Where are all the female pros?: A study of perception, sexualization, and representation of women in contemporary video game culture
Translated title
Where are all the female pros?
Author
Sørensen, Casper Østergaard
Term
2. Term (Master)
Education
Publication year
2022
Submitted on
2022-05-31
Pages
47
Abstract
Multiplayer games enable new kinds of social interaction. According to ESA (2021), 55% of American players are men and 45% are women, a growing share that suggests representation should be improving. Yet in a decade of CS:GO esports, no woman has played at a major tournament. On English-language broadcasts of those majors, the best gender balance was three women to thirteen men, and men filled all analyst roles. This study argues these patterns are not accidental but stem from a toxic culture, examined through women’s experiences in online spaces. Using cultural analysis, it treats gaming culture as shaped by players’ values and games themselves as cultural artifacts that can encourage certain behaviors through representation and misrepresentation. Drawing on Myers’ theory of the social contexts of play, the study describes in‑game social settings and shows how sexist norms operate at the group level, producing negative experiences for women. Using cultivation theory—the idea that long‑term media exposure shapes perceptions—it links the sexualization of female characters to voyeuristic views of female Twitch streamers and concludes that in‑game and streaming spaces influence and amplify each other. Applying the online disinhibition effect—the tendency to act more harshly when feeling unseen online—it points to a possible connection between voyeurism and viewers’ sense of being virtually invisible rather than merely anonymous. In the professional end of team‑based games, the study reviews initiatives to increase women’s visibility and the community’s responses as a framework for understanding harassment. It highlights the problematic relationship between (mis)representation and perception and discusses rape culture and sexism in the Valorant community, arguing that the environment can be unwelcoming to women even without sexualized character designs. Overall, the study shows that online gaming spaces both reflect and reinforce underlying sexism, and that representation is only one step; lasting change requires broader shifts in how female characters and participants are treated across game culture.
Multiplayer-spil skaber nye former for socialt samvær. Ifølge ESA (2021) er 55% af amerikanske gamere mænd og 45% kvinder, og andelen af kvinder er stigende, så man kunne forvente bedre repræsentation. Alligevel har CS:GO på trods af et årti med aktiv esport ikke haft en kvinde på et major-turneringshold. På de engelsksprogede udsendelser af majors var den bedste kønsfordeling tre kvinder og tretten mænd, og alle analytiske roller var besat af mænd. Studiet hævder, at sådanne mønstre ikke er tilfældige, men udspringer af en toksisk kultur, som undersøges gennem kvinders oplevelser i online rum. Gennem kulturel analyse betragtes både spilkultur som formet af spillernes værdier og videospil som kulturelle artefakter, der via (mis)repræsentation kan fremme bestemte adfærdsmønstre. Myers’ teori om spillets sociale kontekster bruges til at beskrive sociale miljøer i spil og vise, hvordan sexistiske normer udspiller sig på mikroniveau i grupper, hvilket fører til negative oplevelser for kvinder. Med cultivation theory (ideen om, at medier over tid former vores opfattelser) knytter studiet seksualisering af kvindelige spilfigurer til en voyeuristisk opfattelse af kvindelige streamere på Twitch og konkluderer, at de to rum påvirker og forstærker hinanden. Den online disinhibition effect (at man opfører sig mere groft eller grænseoverskridende, når man føler sig usynlig online) peger på en mulig sammenhæng mellem voyeurisme og seeres oplevelse af at være virtuelt usynlige frem for blot anonyme. På den professionelle scene for holdbaserede spil analyseres initiativer for kvinders synlighed og fællesskabets reaktioner som ramme for at forstå chikane. Studiet belyser det problematiske forhold mellem (mis)repræsentation og opfattelser og diskuterer voldtægtskultur og sexisme i Valorant‑miljøet, hvor kulturen problematiseres som uvelkommen for kvinder, selv uden seksualiserede figurer. Samlet viser studiet, at online spilmiljøer både afspejler og forstærker underliggende sexisme, og at repræsentation kun er ét skridt; varig forandring kræver bredere skift i, hvordan kvindelige figurer og deltagere behandles i spilkulturen.
[This apstract has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]
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