Jessica Soler-Benonie

Sociology thesis

Defended on September 5, 2019


To be and to (re) become a video game female gamer : gender trajectories, tests and tensions in the videogame field under the supervision of Michel Grossetti & Caroline Datchary.

Abstract

Video games play a major role in the landscape of cultural practices. They come in a variety of media and types of practices. As they are composed of multiple, but complementary aspects, game studies form a field of research like a real Rubik's cube. Before committing to solve it, we will examine the constitution of the puzzle that compose it, so this investigation can propose a different composition. Indeed, the object ‘video game’ remains deeply androcentric both at the level of the industry, in its way of thinking its audience and its game metrics, but also within the researches focused on video game practices : video games are immutably made by and for men.

This thesis proposes to focus on the study of gender by focusing on the video game praxeology and its different spaces. It also enquires the most legitimized and valued criteria of expertise in the hierarchy of video game practices through a largely forgotten population in this context : females gamers. The aim is to comprehend this definition both through the trajectories of women who adopt this type of practice as through their daily material support. Being and (re) becoming a female videogame gamer has be maintained and goes through stages that this thesis proposes to detail.

For these purposes, this research is based on a multi-situated empirical approach (interviews, observations and analysis of a critical body of work). It follows the video game practices in the various arenas where they are given to see and to play, from the private sphere to public spaces. These works highlight how gender is put in tension on a daily basis in the field of video games through the trials experienced and the places occupied by those who invest in a cultural practice dominated by men.
 

Publication