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
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.
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