Perceptions of Women and Gaming: Exploring Implications of Intersectionality through Quantitative Analysis of Blog Comments

Abstract

The goal of this study is to determine how the general gaming public perceives women in the gaming culture differently by certain visual criteria portrayed on the internet in the form of a blog. More specifically, it pursues to find out how the same perspective of women in gaming culture is received by the public, despite differences in only gender and racial representation. Under the context of intersectionality, the proceeding criteria were used to determine the perception of women in the gaming culture and issues that surround them. Comments or public reactions of blog pages were analyzed by conditions of race and gender, which then were expert coded and used to conduct a qualitative analysis of “hostility” and “acknowledgment”. The categorized reactions were then used to produce a quantitative measurement to determine the public perception of women within the gaming culture. Results indicate examination of condition (Black female, Black male, White female, White male) 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.