Gamer Girls: Going Online in the Age of Misogynist Terrorism

Abstract

This chapter argues that realistic ludic fiction claims a space for females in a culture that has historically allowed an environment of discrimination to flourish. Beyond carving out a safe place for girls to claim agency in this participatory culture, the central example in this chapter, Cory Doctorow’s graphic novel In Real Life, also suggests how that the business of gaming enables exploitation of workers in developing nations. As such, it models how young players can use gaming as an opportunity to develop an ethical awareness of economic conditions around the world, and to protest against global economic inequity.