Beyond texts: Using queer readings to document LGBTQ game content

Abstract

Queer readings of texts allow audiences, queer or not, to see the possibility for queerness in media that does not explicitly name LGBTQ identities. At times these readings are intended by creators but they need not be, as audiences themselves help establish the queer potential of texts through their own reception practices. Studying queerly read content in media necessarily requires moving beyond a singular textual object, as authorship, fandom, and reception practices are all central to identifying queerly readable content in media. Yet scholarship on queerly reading digital game texts has largely relied upon close academic readings of the text itself. Drawing on our ongoing project documenting a large number of games with LGBTQ or queerly read content, herein we argue that given the unprecedented access to fan queer readings online communities make available, we can expand our methodological toolkit for documenting this content. Specifically, rather than considering fan queer readings as data to be analyzed on its own, we argue that these sources can be read alongside game content and producer statements as evidence of queerness in game texts. That is, by moving beyond the text, scholars can address a larger scope of queer reading practices as well as properly value fan work. We conclude that queer readings available in these spaces allow us to archive and preserve queer reception activities, but also allow fans actively shape the meaning of these texts.

Players’ perceptions of sexuality and gender-inclusive video games a pragmatic content analysis of steam reviews

“…In fact, some reviewers noted that the appeal of escapism in games was to engage with this opportunity for expansive empathetic experience. Deconstructing games as texts (Shaw and Persaud, 2020) then should include not simply the games in isolation, but also the experience gamers have of those games as they play.…”

“…Conversely, various authors touch on the lack of understanding of LGBTQ individuals’ relationship with media (Campbell, 2000; Condis, 2015; Floegel & Costello, 2019; Ouellette, 2013). Other studies grapple with the differences in Queer representation by LGBTQ creators and how that compares to the representation of Queer characters by non-Queer creators (cis/het) (Bragança et al, 2016; Shaw & Persaud, 2020; Ouelette, 2013). Bragança, Mota, and Fantini (2016) outline this difference in terms of the complexity of representation, which is more nuanced and expansive in the work of LGBTQ creators with regard to Queer experience(s).…”

“…Bragança, Mota, and Fantini (2016) outline this difference in terms of the complexity of representation, which is more nuanced and expansive in the work of LGBTQ creators with regard to Queer experience(s). The authors further note that widespread representation leads to acceptance, so much the better if those representations are authentic and nuanced, and accurately reflect the experiences of LGBTQ people (Bragança et al, 2016; Shaw and Persaud, 2020).…”

Beauty From the Waist Up: Twitch Drag, Digital Labor, and Queer Mediated Liveness

“…Despite the relative novelty of game live streaming as a medium, our study is firmly rooted in a longer tradition of queer media studies research. Taking niche queer subcultures and their interpretive work seriously as an object of study builds on past work on queer readings and implicitly and explicitly queer media (Benshoff and Griffin 2006;Gross 2001;Ruberg and Shaw 2017;Russo 1987;Sender 2005;Shaw and Persaud 2020). As Shaw (2015) has shown, it is unwise to capture the diverse experiences of queer gamers under a simple slogan like "Representation matters!," without inviting questions of "how?," "why or why not?," and "for whom?."…”

“…Despite the relative novelty of game live streaming as a medium, our study is firmly rooted in a longer tradition of queer media studies research. Taking niche queer subcultures and their interpretive work seriously as an object of study builds on past work on queer readings and implicitly and explicitly queer media (Benshoff and Griffin 2006; Gross 2001; Ruberg and Shaw 2017; Russo 1987; Sender 2005; Shaw and Persaud 2020). As Shaw (2015) has shown, it is unwise to capture the diverse experiences of queer gamers under a simple slogan like “Representation matters!,” without inviting questions of “how?,” “why or why not?,” and “for whom?.” Observation of these communities, as they wrestle with questions of representation “live,” between fellow queer streamers and their queer audiences, offers a timely contribution to queer media studies, as well as broadening scholarly understandings of Twitch and notions of internet microcelebrity on social media platforms with live streaming capabilities.…”