Of Strong Women and Terrible Writing in Games: Toxic Masculinity Strikes Back

Abstract

A recurring theme in game studies over the past twenty years has been calls for better representations of women, LGBTQ folks, and persons of color in games, all of whom have frequently been sidelined and excluded in game narratives (Cassell and Jenkins 2000; Jansz and Martis 2007; Williams et al. 2009; Sarkeesian 2013; Malkowski & Russworm 2017). Yet virtual worlds and their narratives change over time, and many scholars and journalists have claimed that representation in games is improving (Elliman 2017; Greer 2018). This paper focuses on Guild Wars 2 (ArenaNet 2012) and World of Warcraft’s newest expansion, Battle for Azeroth (2018), to trace how long-standing problems with gender representation and toxic masculinity in games are currently evolving. In particular, both games recently featured women as the leaders in their stories, but often did so by simply slotting them into roles previously filled by male characters. Male gamers in both games have responded to these strong female characters by calling them examples of “terrible writing” and even harassing writers working on the game. Ultimately, the paper argues that merely increasing representation of women in games does little to destabilize existing power structures or combat toxic masculinity in gaming, and a simple teleology of representation improving over time is inadequate for transforming gaming cultures (Jones 2018; Salter & Blodgett 2017). As virtual worlds continue to evolve, they must directly confront and dismantle toxic masculinity.