Diana Suazo Monje - Gender Play by diana suazo

dianasuazo124 — 2024-12-12 22:20:00 UTC

Henry Jenkins is an American scholar, media analyst, and professor. Jenkins is well known for exploring the relationship between gender and video games. He focuses primarily in the various ways games are consumed, how gender dynamics affect players and creators of games, and how gender is represented within video games.

What are they?

dianasuazo124 — 2024-12-12 22:37:17 UTC

Jenkins explains the relationship between gender and video games through the use of 3 concepts; boy games, girl games, and gender neutral play. Here is how he breaks down the 3 concepts:

Boy Games: action, competition, violence, individualism, challenges, mechanical systems, and highly masculine.

Girl Games: domestic/caregiving roles, less aggressive, relational, creativity, passive roles, and stereotypical.

Gender Neutral Play: alternative to the "gendered" design of video games, inclusive, empathetic, collaboration/community, and gender fluidity.

Jenkins argues against boy games and girl games, but instead aims for gender neutral play. He believes that with gender neutral play we can get rid of gender norms that have been designed into video games. This will ultimately help foster diversity and inclusivity in video game players of any gender. However, he finds it way be difficult because it will include "redesigning not only the nature of computer games but also the nature of society" (Jenkins 361).

dianasuazo124 — 2024-12-12 23:25:46 UTC

GTA 5 was a game that I liked playing frequently when I was younger. Since I grew up with 2 brothers, I always went along with whatever games they played because I had no one else to play with. When my mom found out what I had been playing, she immediately prohibited me from playing it ever again. However, she did not do the same to my brothers. I soon found out that GTA 5 was not considered a "girl game" but instead considered a "boy game". GTA 5 fits perfectly into Henry Jenkins argument about gender and video games. It is considered a "boy game" because it has many of the attributes that Henry Jenkins used to describe video games. Some of these attributes include violence, dominance, individual achievement, and misogyny. GTA 5 depicts these attributes of boy games through having players engage in violent crimes that will overall lead to individual achievement in the game which Jenkins believes help "children gain recognition for their daring as demonstrated in the virtual world, overcoming obstacles, beating bosses, and mastering levels" (Jenkins 339). GTA 5 also displays a heavy amount of misogyny by having strip clubs with women and prostitutes available for players to sexualize and objectify.