The Article by Elizabeth Hayes
The article Women Video Gaming &Llearning Beyond Stereotypes by Elizabeth Hayes is an attempt by the author to demystify the gendered stereotyping in video gaming. The chief argument of the article is that the gender disparity in video gaming is due to stereotypes of women.
These stereotypes are reinforced by assumptions in biological and physiological gender capabilities that have not been interrogated by science. The assumptions that have contributed to the video gaming disparities of the genders post that women do not want to play certain types of games. They want only to play feminine and non-violent games. The main purpose of the article is to disabuse the reader of the above-mentioned assumptions that have seen the stereotyping of video gaming. The author wants to show that women do play traditional video games meant for men.
The factors that have made them not play are not biological or physiological. Rather they are such factors as a lack of experience in gaming, change of gaming preferences and past identities. The author has carried out the study examining the gaming experience of two graduate women who egistered for fifty hours of gaming as a part of their graduate program. The two women, Joanna and Deirdre, pursued two different paths in video gaming. The results disabuse the reader of the gender stereotypes that are common in video gaming.
The main psychological concept that has been used is the postulation of nurture over nature. Traditionally, women have not fared well in video gaming because they have not being exposed to gaming long enough. Nurture but not nature is to be blamed for the dismal performance of women in gaming.Concluding the article, the author comes up with several recommendations. One of the recommendations is that gender stereotyping should be avoided. The author also posts that all women should not be assumed to be alike.
Scaffolding for new gamers should be provided and the game design should be considered in totality but not in isolated parts. Lastly, the author concludes that a supportive context should be drawn up for gaming. The conclusions drawn by the author are quite significant. If the recommendations by the author are followed, they would have a wide impact on video gaming. This is because the provision of scaffollding for new gamers would see much more women taking video games that are more adventurous. Treating women gamers individually would enable the talented ones to gain so much, and get an edge over men.
The provision of a supportive atmosphere would see more women venture into gaming. The aim of the article is to remove gender stereotypes. Doing this will revolutionize video gaming.It is critical to note that one of the potential problems with the way the author has used information is that she has used it selectively. She has completely ignored the psychological postulation of nature. It is quite critical to note that women and men are different.
By posting that changing our stereotypes will greatly change women video gaming, the author has opened an assortment of problems. This might not be possible. The journals, which she has quoted, are peer-reviewed journals. They are relevant to this investigation. By reading them as well as many others, this author can have enough information to determine the validity of the article by Hayes. The point of view that has been ignored by Hayes is the one that has been raised about nature over nurture.
Otherwise, the article is quite revealing
