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My Momma Shoots Better Than You! : Who is the Female Gamer?

Enevold, Jessica LU orcid and Hagström, Charlotte LU (2008) The [Player] Conference p.144-167
Abstract
This paper is a component of a three-year empirical study of gaming moms undertaken with the aim to modulate the conventional constructions of gamer identities and examine the contested status of gaming in everyday life. It presents samples of mothers in gaming discourse – from TV, Music-video, forums, and ads. Mothers have been largely invisible in popular gaming discourse or formulaically portrayed as unsympathetic to/ policing the gaming habits of other family members. Now, gaming companies increasingly target women and families, female gamers exceed 40 % of players (US and Sweden), and console gaming is displacing TV-watching as the core living-room activity. The Boy-nerd-in-the-Bedroom is, at least statistically, being dispelled and... (More)
This paper is a component of a three-year empirical study of gaming moms undertaken with the aim to modulate the conventional constructions of gamer identities and examine the contested status of gaming in everyday life. It presents samples of mothers in gaming discourse – from TV, Music-video, forums, and ads. Mothers have been largely invisible in popular gaming discourse or formulaically portrayed as unsympathetic to/ policing the gaming habits of other family members. Now, gaming companies increasingly target women and families, female gamers exceed 40 % of players (US and Sweden), and console gaming is displacing TV-watching as the core living-room activity. The Boy-nerd-in-the-Bedroom is, at least statistically, being dispelled and complemented by the Girl-into-Gaming. Still, a tenacious nineteenth-century icon lingers: the Angel-in-the-House. Mothers today do more than bring Hot Pockets to gaming kids (South Park WoW-Episode) or serve as the implied inferior player populating taunts like “My Momma shoots better than you” (Q3A). Mothers game too. The paper uses feminist critical theory (de Lauretis) to illustrate the situation of the female gamer as oscillating between the fixed sign of “Woman” and the dynamic experiences of “women”. It acknowledges and elucidates both the power and consequences of representation and personal experience in meaning-making processes, to which the growing cultural discourse and practice of gaming belong. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
female gamers, feminist theory, gaming discourse, gaming moms, Gender, Mothers, popular culture, Women, representation, discourse analysis, digital culture, Cultural studies
host publication
Proceedings - the [player] conference
editor
Leino, Olli ; Mosberg Iversen, Sara and Calleja, Gordon
pages
144 - 167
publisher
IT University of Copenhagen
conference name
The [Player] Conference
conference location
Copenhagen, Denmark
conference dates
2008-08-26 - 2008-08-28
ISBN
978-87-7949-182-3
project
Gaming Moms: Juggling Time, Play and Family Life
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
19f228d4-b265-4bc4-9539-2f6a556deeae (old id 1496050)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 11:51:39
date last changed
2022-03-31 16:34:42
@inproceedings{19f228d4-b265-4bc4-9539-2f6a556deeae,
  abstract     = {{This paper is a component of a three-year empirical study of gaming moms undertaken with the aim to modulate the conventional constructions of gamer identities and examine the contested status of gaming in everyday life. It presents samples of mothers in gaming discourse – from TV, Music-video, forums, and ads. Mothers have been largely invisible in popular gaming discourse or formulaically portrayed as unsympathetic to/ policing the gaming habits of other family members. Now, gaming companies increasingly target women and families, female gamers exceed 40 % of players (US and Sweden), and console gaming is displacing TV-watching as the core living-room activity. The Boy-nerd-in-the-Bedroom is, at least statistically, being dispelled and complemented by the Girl-into-Gaming. Still, a tenacious nineteenth-century icon lingers: the Angel-in-the-House. Mothers today do more than bring Hot Pockets to gaming kids (South Park WoW-Episode) or serve as the implied inferior player populating taunts like “My Momma shoots better than you” (Q3A). Mothers game too. The paper uses feminist critical theory (de Lauretis) to illustrate the situation of the female gamer as oscillating between the fixed sign of “Woman” and the dynamic experiences of “women”. It acknowledges and elucidates both the power and consequences of representation and personal experience in meaning-making processes, to which the growing cultural discourse and practice of gaming belong.}},
  author       = {{Enevold, Jessica and Hagström, Charlotte}},
  booktitle    = {{Proceedings - the [player] conference}},
  editor       = {{Leino, Olli and Mosberg Iversen, Sara and Calleja, Gordon}},
  isbn         = {{978-87-7949-182-3}},
  keywords     = {{female gamers; feminist theory; gaming discourse; gaming moms; Gender; Mothers; popular culture; Women; representation; discourse analysis; digital culture; Cultural studies}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{144--167}},
  publisher    = {{IT University of Copenhagen}},
  title        = {{My Momma Shoots Better Than You! : Who is the Female Gamer?}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/116047725/Enevold.H.MyMommaSHootsBetterThanYou.Player2008.pdf}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}