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  • © 2018

Feminism in Play

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Addresses how controversies such as #GamerGate and #TakeBackTheTech reveal continuing struggles in the area of gender equity
  • Curates feminist scholarship by both established and emerging researchers from diverse disciplinary backgrounds to explore the intersection of women’s studies and game studies
  • Part of a trilogy of books addressing questions of gender, sexuality, and gaming cultures from a comprehensive, contemporary perspective

Part of the book series: Palgrave Games in Context (PAGCON)

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Table of contents (15 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvi
  2. Introduction: Reframing Hegemonic Conceptions of Women and Feminism in Gaming Culture

    • Kishonna L. Gray, Gerald Voorhees, Emma Vossen
    Pages 1-17
  3. All Made Up: Gendering Assemblages

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 103-103
    2. Women’s Experiences on the Path to a Career in Game Development

      • Johanna Weststar, Marie-Josée Legault
      Pages 105-123
    3. Sexism and the Wow Girl: A Study of Perceptions of Women in World of Warcraft

      • Thaiane Oliveira, Reynaldo Gonçalves, Alessandra Maia, Julia Silveira, Simone Evangelista
      Pages 143-161
  4. Beyond Feminization: Gaming and Social Futures

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 183-183
    2. Feminism and Gameplay Performance

      • Emma Westecott
      Pages 251-266
  5. Back Matter

    Pages 267-271

About this book

Feminism in Play focuses on women as they are depicted in video games, as participants in games culture, and as contributors to the games industry. This volume showcases women’s resistance to the norms of games culture, as well as women’s play and creative practices both in and around the games industry. Contributors analyze the interconnections between games and the broader societal and structural issues impeding the successful inclusion of women in games and games culture. In offering this framework, this volume provides a platform to the silenced and marginalized, offering counter-narratives to the post-racial and post-gendered fantasies that so often obscure the violent context of production and consumption of games culture.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Gender and Women’s Studies and Communication, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Kishonna L. Gray

  • Department of Communication Arts, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    Gerald Voorhees

  • Department of English Language and Literature, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    Emma Vossen

About the editors

Kishonna L. Gray is an assistant professor in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies and Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA. She is also a faculty associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, USA.

Gerald Voorhees is Assistant Professor of Digital Culture and Communication in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Waterloo, Canada. His research is on games and new media as sites for the construction and contestation of identity and culture.

Emma Vossen is an award-winning public speaker and writer with a PhD from the University of Waterloo, Canada. She served as Editor-in-Chief of game studies publication First Person Scholar and her research about gender and games was the focus of a nationally broadcast CBC Radio documentary.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 29.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 37.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access