Guild princesses and mean girls: Internalised misogyny and gaming

Abstract

The demographic of gamers is rapidly changing, and currently an estimated 42 per cent of gamers are female. As a result, research is beginning to look at the sexism which is often characteristic of the experiences of female gamers and the content of games themselves. Our research focused on the negative and positive interactions of female gamers both in games as well as gaming communities in relation to internalised misogyny. A survey of female gamers (N = 86) demonstrated that 41 per cent had experienced negative interactions with other female gamers. Participants were asked to elaborate on these interactions through open-ended responses which were analysed for thematic content. Their experiences with female players included negative attention-seeking behaviours, competitiveness, relational aggression, and critiques of play style, but also examples of female solidarity. These findings show consistency with the concept of internalised misogyny.