Act like a woman, play like a man: How online manhood acts lead to inequitable outcomes.

• In Event: 2164 - Internet and Society: Connection and Integration

Abstract

At this stage in its development it is likely that there is a generalized lack of awareness that electronic gaming has become both a hugely popular spectator sport and lucrative career path. Top cyber-athletes now earn incomes on a par with other professional athletes. The advent of Twitch.tv which streams a live feed of gamers in action, allowed on-line game-play to expand from a recreational leisure activity to a billion-dollar industry. Millions of people across the world tune in daily to watch professional game “streamers” broadcasting live video footage of their game-play whilst interacting with their viewers via webcam and chat window. The current study capitalizes on the rapid emergence of pro-gaming in late-modern industry to expand on interactionist theories of masculinities by investigating the prevalence and impact of manhood acts on the internet. Our study builds on recent studies that have identified a variety of ways young men project a masculine persona online in lieu of a male body. On conducting a content analysis of videographic data and the chat transcripts of popular male and female streamers, we discovered how interaction patterns of both female and male streamers and their audiences, result in inequitable outcomes. This study builds upon previous studies on virtual manhood acts by, first providing a specific example of how gender inequality ensues in online contexts where such acts persist, and second by addressing the role of women’s agency in these contexts.

Author

• Andrey Kasimov, McMaster University