But can it make men cry?: Gender, affect, and legitimacy in debates about video dames as art

• In Event: Race, Gender, and Video Games: Exploring Alternatives

Abstract

The question of whether video games can be considered “art” has been the topic of debate in both popular culture and academia for decades. This debate has recently come to the fore with the release of growing numbers of non-traditional, artistic games. In the articles and discussions that surround this debate, the measure of games-as-art is commonly whether or not they can make players--and especially men--cry. This paper uses discourse analysis methods to identify and critique the ways the games-as-art debate reflects and perpetuates discrimination notions about the relationship between gender, affect, and legitimacy.

Presenter

• Bonnie Ruberg, University of California, Irvine