive gaming, with that of misogynistic sporting traditions.
Conclusion
Gaming scholarship appears to be wholly aware of the issues surrounding gender representation and segregation, prevalent in its industry and culture. I have restricted my review to recent scholarship, but similar studies and messages have existed over the decades in which the games industry has expanded exponentially. Gaming has grown in accessibility and popularity as it naturally progresses alongside advances in technology, which makes available new models of play and a wider variety of games that cater to more diverse audiences. We have the research and the benefit of hindsight, yet we remain relatively passive in effectively actioning this knowledge. The games industry is stuck in a rut where sexism is ceaseless, and positive actions — in the form of progressive change — are consistently obstructed by negative reactions. Not to suggest that occurrences like the aforementioned Gamergate phenomena are representative of or supported by the games industry at large; but the fact remains that the industry is biased in favour of males, and a majority of players are still regularly harassed and objectified based on their gender.
The games industry needs an objective, a quest, to advance a movement akin to second wave feminism, and then eventually third. Gaming scholarship is unlikely to achieve the reach necessary to accomplish a goal that is demanding a widespread change of mindset — I believe that the answer lies in taking progressive steps towards raising awareness; teaching the real experiences of the average female or gender diverse gamer. I suggest this may be accomplished through creative projects which function as statements, targeting male audiences and attempting to cultivate empathy for the real experiences resultant of the all-too-common actions of their fellow gamers, to take a deliberate stance on personal values, and to discourage being a bystander to toxic masculinity.
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