Don't Let the Girls Play: Gender Representation in Videogame Journalism and the Influence of Hegemonic Masculinity, Media Filters, and Message Mediatio

The researcher proposed that videogame magazines and journalists were misrepresenting the full breadth of modern videogame players, specifically women. Based on a foundation of Hegemonic Masculinity, the researcher conducted frame analyses of select magazines and in-depth interviews with select journalists. The researcher used Herman & Chomsky and Shoemaker & Reese as theoretical background and the standards proposed by the Hutchins commission and the Society of Professional Journalists to analyze the frames and interviews. The researcher found that women avatars were either ignored or portrayed as sex objects in the magazines, and that women videogame players were frequently mocked or insulted. Analyses further revealed that videogame journalists subscribe to an Ideology of Anxiety, primarily based on their fear-driven relationship with videogame developers and publishers.