Perceptions of Women and Gaming: Exploring Implications of Intersectionality through Quantitative Analysis of Blog Comments
Noah Petters
Edward Downs
Abstract
Abstract: This study analyzes the effects gender and race have on the hostility towards and acknowledgement of issues women face in the gaming community. After prompting the gaming community with stimulus material that voices a feminist perspective, the study attempted to see how different profile pictures (White male, White female, Black male, Black female) affected responses. In other words, the study aims to analyze how the same perspective of women in gaming culture is received by the public, despite differences in gender and racial representation. Under the context of intersectionality, comments or public reactions of blog pages were analyzed by conditions of race and gender, which were then coded and used to conduct a qualitative analysis of “hostility” (e.g., vulgar language) and “acknowledgment” (e.g., agreed/disagreed with the blog content). The categorized reactions were then used to produce a quantitative measurement to determine the public perception of women in the gaming culture. Results revealed statistically significant differences in the pattern of hostile and non-hostile responses. Furthermore, an examination of conditions also revealed statistically different patterns related to acknowledgment of a problem. Noted patterns of hostility and acknowledgement may help to further determine implications of the intersecting aspects of one’s identity in an expanding culture and industry of games.
