Gender & Sexual Expression in Online Gaming: A brief analysis

20209833 March 20, 2010 Jenn Rickert ANTH 350

In this paper it is not my intent to write an exhaustive dissertation on gender and online gaming communities. Just like what the online community dubs real life, the online world of gender, sexuality and identity manifestation is just as broad and varied as there are people who participate in it. What is especially interesting, however, in the online gaming community is that changing your gender or online identity can be as simple as logging off and starting over with a new avatar. The ease by which people can adapt to fit the identity they feel in that moment is perhaps one of the most appealing aspects of online gaming and avatar creationit also makes a study of gender representation and sexual orientation within them so interesting. For the purpose of this study, I will explore the ways in which people participate in and develop online gender roles as well as how those roles are affected by language, anonymity and real life cultural influences. I will also look into the nature behind online gender experimentation, gender power struggles and the implications these things have for the future of gender and identity studies both within and without online realms. As with any study, one of the most important things to establish at the outset is a set of basic definitions and terminology. This is perhaps even more crucial when dealing with this medium as the terminology used within online gaming communities tends to be rather fluid and adaptive, much like the cultures they represent. In the case of gender and sexuality, definitions are as important as those debated in contemporary offline gender studies. For the sake of simplicity when dealing with terminology such as cross-dressing, gender identification, or transgendered I will be referring to the most common definition and understanding of eachdespite the limitations this might imply. When necessary I will also define terminology

that might be normally restricted to online gaming communities so as to try and alleviate any ambiguity and maintain as close to native language as I can. We use definitions every day, sometimes actively, others simply by implication. We define ourselves by things around us, by what we do or by what we say. Who we do or dont have sex with, or who we choose as our friends. Online gaming communities are no different in this regard. Though often rather downplayed by most participants, it has been argued that the definitions and manifestations of self within these online communities is more real than those we enact in reality. In his ethnography Coming of Age in Second Life, Tom Boellstorff seeks to explore this vast world of online gaming communities and the ways in which they build their culture, language and identities. While Boellstorff explores the idea of identity and the self in relation to the gaming community on the whole and fairly in-depth, he makes some very interesting remarks about the creation of self and avatars1. What does it mean when residents say in Second Life I find I can truly be myself, my inner self?; we wear our souls in here; and I find it easy to be sever selves here. The notion of role has shaped conceptions of identity online*t+his idea of playing a role persists to varying degrees in many virtual worlds and has often been a focus of ethnographic interestI would imagine that the majority of people who play here put in more of their personality than theyd like to admit. (Boellstorff 2008, 119121) This is especially interesting when dealing with the nature of gender and sexual orientation as many people in real life feel the need to restrict their actions to fit social norms and play a certain role regardless of how they may really feel inside.
1

While avatar (avie or av for short) historically referred to incarnationa movement from virtual to actual with respect to online worlds it connotes the opposite movement from actual to virtual, a decarnation or invirtualizationobservers of virtual worlds noted linkages between sociality, subjectivity, and embodiment: people have a very proprietary feeling towards their image [i.e., their avatar]. What happens to it happens to them. What touches it, they feelA new kind of social situation is created. (Boellstorff 2008, 128-129)

This is not the case in many virtual worlds. The only enforced established roles are those set out by the games creators, anything beyond that fits into whatever the users themselves have created and established as social norms or etiquette. While ones true identity may be masked by their online representation, their screenname or avatars name creates for them a new identity, inside which they can create themselves as they see fit. *R+esidents spoke of their virtual-world self as closer to their real self than their actual-world self. For this reasonperfect anonymity in virtual worlds has eroded. (Boellstorff 2008, 122) It is implied then that people here then become the avatars they create and are attached to them, whether they believe it to be true or not. As an aspect of the self, they are then an extension of self. Embodiment can be physical, but we are also bodies in a social and cultural sense, and we experience that, too. (Boellstorff 2008, 135) This kind of self-affirmation and exploration allows for the user of these online communities to ultimately discover why they really believe themselves to be (at least today) with enough digging. People can try on identities, genders and sexuality in the same way one *could understand+ wearing a shirt or pair of shoes. (Boellstorff 2008, 135) While in reality its very difficult, and often risky, to explore sexual fantasies, gender identity questions or restart your life in generalits incredibly easy to explore these things in a virtual space. Gender and sexuality carry entirely new and often deeper meanings when dealt with in the metaverse.2

The Metaverse is a fictional virtual world, described in Neal Stephenson's 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash, where humans, as avatars, interact with each other and software agents, in a three-dimensional space that uses the metaphor of the real world. The word metaverse is a portmanteau of the prefix "meta" (meaning "beyond") and "universe". Stephenson coined the term to describe a virtual reality-based successor to the Internet. (Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaverse)

In the ethnography, Boellstorff describes a firsthand experience of meeting someone in Second Life who was actively living as an avatar opposite of their own biological one. He states that I had known Pavia for over a year as a woman with a beautiful female avatar on the day she sat me down for a talk in my virtual home. (Boellstorff 2008, 138) He goes on to quote Pavias actual confession and how she actually identified more with her virtual self than her physical self. I am not the person you have gotten to know. But at the same time I am. Im a man in real life, but about three weeks ago I learned that Im transsexual. Ive pretty much known that I was different all my lifeHere in Second Life I created something new in myself that I never realized was there before. At first I was role playing, but then I grew to love Pavia. I kept infusing myself into her, but then something unexpected to happen: Pavia started coming out in the real world. I became her, she became me. (Boellstorff 2008, 138) Boellstorff comments later that finding transgendered people, instances of gender-switching or cross dressing were quite common in Second life during my period of fieldwork. (Boellstorff 2008, 141) I would suggest too that there is plenty of unconscious cross-dressing or gender switching that takes place in all virtual worlds as well. While some people may actively choose to play or roleplay avatars that are opposite in gender or sexuality from their physical selves to explore that side of their identity, others suggest that they play the opposite gender for something nicer to look at. I like something nice to look at while Im sitting there for eight hours with my eyes bleedingand dwarves dont do it for me. (Boellstorff 2008, 142) While both sides produce their own kind of identity exploration, those that search out gender or sexual curiosities, that might not be otherwise available to them in reality, often find an outlet that gives them a sense of peace or newfound true identity in their real day-to-day lives. Such gender swapping allows people to

experience rather than merely observe what it feels like to be the opposite gender or to have no gender at all.*T+he most common transgendered state of affairs was for residents to participatewith a male avatar if they were an actual-world woman, or a female avatar if they were an actual-world man, and did not tell the other residents of their actual-world gender. (Boellstorff 2008, 142) Due to ease of gender transition, a broader set of online gender definitions have developed. These online communities thereby also tend to act more openly towards gender play or in the very least tend to be more accepting. In some cases such as in Second Life, players even have the option to take on gender ambiguous forms such as a box, for instance, or a blue ball of light, or an androgynous figure. (Boellstorff 2008, 143). In these types of games, gender representation and role interpretation are wildly variant in comparison to a more restrictive MMO such as World of Warcraft which provides the standard 2-gender choice system for avatars. In these cases, players will often roleplay or pretend to be the gender of their avatar, even if it does not match their physical identification. Sometimes this is done as a curiosity factor or to explore different forms of gender-identification in the safety of an online environmentother times gender-identified males will choose to specifically play female avatars in hopes that they can convince other players that they are actually a female in reality so as to extract special treatment. In this way the female avatar is seen as a method of power within the virtual worlds and as a result, it is common to hear players stereotype female avatars as imposter males despite the fact that they will often secretly play into the belief that avatar gender needs to match physical gender.

While these virtual worlds are amazing playgrounds for exploration and helping people to develop a new sense of identity, a number of problems also arise from a reality with such loose of definitions. Age-old gender stereotypes, power struggles and conflicts are all wellknown side effects to this exploration. These issues are also not restricted to the metaverse alone, but instead, can also affect ones real life as well. When people grow so attached to these online extensions of self, those emotions tied to virtual interactions become real. Love, jealousy, infidelity and sex are all terms that can connect the real to the virtualeven if nothing occurs outside of pixilated avatars on the screen and some exchanged text speech, the emotions tied to them are often dangerously real to the majority of participants. There are a number of online relationships that have turned into lasting fulfilling relationships in reality, and may be considered more real than conventional means, but this does not necessarily reflect the norm. Quite often when real relationships develop out of the virtual connection, there are complications that can quickly halt an online relationship, no matter how connected those involve may be to one anotherthough this is nothing new to the world of love and sexuality. Love has been long present in virtual worlds and the Internet in general, as one element in a broader history of technologically mediated intimacy going back to even love lettersusing the Internet to find romancefor instance via an online dating service[is] no longer considered an aberrationwhat *does+ seem new *is+ that virtual worlds could be the location for the love relationship (Boellstorff 2008, 167) This was true for Jennifer, a player of the MMO World of Warcraft as she recounted to the UK Times, We spent every night sharing
photos and talking on webcam. In time we grew closer and closer. We didnt play WoW for the game

any longer, but rather to be together. Both of us were scared of our feelings but one night we declared our love for each other so a real-life romance was born in a computer game. (Frangoul 2010)

In a virtual world where relationships can be seen as real as those outside pixels, it is no wonder then that other real life issues are beginning to filter themselves into online reality. Significant others of online gamers often find themselves feeling jealous pangs when they perceive a friendship as more than that between their gamer and a fellow online participant. This is even more so an issue if they are found to have a relationship outside of what would be the gender or sexual norm of that person in reality (i.e. a heterosexual person having a homosexual experience online or vice versa) and can cause to stresses and identity questions within existing relationships. In some cases, an actual world husband would ask his wife to participate in Second life as a man or vice versa, in an attempt to forestall potential jealousies from engaging in sexual or romantic relationships with a virtual competitor (Boellstorff 2008, 142) Boellstorff goes on to discuss that some of his contacts also even outright refused to show their significant others their avatars (especially if it were the opposite gender), in fear of making them jealous. Gender and sexuality issues within these virtual worlds are not restricted to relationships and language alone. There is a growing voice coming from female gamers looking for equality and recognition within the perceived male-majority gaming environment. Dealing with a boys club type virtual reality creates power struggles between both genders whether implied or actual. While some aspects of the gaming world may be more highly populated by men, the world of virtual worlds and MMOs contains a much higher percentage of female gamers than many would like to believe. A Nielsen report published in 2009 found that women

aged 25 and older make up the largest block of gamers in the United States, accounting for 54.6 per cent of all game play minutes in December 2008. For WoW, the male/female ratio is fairly balanced, with 428,621 women between 25 and 54 playing in December 2008 versus 675,713 men in the same age group. (Frangoul 2010) With such a high percentage named as playing, its hard to believe that the voice of the community still seems to say that girls dont exist on the internet. Due to the seemingly rare-status of female gamers, it has caused those that do play (or men who pretend to be women gamers for this reason) to have a level of assumed power over their male counterparts. Women are seemingly given more in-game items, currency or treated nicer simply because they are believed to be (or known to be) real life women. At the same time, with the prestige associated with female gamerhood, there is another stigma attachedone that states that the only way any female gamer can achieve any level of wealth, prestige or rare items is because they are female and have had everything handed to them. In this light, they are considered ultimately unskilled themselves, relying on male counterparts to carry them through the hard stuff. As WoW.coms writer and female gamer Kelly Aaron writes, I've seen my fair share of guys who don't think you've got it. Or just because I have two X chromosomes I somehow can't pull some sweet DPS on a random heroic 5-man. (Aarons 2010) This kind of issue stems back to old ideas of strong men and weak women and bringing it into an entirely unrelated medium. While things have improved over the years, attitudes about gaming competency and gender are strongly tied together in the social memory. It's not always easy being a female gamer, especially in a very male-dominated gaming culture. I have heard of much less-forgiving people and guilds who make comments regarding our monthly cycles, certain body parts, personalities and the likeAt this point, sometimes the best thing to do is to beat the guys at their own game. (Aarons 2010) In some ways as much as these online environments can allow for identity, gender and sexual exploration for an individual, they also reignite old stereotypes under new messages to help give some sort of division people can understand and define themselves by. While countless female participants in

these virtual worlds excel of their own skill, there are plenty more who give into the stereotype and use it to their own advantage. This also includes those men who pretend to be women in order to manipulate others for free things. All of these issues help to solidify the stereotypes rather than to bring them down and unfortunately its a lot harder to tie down virtual stigmatization in the vast space of internet anonymity. In games such as Second Life, these gender and sexual representations have been known to be taken to the extreme, where virtual sexuality and gender choices can be used to produce real-life success. The virtual sex trade has moved beyond simple sales of pornography and live webcam access into the world of these virtual spaces. Service labour is seen as an acceptable means of making currency both in and out of these worlds by the community, though not always sanctioned by the game producers. Within Second Life, *p+robably the highest-paying jobwas sex workerrates during my fieldwork typically ran at 500-1000 linden dollars for 30 minutes of sexsex work often shaded into jobs like dancer and escort, though by no means did all dancers and escorts engage in prostitution. In theory a sex worker could freelance, but most worked in specific locations because they relied upon furniture containing scripts that animated avatars in a sexual manner (Boellstorff 2008, 215) While there are all kinds of variance in people who participated (either as providing the service or purchasing it), these kinds of sales often result in the reaffirmation of certain gender roles rather than shaking them up. Sex and sexuality as a commodity relies on specific ideas about culture and gender from the outside world. Without relying on these established ideas to some degree, a lot of these types of roleplay and gender association/participation would lose their meaning. With more and more diverse players beginning to voice their opinion on virtual matters, the reality of these online worlds is beginning to change. Players are beginning to further redefine gender, and sexuality within their expressions of the game but also bringing those identities more vocally into the real world. They are beginning to detach gender from typical roles or abilities and are moving

towards a new level of acceptance of other players wants, needs and actions. Unfortunately, however, the current way in which people live in and understand virtual worlds is often limited by their perceptions of reality. As discussions on gender and sexuality change in reality, so too do those shifting ideas trickle into and affect the metaverse. Due to the depth and breadth of these virtual spaces, however, it is harder to change established ideas or achieve any kind of consensus with ease. Just like in real world cultural views of sexuality and gender, the more discourse that occurs among the participants, the more likely things are to adapt to fit a new ideology. While one can never expect true equality, its important to see that virtual participants need to redefine and recognize traits that theyd normally associate with male or female identities as simply being human. I believe 100 per cent that women and men are equal in intellect and capability and men are equally capable of all the so-called female traits, like empathy and sociability. Balancing the genders brings out the best in both sides. So-called female traits are crucial to success in the game because players have to work together as a team and communicate effectively to achieve their goals theres no room for egos when youre trying to kill a giant dragon. (Frangoul 2010) The more open online gamers become and the more they begin to discover these traits within themselves, it is my hope that they will bring those ideas into the real world as well and change their view of gender roles entirely. Women can just as easily be good gamers just as men can be good housekeepers. Gender and sexuality are more than just binary aspects of life and what better place to learn new ways of thinking than in a virtual universe where everything is possible.

Bibliography
Aarons, Kelly. WoW.com. 03 01, 2010. http://www.wow.com/2010/03/01/love-raiding-and-everythingin-between-how-women-are-taking-c/ (accessed 03 18, 2010). Boellstorff, Tom. Coming of Age in Second Life. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2008. Frangoul, Phoebe. Times Online. 02 25, 2010. http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/article7039871.ece (accessed 03 18, 2010).