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

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.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Condis, Megan Amber

Contributors dc:contributor

• Foote, Stephanie
• Nakamura, Lisa
• Nakamura, Lisa M.
• Schaffner, Spencer W.
• Capino, Jose

• gender
• gaming culture

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2015 Megan Condis

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

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

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/78722