The first part of this research project, detailed in the previous post, explored what games youth are playing and how they use games to manage their feelings and shape their identity. In other words, games and the self.
The second part of the research, explored in this post, is about the community context of games. More specifically, it is about where youth encounter games in their neighborhood and online communities, about the local impact of games, and about how youth’s cultural background intersects with gaming.
7. WHERE TO FIND GAMES IN THEIR COMMUNITIES
In surveys, we asked the students in the Gaming Advisory to describe the role games play in their community, and then we discussed their responses. It was hard for them at first to think about video games outside their home and schools – at first saying it was rare to see them, or it was too dangerous to have them in public (“What kind of mad person plays games on a subway? Keep it in your dang bag, man”). Given time and the right prompts, however, they eventually described how ubiquitous gaming is throughout their communities.
Through a digital hands-on activity, we asked them to go to Google maps and take a screen shot of any community they like. Then, inspired by the young boy’s adventures in the comic strip Family Circus, they were asked to annotate their map with locations where they might encounter games. Below is one example, with text transcription from the creator’s audio overview:
“So the person starts off at the library, where they’re just kind of like searching up different games. And then they move on to the train station where they see some people playing on their switch. And then they move on to the boba shop. And they’re just like watching a playthrough video in the store window, since some boba shops play TVs. And then they move into a restaurant where they eat some food and they see a child playing on their iPad, because I feel like we’ve all seen that before. And then they move on to Anime Castle, which is basically like an anime store and they see someone buy a game figure, probably some sort of droid from Zelda. And then they move on to High School where they see a gaming club, like talking and playing games, and then they’re at home.”
After all the maps were completed, we tallied up the most common locations and found quotes from individual maps to support each one. We then gave that list of locations and quotes to one of the teens with the request to turn it into a composite map, representing the most common locations teens in the G.A. encounter video games.
9. THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE IMPACT OF GAMING WITHIN THEIR COMMUNITIES
When asked, “What would your communities lose without video games?” a sense of connection was by far the most common benefit the G.A. saw video games bringing to their communities. As one student said, “Video games help to connect people.” (Students were able to choose more than one option. N=16)
When asked the follow-up question, “Is there anything you would like to change about how video games impact your community and, if so, what?” their interest in expanding accessibility and inclusivity within their community stands out. (N=16)
While video games were viewed as a powerful force that brought people together in their physical communities, it was also a tool that through sexism and racism kept them apart from their online communities.
When we we explored where the prejudice of others impacted their relationship with games, sexism against female players was the most common concern raised, followed by racism. They consistently reported being angered and devalued by these experiences, and the sense of powerlessness that accompanied them. Their most common short-term responses were to either leave the game or silence their microphone. Their long-term strategy is to hide – to hide their femininity, to play worse if they are a girl, and other tactics that hide their identity.
When it came to sexism, sometimes they pointed to the design of games. “I think games also feed into the sexism,” wrote one of the female students, “because most of their characters are hourglass skinny and small which feeds into misogyny.” When asked, “Do video games portray women poorly?” they all thought that they did.
Most often, however, the concerns were about other online players. “A lot of the time people either think you are the e-girl stereotype or they just either talk over you as if you’re not there :/”. If pushed, the boys could talk about witnessing the sexism and their guilt at not intervening. “Not gonna lie,” shared one boy in a focus group, “I be bystanding sometimes when stuff like that happens and I always think later on ‘man I should’ve said something’.”
Racism is encountered in everything from how users present themselves online to the trash talk during games. “Some of the usernames I’ve encountered are so blatantly racist,” shared one student, “that I had to put down the game.” Another student shared, “While playing multiplayer games, I got, like, hate crimed a few times. People would just say the N word to me, yada, yada, yada… I have to take a break from the game because it’s just not good for my mental health.”
When asked, “Do video games portray minorities poorly?” most all thought that they did.
There was often an understanding that inequities within the game design industry are at the root of the problem: “The majority of the gaming industry is still male, white, and cis. [I want to see] a little bit more diversity behind the works.” But even when gaming companies step up to the challenge, it is gamers that needs to respond in kind, and often fall short. “The developers [of Apex] Legends [say] ‘Most of our characters are LGBTQ,” shared one student, “and then the people who play the game are like homophobic and transphobic. So it’s just like a disconnect from the community and what developers kind of want to do.”
Few confronted the prejudice directly and none reported doing so successfully. “This definitely stops me from talking about the different games I play,” shared one girl, “because I don’t want to draw attention to myself. Even then I feel like I have to play worse when I play fighting games because of this.” Often, to protect themselves, the students just leave the game. “If I would ever get called n-slur or f-slur,” shared one student, “I would just leave the game and que for another game because I know that I can’t do much besides report, but I still feel bad and just avoid that game for a little bit even if I enjoy playing.” We only encountered one girl who found a way to address the sexism that she found effective: “Anytime I experience sexism… I try to prove them wrong. I don’t even bother trying to argue… I’d rather just show them who I am rather than tell them, you know?”
For many the sexism and racism they experience in online gaming is a reflection of prejudice in the wide-world. For many these environments become a training ground for the general powerlessness they feel about doing anything to change it.
In the next and final post we will look at how NYC teens use video games to shape their futures.
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