Day 3/10 of the anti-racist #gamestudies thread series
I’m looking at @lnakamur s text “Racism, Sexism and Gaming’s Cruel Optimism”, the afterword of the book Gaming Representation.
It's a great reminder to check what we mean when we say inclusion:
👇✨
lnakamur.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/nakamu…
I’m looking at @lnakamur s text “Racism, Sexism and Gaming’s Cruel Optimism”, the afterword of the book Gaming Representation.
It's a great reminder to check what we mean when we say inclusion:
👇✨
lnakamur.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/nakamu…
Nakamura starts by exploring common ways to think about sexism and racism in gaming, drawing on her experience teaching racially diverse games classes.
Minority students generally agree that there is sexism and racism in gaming. But they also have 2 solutions to fix this.
Minority students generally agree that there is sexism and racism in gaming. But they also have 2 solutions to fix this.
solution 1: just hire more diverse creators!
This assumes that games themselves produce racism and sexism, and that throwing different people at the problem can solve it. In Nakamura’s words, the “presence of more female and racialized bodies will immunize the media products”.
This assumes that games themselves produce racism and sexism, and that throwing different people at the problem can solve it. In Nakamura’s words, the “presence of more female and racialized bodies will immunize the media products”.
solution 2: encourage diverse gamers to become better at gaming. This assumes that marginalised players should go ahead and “prove their worth” by gaining better skills than other players. This will show them! Nakamura coins a phrase for this solution: “procedural meritocracy”.
Procedural meritocracy frames inclusion in terms of a success story. “She was harassed and catcalled and then she pwned them and gained their respect.”
The problem with this story? Not being harassed becomes a privilege to be earned rather than a basic right of all players.
The problem with this story? Not being harassed becomes a privilege to be earned rather than a basic right of all players.
This is what Nakamura means by cruel optimism: Believing in meritocratic play as the path to acceptance and respectability for minorities and women in sexist and racist gaming cultures. Why is it cruel? Because it trains us to see social justice as something we have to work for.
Both, meritocracy and cruel optimism are terms borrowed from Lauren Berlant’s book Cruel Optimism.
Berlant describes meritocracy as a fantasy of fairness in capitalist societies: Particularly in times of crisis this can lead to harmful attachments to an unreachable "good life".
Berlant describes meritocracy as a fantasy of fairness in capitalist societies: Particularly in times of crisis this can lead to harmful attachments to an unreachable "good life".
For Nakamura, the procedural, algorithmic quality of games presents itself as a version of the "good life".
Gaming gives us a nice contrast to the ongoing unfairness of economic life. Unlike IRL, we get pleasure, we get results. Success in gaming “ignites desires for fairness”.
Gaming gives us a nice contrast to the ongoing unfairness of economic life. Unlike IRL, we get pleasure, we get results. Success in gaming “ignites desires for fairness”.
However, “The attachment to games can be a cruel one for all players, but especially for those who are subject to even more unfair proceduralities and forms of systematic discrimination in real life.” Nakamura mentions a certain gamer hate campaign from 2014 as an example.
Game devs who are driven out of their homes for fear of their lives show the “precariousness of the good life for those who are not white males”.
The mere existence of such threats show that there is no level playing field for women and PoC
The mere existence of such threats show that there is no level playing field for women and PoC
Solutions cannot be simple because players of colours must negotiate their painful attachments both to games and to the meritocracy myth.
Nakamura’s text highlights the quality of games as sites of struggle between pleasure and self-harm especially for minority players.
Nakamura’s text highlights the quality of games as sites of struggle between pleasure and self-harm especially for minority players.
The struggle continues...
I recommend you check out the author's more recent perspectives on racism in video conferencing. here is a teaser:
I recommend you check out the author's more recent perspectives on racism in video conferencing. here is a teaser:
continue to day 4:
