This article explores issues of gender and video gaming, typically perceived as a masculine practice, through case studies of two adult women gamers. Drawing on a conception of identities in practice, the analyses show that dominant assumptions about women’s preferences and orientations toward video gaming do not reflect the diverse ways that women might make meaning of, respond to, and take pleasure in such games. To better understand women’s and men’s orientations toward gaming, the article argues for the need to take into account the complexity of people’s identities, not just gender alone but its interplay with and enactment in combination with personal histories and cultural factors that play out differently in individuals’ lives. This understanding, in turn, leads to insights into how video games may serve as spaces for the enactment of new forms of gendered identities.
Angelo, J. (2004). New study reveals that women over 40 who play online games spend far more time playing than male or teenage gamers. Retrieved May 14, 2005, from http://media.aoltimewarner.com/media/cb_press_view.cfm?release_num=55253774
2.
Bethesda Softworks. (2006). The elder scrolls. Retrieved April 15, 2005 from http://www.morrowind.com/codex/history_morrowind.htm
3.
Campbell, A. (2002). A mind of her own: The evolutionary psychology of women. New York: Oxford University Press.
4.
Cassell, J. (1998). Story telling as a nexus of change. In J. Cassell (Ed.), From Barbie to Mortal Kombat (pp. 298-327). Boston: MIT Press.
5.
Cassell, J., & Jenkins, H. (1998). Chess for girls? Feminism and computer games. In J. Cassell & H. Jenkins (Eds.), From Barbie to Mortal Kombat (pp. 4-46). Boston: MIT Press.
6.
Coie, J. D., & Dodge, K. A. (1998). Aggression and antisocial behavior. In W. Damon & N. Eisenberg (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology, Volume 3: Social, emotional, and personality development (5th ed., pp. 779-862). New York: John Wiley.
7.
Cunningham, H. (2000). Mortal Kombat and computer game girls. In J. T. Caldwell (Ed.), Electronic media and technoculture (pp. 213-226). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
8.
Deaux, K., & Stewart, A. J. (2001). Reframing gendered identities. In R. K. Unger (Ed.), Handbook of the psychology of women and gender (pp. 82-97). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
9.
Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
10.
Gee, J. P. (2004). Situated language and learning: A critique of traditional schooling. New York: Routledge.
11.
Gee, J. P. (2005). An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
12.
Gergen, K. G. (1991). The saturated self: Dilemmas of identity in contemporary life. New York: Basic Books.
13.
Gergen, K. (1994). Realities and relationships: Soundings in social construction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
14.
Goldstein, J. S. (2001). War and gender: How gender shapes the war system and vice versa. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
15.
Graner Ray, S. (2004). Gender inclusive game design: Expanding the market. Hingham, MA: Charles River Media.
16.
Hanson, K., Flansburg, S., & Castano, M. (2004). Genderspace: Learning online and the implications of gender. In S. Ali, S. Benjamin, & M. L. Mauthner (Eds.), The politics of gender and education: Critical perspectives (pp. 87-102). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
17.
Holland, D., Lachicotte, W., Skinner, D., & Cain, C. (1998). Identity and agency in cultural worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
18.
Hyde, J. S. (1986). Gender differences in aggression. In J. S. Hyde & M. C. Linn (Eds.), The psychology of gender: Advances through meta-analysis (pp. 51-66). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
19.
Kite, M. E. (2001). Changing times, changing gender roles: Who do we want women and men to be? In R. K. Unger (Ed.), Handbook of the psychology of women and gender (pp. 215-227). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
20.
Krotoski, A. (2004). Chicks and joysticks: An exploration of women and gaming. London: Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association.
21.
Laurel, B. (1998). An interview with Brenda Laurel. In J. Cassell & H. Jenkins (Eds.), From Barbie to Mortal Kombat (pp. 118-135). Boston: MIT Press.
22.
McDonaugh, J. P. (1999). Designer selves: Construction of technologically mediated identity within graphical, multiuser virtual environments. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 50(10), 855-869.
23.
O’Brien, J. (1999). Writing in the body: Gender (re)production in online interaction. In M. A. Smith & P. Kollcok (Eds.), Communities in cyberspace (pp. 76-104). New York: Routledge.
24.
Somers, M. R. (1994). The narrative constitution of identity: A relational and network approach. Theory and Society, 23, 605-649.
25.
Taylor, T. L. (2003). Multiple pleasures: Women and online gaming. Convergence, 9(1), 21-46.
26.
Taylor, T. L. (2006). Play between worlds: Exploring online game culture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
27.
Totilo, S. (2004, September 2). Letting gamers play god, and now themselves. New York Times. Retrieved September 4, 2004, from http://www.nytimes.com
28.
Wright, K. (n.d.). Girl games; help or hindrance? Retrieved January 7, 2005, from http://www.womengamers.com/doctork/girlgames.php
