Player Definitions of Success, Skill, and Leadership in Video Games

Abstract

Gender is a defining aspect of many daily understandings, perceptions, and definitions. Culturally, this influence can lead to many disadvantages and barriers for women. This project investigates these topics as they relate to video game players. Using interviews and online forum analysis, the author explores players’ experiences, beliefs, and definitions to investigate the potential influences of gender on access and status in the video game community. Ultimately, players are found to identify success in gender- neutral terms, suggesting that the landscape may be equal for women in the hobby. However, when it comes to skill and leadership, players have ideas that reinforce gender stereotypes, creating a circumstance where players reflect many of the same kinds of gendered hierarchies seen in other areas of life. This has implications for many public spaces and suggests that movements toward gender parity exert an uneven influence on cultural understandings.