蓝莓视频

When Elise Vist entered the gaming world she felt she had to prove herself not just as a gamer - but as a woman in gaming.

So when she arrived at the University of 蓝莓视频 to pursue doctoral studies, she co-founded , a Games Institute group designed to raise the profile of women in gaming.

鈥淚 wanted a space to talk about what it felt like to be a woman who plays games,鈥� says Vist, a PhD student in the Department of English Language and Literature, who co-founded the group with researchers, Emma Vossen and Judy Ehrentraut

Teaching women how to create games

Last semester, the group hosted a number of game nights with an emphasis on teaching women how to play and create games. They hope to expand their offerings to include more workshops for women in gaming. The website is also used to talk about games from a female perspective.

The researchers were inspired after taking a class on adaptations of Lord of the Rings. The series didn鈥檛 resonate with them so they created a machinima 鈥� a short film recorded inside of a video game 鈥� entitled .

They created female characters in Lord of the Rings Online and reenacted the first four chapters of The Fellowship of the Ring. 鈥淲e wanted to show that you can change the gender of the main characters and still be true to the text without reinforcing stereotypes,鈥� said Vist. 鈥淏eing able to rewrite the story for ourselves created a sense of empowerment as women.鈥� With Frodo and Sam portrayed as women, the two felt a stronger attachment to the narrative, says Vist.

Lord of the Rings characters Frodo and Sam re-imagined as women in .

Is the gaming community aware of women鈥檚 concerns?

Although academics and scholars have identified the problem, the conversation hasn鈥檛 gained traction in the gaming community, says Vist. 鈥淪cholars in the field are looking for solutions but the conversations outside of academia are still largely about identifying whether there is a problem.鈥�

As a second year PhD student, Vist鈥檚 research focus has shifted to the world of fan studies. She is looking at how fan fiction writers position themselves in opposition to dominant forces in the literary world. Many parallels can be drawn between this and her work with the GI Janes:听 many women gamers and developers frequently have to carve out and defend spaces for themselves, much as fans do.

Vist says she will continue to work to carve out a space for women in a culture that is still dominated by men. 鈥淭he GI Janes are more about activism than research,鈥� says Vist. 鈥淚t is important that we remain an on-the-ground organization.鈥澨�