Joguinho de mulher: tecnologia, gênero e celular como plataforma de jogos eletrônicos

Abstract

This research seeks to understand the relationships between gender and smartphones in the practice of playing video games. To this end, a microsocial analysis of the gamer community, the mobile phone as a gaming platform, and the related power dynamics, biased by gender, within these spaces was conducted. For the theoretical development regarding the medium, the works of Innis (2011), Meyrowitz (1997; 2001), Val Dusek (2008ab), and Winner (1986) were used, with the aim of understanding concepts such as monopolies of knowledge, politics in artifacts, technological neutrality, and how the relationships between subjects can be influenced by the media. Gender technology was addressed based on Wajcman (1998) and Lauretis (1987), in which the authors explore the different ways in which technologies and discourses incorporate gender biases that contribute to the maintenance of female subjugation. To understand gamer culture and community, Shaw (2010), Gray (2014; 2017; 2018) and Kellner (2001) were used, seeking to understand how cultures are born in the digital world, the characteristics of the gamer community as a culture, and how its internal relationships are based on a masculine and technological structure.To better understand the subject-object relationship, the methodology used was a focus group approach, conducted remotely and online, in which we sought to understand the possible relationships of the cell phone as a platform, its delegitimization, and the gender of those who use it for electronic games. Following this, content analysis was performed based on the impressions brought by the participants, within categories supported by theoretical approaches. The main findings of the research were: the presence of social biases, specifically gender biases, within the participants' gaming experience; community spaces can be hostile, not only to minorities; difficulty in linking gamer identity to women, a result of a techno-masculine culture; female participants may feel guilty about setting aside time to play; gamer identity as self-declaration; the cell phone as an accessible device, but secondary as a gaming platform; the cell phone as a bridge to increase the diversity of players in the community; the characteristics of the cell phone limit it as a platform. Finally, the gender biases linked to the cell phone are the same that permeate the gaming community. In a community that has a standard gamer profile, one that uses consumption and competitiveness as status symbols, and where traditionalism reinforces a niche identity that no longer corresponds to reality, any hardware, and especially any game, that could facilitate and provide greater access to video games, can be delegitimized.