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    Gaming at The Edge

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    GAMIN AT THE EDGE Sexuality and Gender at the Margins of Gamer Culture Adrienne Shaw ‘Minnesota Press conden Universit Minncapo (Copyright 2014 by the Regents othe Univers of Minnesotan Alright reserve, Nout ofthis pba maybe epoduce, tre in {rerealyscnor tami, any for by ay meas let inehaniapbotcophngrcoeing. oer, without the prior ‘orton permission of pbb. Pub by th Uninet Minespis, MIN S801 hips epee Liao canon agin Pion Pat ‘mings the ge: semalty na gender atthe mrgas ofpmer ‘ure Adee Shaw Ince bibgropal refrences nade ISBN S748 98183 1he) ISBN 978.4 93160) | Video gmes—Sicl appects. 2. Hetonieges~ Socal pect ender en. teSexvle Sex. Tie GVM Sess) BS Pringle Died Sates of Aeros om acid eve paper The Unites of Minnesota nequalopporanty educator and employer Contents Preface Inurdtuetion.Clichés versus Womens Moving heyond Sexy ‘Sidekicks and Damsels in Distress 1 From Custer Revenge and Mario to Fable and Fallout: ace, Gender, and Sexolty in Digital Games 2 Does Anyone Really Kentty with Lara Croft? Unpacking ldentitction in Video Games 3 He Could Be a anny Rabbit for AIT Care! How We Connect with Charseters ant Avatars 4 When and Why Representation Mater to Players: Realm versus Escapism Conclusion: A Pure Free of Diekwolves Acknavwledgments Notes Gameography Bibiography Index Preface Inthe ate the 19805, my mother, sister, an lived in Japa oe four years. Stationed on a military ase, we receive a steady stra of US. programming ia the military broaeastng network and state se efatves sending us VHS recordings of hows. till, my earliest memories ate of ving in place where the majority of people and media were not “ike” me Indeed, Lspenta great deal of my eid hood moving, abwaysbeing out of plac. Adding tha, growing up ava quect woman meant lately had medisted narcatives to which Toul fll eat ‘One Christmas in Japan, my mother bought ws a Nitendo Ee tertainment System console ala handful of games. All ehece of us Played cregularly for many years At the ime an, indeed, for most ‘of my childhood, videogames were something everyone did. My mother played everything from the boar game simulation Othello to the vampire huating game Castlevania! My sister and L fought ‘ver California Games, stayed up lat paying Tiny Toon Adventures, and blew of the seam of adolescence on Doom Mysister stil plays ‘with her husband snd daughter though as more ofa spectator now (or soe claims). Growing up, most of our friends played regardless of gender, race, oF class, even though not everyone had a console their oven home, Because ofl his, it never realy occurred tome that gaming ‘was something only a certain ype of person didn fcr, iw only in my adult fe that {heard people aking about the heterosenl white eisgendered male gamer asthe norm. Tha sno to say such stereotypesdid notexist also ding my childhood and adolescence Aus and popular eepresentation did often construct “boy” player os the main game audience. Tere was, however, a dsjunctte be- and the lve tween the audience hailed by these constuction we Pte experience of game play with which I grew up. am fascinated with ‘the way the male (white and middle class) image ofthe digital game player has become enshrined ax common sense tothe extent that it has eclipsed a much more diverse picture ofthe medium’ history ‘One need only compare a 1982 Feature in Hlectrone Games Maga ‘ine proclaiming that “women have officially artived in the world ‘oF electronic gaming” to numerous twenty-first-centiry articles that announce with surprise that “nearly ball ofall video-gamers sre women” tosee that theresa dsjunctue between how players aveimagined and who actualy plays games. “The sterentype persists despite the constant reatirmation that players exist outside the common gamee construction. Tere has been a shit, however, ia how this “unexpected female audience is ‘courted via tepesenttion. In 1982 Midway spokesman Stan Jarocki ‘eerie howe representation was shaped in honor ofan already ‘exiting market: “Pac-Man wasthe frst commercial yameto involve Targe numbers of women as players... Now we're producing this new game, Me. Pac-Man, as our wayofthankingall hose lady area 15" In the 190s and cary twenty-first century, though, most di ‘csions of rpresentition in games were focused on pling those twho do not play into games by way of representation. Before, it was problem of teats nor esponding tothe existing audience, and now, isa problem of people needing to be convinced to ty this ‘medium Representation in ames has always been tel to expecta ‘ions about audiences, bur chroughout cis book I question some ofthe easy assumptions made sbout which groups ae particulatly ‘concerned with representation snd why representation matters auiences There ae many waysin which this ook grew out of those early formative experiences. 1 grew up taking what I could from mea and my surroundings, even when they ddh’t exactly represent me, Sure, it was hard to find people exactly like me, but ¥ could sill find aspects of myset reflected somewhere in the mediated world around me, Sut, wanted representation, At the same time, Le ‘ember cringing while watching movies and television shows that were supposedly ubout people “ike me.” ln addition, ime play has always been something much more omnipresentin ay ie than ‘ost definitions of gamer culute reflect | am sympathetic to the project ofmaking game spaces more open, but also have spent my “entire ie playing. a medium that never marketed to me ditty. have found my place in the many spaces that were supposed to be closed off to me, For these reasons, it comes a no surpeis chat my research has always focused on questioning the commonsense los ics of representation. ‘Tear about representation (a lot) At the start of my graduate research, en committed t cracking open theunderexamined area ff representation in games. My frst projet was vetualethnogra phy of group of gy, lesbian, biserol, an transgender gamers” ‘And i cared out... many of them dil not really care about rep resentation, This wea shock to mea fest, but the more I dug into that projec, che more e made sense, Homophobia in giming com ‘munities was much more important to these players than was tx tual representation because many of my interviewees played games ‘online. When it came to textual representation, chey found and ‘shared queer representations or queer readings a hey found them in games a wells other media, The figured that nine thendus ‘ty would find aay to tap into the gay gamer niche the way other industries had. My studies of gaming in the Middle East Finland, ann India generated similar themes. Over and over again, people peeling me thar they just did not care chat much aboot having their group whatever that groupmay be, represented in ameseven if they care about representation in oher media. Teaching classes ‘on minority eepresentation in games, I heard ths refrain repeated yetagain by my students Veo gamesarcaiche mediumsthey are fantasy environment; and they are designed fora narrow market. (Ofcourse games are not diverse so what? Teould have easly dismissed these responses os desirability foc, cognitive dissonance, or fale consciousness, Bu such ais ‘nisl semed both uninteresting and unethical. lasted, adopted 4 postion I had learned fom feminise ethnographic media schol frship: took ay interviewees at thee word, Isct out to reconcile Scholars’ compelling research demonstrating the importance of representation with marginalized audiences’ ambivalence about representation, What does a al for eepesentation look like when wwe take both seriously? In exploring this question, I realize tha recognize myself in imy participants’ responses. Aer all, too grew up playing a me- tum for which Las nat the primary marker and media in which ony certain axpect of my ientty were ever shown ecognized ‘ich pushed back ais courses hat soa to make the ‘eaponibl for dhe ow exclson I ee loge goes that I need tormake myself knowles mart in nde tobe repesened to arc wat Iwan, pray when have never had the txperenc of geting whit | win om represeaion. Bening there ths bok explores hwy media scholars within and ue testes, might talk about the ply of epreseration in now trys. How do we tlk owt representation ina way tha can em brace intersection and yb identi How do we demand reprsentiton without sing the specter of ice marketing How owe alkaboot representation roman sence cnc poston? ‘Whar ne hing cam we um bout meta consumption when we beret the edge? Introduction Clichés versus Women In May 2012 Anita Sarkeesin took advantage ofthe increasingly popular Kickstarter crowd fanding site ro solicit donations for 2 Series of fv vow on female representation in cigtsl games. Her project titled Tropes es, Women in Video Games, meant to “explore, Snalyze and deconstruct some of the most common tropes and ‘Stereotypes female chasetersin games.” Her goalasa gamer and 2 feminist media crite was to identity the limited roles of women in digital games, including them being featured as “damsel in dis tees sen sidekicks," anl “rewards” Give that feminist critiques ‘of media ate not new and that the ciiisms Sarkeesan leveled at the games industry would aot be pascularly surprising to anyone whe has taken even a passing glance at game texts over the past thirty years, what happened next is both troubling yet, perhaps, expected Following the initial equest for backers, Sarkeesian received an conslayght of misogynistic, sexist, anti-Semitic, homaphobic, and tenrally vitriol comments. Many ofthe attackers voiced a refain With which many female payers of onlin, particularly console, {games are fmilir—that women should either display thei bes ‘rleave the virtual spice." Among the more violent responses were Cartoon depictions af Sarkeesian being raped by video game cha ncters2 Her Wikipedia page was repeatedly vandalized, as attackers ‘replaced her images with sexually explicit ones and embedded links toporn sites? Among the ial malicious responses was Flash game inviting players to “beat up Anita Sarkeesian” In this game players could beat” hero bloody pulp by clicking epeatedly on her pic ture! T this day Sarkeesin til receives regular ape and murder ‘threats via Tote, and the company refuses to close the offenders 2 beetaon ‘eld up as exemplars ofthe sexism that plagues the game ind tey,and gaming culture more broadly Sarkeesian’s experiences are common for women players, as games stholar Mia Consalvo and journalist Leigh Alexander point out.” More important, however, ‘we must contextualize the seis, acim, homophobia, and other bases of game culture within broader systems of oppression. Vio lences in games, gume culture, nd the gaming industry are not ‘nique o gaming. [As Andrea Braithwaite describes i relation to her analysis of fights over characte dialog on Word of Warcaf forums: "The ange of easul-o-vtilieant-feminism and misogyny in these discus sions isnot attributable to veo game culture asa differen kind of| culture, oF to digital space asa dierent kindof space" Treating ftmning as an isolated veal makes this misogyny a spectace atthe Same time itnocmalizes the oppresive behavior within mainstream fumer cultures" Similarly, o treat representation in games as be Jngjnse about games, co do dhe same for any medium for dat mat ter fills to acount for the ways in which violence against queers (homo-or bisexual or not) women (isgendered or queer oF nt) snd people ofcolor (queer ornotacsgendered women or ot exists ‘everywhere, nal medi, and nl instiutons of power “The silver lining of Sarkeesians story is that inthe face of such olen responses her fund-raising campaign succeed (and then ome) While her inital goal was to rise $6,000, mere month alter opening the Kickstarter project Sarkeesian received total of| 158.922 from 6,968 backers. The added funding allowed her 10 expand! the projec to telve videos, hire a team to help develop it, snd deliver much higher prodtion quality than she orginally planned. In the end the very sexism her project sought to reveal ‘wasthe catalyst leading to erful risng succes. The controversy surrounding Sarkeesian’s project served as cal to arms for many ‘people with differing arguments abovt how, when, and why rep resentation matters in thismediam. Infact, he sera online video project may have been the inspiration fra full-length documentary called Gaming in Color: Queers & Gaymers ofthe Pielated Word, ‘which began its Kikstarter project with a $50,000 goal.” Games are not the only contemporary texts that demonstrate ‘how and when representation comes to matter. In 2012 after the hooks garnered a slew of awards and wideertcal acclaim, the fist oseten 3 installment of Suzanne Collins’ young-adult scence fiction tily The Hanger Games was tleased axa major motion picture.” ta che novels and film, the protagonist Kaniss Bvetdeen and other chil ‘ren competitors from the twelve distlets of the futuristic land Panem are pitted against one another in a bate tothe death that is broadcast as a realty television event throughout the country. the political and personal interests of fluent Capitol au fences, Competingin the rena, Katniss befriends a young gi from nother district named Rue, described in the books as having "ark brown skin and eyes" Ralloing he casting of AmanulaStenbers, an acres of African American and Danish aneesty, the Twitter ‘serse erupted with fin complaints over the choice ofa black actress to play the part. One tweet in particular reference that “awkward ‘moment when Rye i some black get and not the innocent Monde srl you picture” Further complaints were raised over the casting fof singer songeriter Lenny Kravite (of mixed African American and Russian Jewish ancestry) a8 Cinna, Karns’ stylist fr the Hunger Games, despite the fact that Cinna’ race and skin tone are never mentioned in he books." Despite Collins lear description of RueSappearance some ans fete outraged bythe fat that the character ehey perhaps ientifed wth r felt attachedl to wis not going appear on the screen as she Fadia their head” In many ways, books re the original interactive ‘eiom, inthat readers createmany ofthe literary sensory clements in their heads In regatd to The Hunger Games, some fans ee their ‘xperienceand memory athe ext were devalued when Hallywooxt ‘ostng didnot match the mentl pictures they had created do n0t wish co defend ther racial, not blatantly eacst, outbursts. These ‘outbursts do indicate, however, that there are specif moments in which representation can matter to audience, though i does not nvays matter, a [discuss throughout this book. kn tT parse bow people connect with mesa texts va the iaterewined processes of ‘enity and identfeation. Both iaform how hey tlk about and react co mealia representation. The manner in which identity, ent fication, an thoughts bout representation connect, however does ‘ot necessarily follow a linear or static path, We get pleasure from texts that represent us, cera, but we also enjoy those that do not. Mea texts provide us with source material for what might be possible, how idenies might be constructed, and what worl we right vein. These are the reasons media representation matters atleast according to mi interviewees. Representation provides eve dencefor what forms of existence are possible. Ieisthis argument for representation tht aligns with how we interac with media, more than those that emphasie eam. Moreover, promotes diversity without relying on media effects or marketing discourses that ae typical of many arguments for representation. ‘OF cours, we mut also consider the ways mest specificity shapes how representation comes to matter. Are the stakes of rep resentation diferent for vdeo games than fr otber media forms?” Satkeesin had made a similar video the year before her Kickstarter ‘campaign about filmic and televisal representations of women that acleastacconingto her own account, was well received" There was Something particular about her critique of videogames that sucka virtual cord, Onlincharassment of women in digital games claret hardly new, as much ofthe coverage of and responses to the Tropes 1. Women conteoverses deals Yee there seems to be something more at work in these attacks ona feminist gamer seeking to shed High on the long-documented sexism of digital games spaces and texts. Many ofthe attacks did not merely deny a woman’ ight to be preset in a male-dominated virtual space but at out esjected anyone’ right to eritique games as cultural texts.” Ie maybe that the Gaming in Color documentary about LGBTQ gamers and gime industry members hat received les vocal criticism than Tropes Women because i aesses people involved in the production and consumption of games rather chan critiquing game content.” Ax 1 detail, people often treat games as if there is something unique bout them apart from other media Forms, and Fargue that dis ‘course about representation is central co this teatment. In doing ‘| demonstrate that understanding how representation comes 0 matter in games acually sheds light om how it comes to matter in other media 98h Throughout ths book I ako question some ofthe easy assump sions often made about which groups are particularly concerned with representation. Many ofthe attempts to rectify the under- or risrepresentation of women in games, for example, has focused exclusively on courting Female players and designers via ema: fiend game coatent. Sony Online Entertainment, for example, ofers an annual scholarship for aspiring female game designers called GIRL: Gamers in Real Life. his program, however, piv Joges marketable audiences in its demands for representation and conflatesaudionce and prvlucer group membership wit identi GARL. tps ase awareness ofthe serous fale garg auch ‘ence to the meda an efor Yo encourage the garng industry o postive prone women thoughout faces of games, gare producton and into game managerent whch wl opel impact the way females are depctes in vdeo games ang crete anit ce corer tobe appealing to women.” ‘This faming represents two key problems in discussions of epee sentation n game texts Fist, representation in game texts consis- tently inked with the lck of diversity in the video game industry This linking, in turn, presumes that the mere presence of women (or members ofany marginalized groups) in the industry will automat cally result in more diversity in texts. To quote Chaslorte Bunch, this al women and stir” approach assumes hat heze ae no structural limitations within the indostey thar prelude ths representation, tha men in the indasty are simply incapable of eeatng texts that are not representations of themselves or thei fantasies, and chat all ‘women ate feminist" Having a particular body and relationship foraoeme is neither necessiry’ nor suicient for having sensitity tothe mance and importance of epresentation, Second, Sonys {GIRL program snd similar projects pu ehe burden of resting ore diverse representation on marginalized groups insisting that ifthey inves in the industry s producers and consumers, representation will change, What lel or, in contrast, is a rejection of that bur den, demonstrate throughout that players/audiences, owingto the ‘complexity of thei identities, are abe to have stong connections to people unl them on a regular asi.” By using thet fact as a "ating point, the question becomes, Why does everyone in games, and other media texts, lok so much alike? The industry, as well fas scholars, must trea diversity asa goal ines own right, rather than an exception tothe rule or the sole domain of those who are ‘marginalized, “The Tropes, Women controversy highlights the importance of approaching representation through hybridity, incersectionality," and coalition polities,” rather than through the more limiting Aiscourse ofidentity polities For example, one product dent ertcized Sarkeesian’s lack ofatention to ace her evnques ofgender representation." Andbeyond the venomous attacks, there were some irritiques made abou the very cursory, heteronorm- tive, binary, eisgendered analysis of representation propose forthe video series In addition, despite the sickening response trom some sectors of the Internet, there was sense of hopefulness created by ‘he sheer magnitude of Sarkeesans success. As journalist Helen Lewis describes, despite many examples ofthe “boys club-ness (02012 gaming culture, an equal amount of social-cultra- political force had been pushing towatd ana east gender-inclusive ganing sphere. She eites, “Thousands of people stood up and sat the perpetually incandescent sexss: You are nothing todo with ts, oF with gaming. And sha hasbeen the same throughout the year” Ther is evidence to sugges that iis not just women, or marginal ize groups generally who care about representation in games and are invested in diversity Despite the broadening of veo game audiences, he Sarkeesian controversy also demonstrates that some members ofthe gaming «community continue co define “game culture” 3s something spe ‘ite and particularly masculine, heterosexual and white In many ‘ways digital games soem tobe the least progressive form of media representation, despite being one of the newest medted fora “Thisis particulary surprising given decaes of research onthe im portance of diversity in media and some other media industries efforts to make texts more divers (whether for polities, profits, of more often, both). Similely, we have decades of erica theories ot identity that demonstrate the shortcomings and violenceof conceptualizing individvals though purely demogeaphic-based, stable notions of identity grounded in identifiers Uke gender, race, and seal.” Finally though the totality of media oer audiences ‘more venues through which they might find representations that resonate with them, thispluralisic approach to representation dos not seem to answer the soci justice-oriented calls for media versity ina broader sense. Despite area in media sues and contemporary polities that “ie gets better find myself as a mea swsearcher and a player asking that ifchat i tre, why hase yet gotten beter in games? ‘Alter several years af researching the representation of marina: respon ined groups in digital games, afew things continue to vex me. First isthe point I just raise: despite the fact that digital games have developed alongside media representation eitiques,numerouscivil rights movemeats, and increased visibility of marginalized groups ‘cross popular media, i seeme as though digital games ae lagging. Tami own work Ihave found that contrary tothe progressive rep- resentation arnt that assumes diversity happens “in time, there ate specie processes through which marginalized yeoups come to be represented in video games, a in other modia.” Second, the players {interviewed from marginal groups often told mi thae rep esetation in game ters wa of litle importance to them. Thi, und related to both ofthe previous concerns, sthat demands for the representation of specific groups are always rather lining in how those identities are articulated and rarely encompass the complexity tnd intersectonslity of identities. Tnthishook use dazensain-depth interviews with people who play digital games and are members of marginalized groupsto parse the connected but distinc sues of deni, dentification, and me- tia representation, Identifation here is weed not 36 the Iynchpin heween identity and representation but rather as a9 entry point ico describing participants” complicated relationships with both ontifeation also focuses primarily on the eelationship berween plyers/audiences and text, while alo noting the nique agpecte ‘ofthat relationship when games are played with othersin a variety of contexts (online and of). Although this hook doesnot expicily tudes the representation of hegemonic notions of white, hetero sexual mosulinity, the approach outlined here could also be used to adress this “msinstream” game representation inthe fate. build on feminist, queer, crite race, an postcolonial sudies of ideairy and draw upon qualitative audience research methods 10 make sense of how representation comes to mater in an era of in «easingy diversified interactive, and niche digital media oer a textual eritique model for game representation grounded in an a dience reception stud, arguing thatthe study ofaudience reception Isimperative in analyzing texts designed tobe interactive ‘By breaking avay from social eategorzaion in fivor of social contextalization, argue tat we can etter make sense of why rep resentation is important in abroad social sense by frse unpacking how it becomes important in an individual sense. Though [mostly focus on a single medium—digtl games—the concerns about rep resentation connect across media. To that end in adition talking tolntervieweesabout digital games, Lengage chemin conversations about representation and identification in other media, as well “Tieallows me to see the edges of where and when representation {is made to matter across media texts In this ook I demonstrate ‘not only that arguments for game representation ned to be made diferentyfrom hovr they have been made for other media ut also ‘that gamer demonstrate how representation might be discussed di ferent in other meds Media researchers must rethink how we argue for he importance of iversity- Before arguing forthe importance of media represents tion, we can do more work unpacking why, when, and how itis im portant. When does ference make a diferenc in how members ‘of marginalized groups interact with videogames and other media? “The identity polities-based approach to studying and demanding representation simply does not work, More than that, arging for ‘the representation of cleanly defined, marketable identity groups ‘excludes those atthe margins of representation, those who do not ‘sc comorably in demographic categories, nd those who exist out se the market. Arguably, these ate the indvidals who have the ‘ost at stake in demand for repeesentation ns polities, soil js: tice sense. In particular digital games inthis study provide insight into how we might ereate critiques of representation that are polit cally engaged enough to resist market logics and nimble enoigh to ‘encompass interactive, personalized, customized medi texts ln tis book I focus on the relationship berween identity, iden ‘lication, and media representation in an effort to question (1) if and how people identify with media characters, 2) how a particu Tar medium fees the process of identification, and (3) when and ‘how cepresentation is important audiences. I demonstrate that identities are multifaceted and articulated in relation to particular ‘social dynamics, that identifeation can occurin a varety of ways but inalso not abvays important to adiences, and that representation doesnot always, or predictably, deive media consumption and re

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