"I suppose I'll be patching you up, as usual": Women's roles and normative femininity in a team-based video game. (May 2022)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- "I suppose I'll be patching you up, as usual": Women's roles and normative femininity in a team-based video game. (May 2022)
- Main Title:
- "I suppose I'll be patching you up, as usual": Women's roles and normative femininity in a team-based video game
- Authors:
- Austin, Jessica
- Abstract:
- Women are often viewed as outsiders in the videogaming environment, particularly in first-person shooter games. Perceived infringement on an overwhelmingly masculine space pushes women to the margins of online team-based games, where gender norms inform the presumption that they play supportive roles that are viewed as passive and unskilled rather than actively contributing to team objectives. This study explores why women continue to play these roles, even as they are belittled, how societal expectations of women translate to the gaming space, and consequences for gender as a social structure. Findings suggest similarities to gendered labor in that women report feeling obligated to shoulder tasks that nobody else desires, much in the same way that professional work characterized as feminine is devalued. In addition, women must perform emotion work as they game by hiding their role preferences, feeling shame at fulfilling harmful gender stereotypes, and justifying their utility.
- Is Part Of:
- New media & society. Volume 24:Number 5(2022)
- Journal:
- New media & society
- Issue:
- Volume 24:Number 5(2022)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 24, Issue 5 (2022)
- Year:
- 2022
- Volume:
- 24
- Issue:
- 5
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2022-0024-0005-0000
- Page Start:
- 1116
- Page End:
- 1132
- Publication Date:
- 2022-05
- Subjects:
- division of labor -- emotion work -- first-person shooters -- gaming -- gender -- video games -- women
Mass media -- Social aspects -- Periodicals
Mass media and culture -- Periodicals
Information technology -- Social aspects -- Periodicals
Internet -- Social aspects -- Periodicals
302.2305 - Journal URLs:
- http://nms.sagepub.com ↗
http://www.uk.sagepub.com/home.nav ↗
http://firstsearch.oclc.org ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1177/1461444820972396 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 1461-4448
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 20566.xml