The politics of gamers: identity and masculinity in the age of digital media

Condis, Megan Amber

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/78722 Copy

Description

Title

The politics of gamers: identity and masculinity in the age of digital media

Author(s)

Condis, Megan Amber

Issue Date

2015-04-10

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

• Foote, Stephanie
• Nakamura, Lisa

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

• Foote, Stephanie
• Nakamura, Lisa M.

Committee Member(s)

• Schaffner, Spencer W.
• Capino, Jose

Department of Study

English

Discipline

English

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• gender
• gaming culture

Abstract

Contrary to the popular belief that the Internet is a bodiless utopian space, I argue that gender is actually the most important tool of social organization in video game culture. I gather an archive that includes games, novels and films about gamers, press releases made by game developers, and blog and forum posts made by players to reveal how the gaming subculture rewards masculine presentations that emphasize control over the self, the environment, technology, and the effeminate “other.” On the other hand, women and queer gamers often find themselves occupying unexpected positions and forming strategic alliances with game producers to carve out spaces of their own on the masculinized virtual frontier. As gaming becomes embedded within in mainstream culture, the gendered system of self-representation enacted by gamers will shape popular ideas about what kinds of bodies are thought to be competent, legitimate actors.

Graduation Semester

2015-05

Type of Resource

text

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/78722

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2015 Megan Condis

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