MULHERES GAMERS: Um estudo sobre resistência e sociabilidade a partir de uma comunidade na rede social Facebook

Abstract

Historically, games were predominantly associated with a male audience, which reinforced gender stereotypes and the hypersexualization of female characters in games. Often, female characters in games are portrayed as objectified, passive, and dependent on male heroes, perpetuating unhealthy expectations about who can consume or participate in game culture. Despite these barriers, many women retain a genuine interest in digital games. In response to an often hostile environment, many women choose to hide their gender using neutral pseudonyms (nicknames), seeking to minimize aggression during online gaming experiences. Additionally, some find refuge in female-only communities on social media such as Facebook, where they can share their love of gaming and build friendship networks. In this sense, this research focuses on understanding women's practices of resistance and sociability to feel part of the gamer community, despite the persistent presence of machismo and cisheteronormativity. The general objective is to analyze how these closed communities highlight the asymmetries in women's participation in gamer culture, examining the sexist mechanisms that operate in this context. We understand that the normalization of gender as colonial (Lugones, 2020; Foucault, 1988; Haraway, 1995) conditions the presence of women in this games industry, often excluding them (Kurtz, 2017; Falcão; Kurtz; Macedo, 2021; Caetano, 2020). We intend to deepen our understanding of virtual communities and the implications of toxic technocultures in this coexistence (Recuero, 2009; Rheingold, 1996; Soares, 2019), understanding that resistance is a care strategy in gamer (Foucault, 2008; Hicks, 2021; Gray, 2021). Methodologically, we opted for the choice of Virtual Ethnography (Hine, 2000; 2016) in conjunction with the principles of Multisituated/Multilocalized Ethnography (Hine, 2016; Oliveira, 2017; Marcus, 1995), a highly reflective method that enables a rapprochement between the researcher and the observed subjects, which can bring new perspectives and advances in research. This study will contribute to a deeper understanding of women's experiences in gamer culture and can provide valuable information to promote inclusion and gender equality in this scenario.