National Differences and Gender Stereotypes in Days of Empire

2022 ◽  
pp. 788-799
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Maiello
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Country Of Origin ◽  
Emotional Connection ◽  
National Differences ◽  
And Gender

Days of Empire is a freemium mobile strategy video game developed and published by the company ONEMT, whose actual headquarters is in Fuzhou Fujian, China. The company specializes in fantasy video games mostly set in the Middle East and full of references to the history and mythology of the Arab and Turkish peoples. The objective is to provide a description of the game and to perform a qualitative analysis of the attitudes of selected players towards the game, their emotional drivers, and the financial commitment many of them undertake to achieve greater success in the game. As many discussions take place in the chat function of the game, the author is interested in stereotypes referencing the players' country of origin, gender stereotypes, and even the sexual harassment to which female players are subjected. Using the emic approach, an insider's perspective will be shown of the ways in which the players of Days of Empire look at the issues of nationalism and gender stereotypes, and the emotional connection between single individuals and a freemium game of this type.

Patriarchy in play: Video games as gendered media ecologies

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-212
Author(s):  
Jennifer Jenson ◽  
Suzanne de Castell
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Media Ecology ◽  
First Century ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Feminist Perspectives ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Hostile Environments

Videogames are a dominant cultural, economic and creative medium in the twenty-first century, whose varied ecologies are increasingly recognized as particularly hostile environments to those identifying or identified as women. These ecologies include those encoded and enacted within the virtual environments of digital games, across the spectrum of those ecologies materially inhabited in games education, game cultures and, paradigmatically, the video game industry. In June 2020, top videogame maker Ubisoft saw high ranking employees resign from the company as accounts went public on Twitter and in mainstream media of sexual harassment, abuse and other misconduct at the company being covered up and ignored. But this is by no means the first public revelation of sexual harassment and discriminatory injustices directed at women who develop and play games: many will recall the vitriolic online hate movement #gamergate. Despite the familiarity of these tropes, we seem to ‘rediscover’ every few years or so that making and playing video games can present toxic environments for women. Drawing on feminist perspectives that understand how videogames have been a gendered, primarily masculine, domain, this article proposes that a topographical view, one specifically attuned to examining gender through a media ecology lens, can demonstrate how these successive re-enactments of ‘shock and awe’ operate in the service of, and are functionally integral to, the preservation of media ecologies exclusionary by design, legitimizing the repetition of their gendered hostilities. The intent is to move beyond naïve expressions of surprise and righteous indignation, to a grounded recognition and elucidation of the extents to which misogyny and harassment are and have been deeply structured into the gendered ecologies of video games.

scholarly journals Students’ Sense and Sensibilities. An Exploratory Study of Gender Perceptions At Romania’s Largest University

2020 ◽  
pp. 5-24
Author(s):  
Alexandra Columban ◽  
Mihail Buse ◽  
Cornelia Macarie
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Gender Issues ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Gender Perceptions ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender

Academia is one of the main hubs for promoting gender equality and non-discrimination, yet very few programs in Romania actively tackle the topic. An assessment of students’ perceptions is thus necessary in order to identify the level of awareness around gender issues and potential barriers hindering an inclusive academic environment. The present exploratory study aims to fill this gap by providing information on four dimensions of gender equality: attitudes towards gender equality, prevalence of gender stereotypes, gender-based violence and sexual harassment, and gender-based discrimination. The questionnaire was applied online and offline between October 2018 and March 2019 to 275 students enrolled in Bachelor, Master and Doctoral studies at BabeșBolyai University, Cluj-Napoca. The study found that students had a rather high awareness about gender issues in general and held favorable views towards gender equality and its enforcement. However, female students were more prone to stereotype, claiming more traits for themselves, and were more likely than their male counterparts to experience sexual harassment and discrimination regarding professional promotion. A series of implications for practitioners and recommendations are also discussed.

The Causes and Consequences of Presence: Considering the Influence of Violent Video Games on Presence and Aggression

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristine L. Nowak ◽  
Marina Krcmar ◽  
Kirstie M. Farrar
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Social Learning Theory ◽  
Media Violence ◽  
Causal Modeling ◽  
Video Game Play ◽  
Violent Video Game ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Practical Implications

The level of presence is likely to influence the effect of media violence. This project examines the causes and consequences of presence in the context of violent video game play. In a between subjects design, 227 participants were randomly assigned to play either a violent or a nonviolent video game. The results are consistent with what would be predicted by social learning theory and are consistent with previous presence research. Causal modeling analyses reveal two separate paths to presence: from individual differences and condition. The first path reveals that individual differences (previous game use and gender) predict presence. Those who frequently play video games reported higher levels of presence than those who play video games less frequently. Males play more games but felt less presence than women. The second path is related to perceived violence: those who perceived the game to be more violent felt more presence than those who perceived less violence in the game. Both of these paths were influenced by frustration with the game, which reduced presence. Those who felt more presence felt more hostility and were more verbally aggressive than those who felt lower levels of presence. Higher levels of presence led to increased physically aggressive intentions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

scholarly journals Negotiating Love and Gender Stereotypes among Youn People: Prevalence of “Amor Ludens” and Television Preferences Rooted in Hegemonic Masculinity

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maddalena Fedele ◽  
Maria-Jose Masanet ◽  
Rafael Ventura
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Hegemonic Masculinity ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
First Year ◽  
Present Moment ◽  
The Media ◽  
And Gender ◽  
First Year University

This study was carried out in three Iberian-American countries, Colombia, Spain and Venezuela, to identify the stereotypes of love and gender professed among youth and compare them to those they prefer in television fiction series, i.e., those able to influence their identities and values. From an interdisciplinary perspective, the study involved a survey of 485 first-year university students, and a qualitative analysis of the media representations preferred by them. The results showed a preference for "amor ludens", based on enjoyment and the present moment, and a gap between the cognitive and emotional spheres of some youth who consider themselves distant from stereotypical, heteronormative and patriarchal models, but who choose media representations that match these models and the traditional gender portrayals.

scholarly journals Horizon Zero Dawn: The Educational Influence of Video Games in Counteracting Gender Stereotypes

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalila Forni
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Gender Norms ◽  
Potential Influence ◽  
Educational Benefit ◽  
Gender Ideals ◽  
Femininity And Masculinity

This paper argues that narrative video games have a potential educational benefit in counteracting stereotypes and promoting gender equality. In particular, the study focuses on a specific video game, Horizon Zero Dawn (2017). Firstly, this paper analyses the traditional female models promoted in video games and their influence on the construction of gender ideals. Then, Horizon Zero Dawn is explored, paying attention to the representation of femininity and masculinity within the game, as it emerges through its main characters and their interactions within the narrative. Thecontribution analyses a specific case study in order to investigate the potential influence of non-stereotyped narrative video games on the perception of gender norms.

scholarly journals Who Is the Note-Worthy Fan? Featuring Players in the Official Facebook Communication of Mainstream Video Games

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Švelch ◽  
Tereza Krobová
Keyword(s):  
Data Mining ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Traditional Method ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Comparable Level ◽  
And Gender ◽  
One Year

Video game fans participate in the official promotion of video games, either voluntarily, or unwillingly when their fanworks are appropriated and used by video game publishers. The article provides a quantitative overview of the presence of fans in the official social media profiles of four selected mainstream games (Dragon Age: Inquistion, Evolve, Mortal Kombat X and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt) during a one-year period from August 2014 to July 2015. Combining the traditional method of content analysis and Facebook data-mining, we explore the frequency with which fans appear in social media (including questions of various forms of fanworks and gender) and what user activity is generated by posts featuring fans and fan creations. Results show that fans or their fanworks are featured in 8–24% of all posts depending on a game and in the most common categories of painting and cosplay they generate a comparable level of user engagement as traditional promotional posts.

Reiterative Presentation of the East in Western-Produced Video Games

2021 ◽  
pp. 557-573
Author(s):  
Gina Al Halabi ◽  
Ertuğrul Süngü
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Video Game ◽  
The West ◽  
Action Orientation ◽  
People’S Perception ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Video Gamers ◽  
Discursive Constructions ◽  
Gathering Data

Today's video game industry is full of examples of games that showcase Oriental stereotypes repetitively and portray them with the typical passive, barbaric, and violent perception. The methodology of this study builds its structure on that problem by gathering data from a conducted survey that focuses on video gamers based in the Middle East, with the aim of exploring how the reiteration of the stereotypical portrayal of the Orient in video games produced by the West affect people's perception of the Orient. The data then gathered will be analyzed according to Carla Willig's approach of the Foucauldian discourse analysis using six stages: (1) discursive constructions, (2) discourses, (3) action orientation, (4) positionings, (5) practice, and (6) subjectivity. The analysis's main limits and strengths will then be taken into consideration, and recommendations will be suggested based on the results of the analysis.

Virtual Worlds, Digital Dreams

2018 ◽  
pp. 59-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vít Šisler
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Video Game Industry ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Video Game Development ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Private Entrepreneurs ◽  
And Migration

Video games are inherently transnational by virtue of their industrial, textual and player practices. Until recently, the focus of research on the social and cultural aspects of video games has been on the traditional centers of the video game industry consumption, while the international flows of digital gaming remained largely underexplored. This chapter analyzes the cultural dynamics and technological processes influencing both video game development and the gaming culture in the Middle East. It conceptualizes Middle Eastern video games as imaginary spaces that entangle diverse and contradictory processes: global cultural flows, media policies of nation states, visions and engagements of private entrepreneurs, and migration and appropriation of Western game genres and rule systems. By mapping out dominant trends, the chapter offers the opportunity to think about processes and flows influencing the video game industry in the Middle East during the first fifteen years of its existence

From the “Damsel in Distress” to Girls' Games and Beyond

2014 ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alyson E. King ◽  
Aziz Douai
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Computer Game ◽  
Computer Gaming ◽  
Gaming Industry ◽  
Method Analysis

In this chapter, the authors critically assess the gendered nature of the products developed by the computer gaming industry. The chapter takes a historiographical approach to examining the nature of children's video and computer games as a type of toy that immerses children into current gender stereotypes even as they hold the potential for social change. New ways of bridging the gap between stereotypes and change is explored through a virtual world for children. In addition to an introductory section, the chapter is organized in three main sections: First, the authors place existing computer and video games into a broad and historical context. Second, the chapter takes into consideration feminist critiques of video games for adults. Third, the authors analyze the case of WebkinzWorld, a toy-based social-networking portal offering less gendered video game environments for kids. The authors argue that this mixed method analysis is important not only for computer game designers and marketers who aim to appeal to broad demographics, but also for educators, parents, and caregivers who need to understand the underlying or hidden messages of games for children.

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