How do exclusionary boundaries persist in consumption subcultures amid increased progress, representation, and inclusion? In video gaming, women have come to represent nearly half of the market, yet this is a limited indicator of gender-based progress. A culture of masculine dominance persists. Extending previous research on boundary work, the authors employ a cultural perspective of tokenism to examine how gendered boundaries in consumption subcultures persist despite efforts to transform or even eradicate them. This qualitative study draws on interviews with twenty-three gamers who identify as women (ages 19-29), coupled with data from social media platforms, news media, and industry reports. Empirical findings capture the recursive process of maladaptive boundary crossing: how women’s efforts to subvert gendered boundaries at the micro-level (e.g., through response enactments) get churned through the structuring tokenistic mechanics of boundary work at the meso-level and result in the inadvertent cultural persistence of masculine dominance. The analysis offers a conceptual framework that explains how micro-meso level dynamics perpetuate and conceal inequity in consumption subcultures. Implications address the precarious promise of progress and the cultural legacy of tokenism in the marketplace with particular relevance to broader systems of domination.
Jung, Garbarino, Briley, and Wynhausen’s (this issue) findings, though intriguing, leave critical unanswered questions that warrant further inquiry into the role of political ideology on consumption. We posit three research questions that constitute a sociocultural research agenda on the role of political ideology on marketplace redress.
As video game technology has evolved, so too has the gendered nature of the video gaming subculture. This chapter characterizes the broad cultural context of gaming and the shifting social patterns of gendered game play. By reviewing existing research at the intersection of gender, gaming, and consumption, we identify three primary research opportunities to build upon existing research: understanding consumers' lived experiences in the gendered gaming subculture, exploring the gendered gaming marketplace (e.g., shopping, advertising), and investigating the systemic, structural, and cultural underpinnings of gaming. Existing research in the field is not exhaustive nor complete; rather, opportunities for research identify gaps that should be examined more fully by building on existing foundational research. We also address potential challenges of conducting gender-based research in the context of gaming
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