Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Social Development and Media Communication (SDMC 2021)

The Female Body and Experience in Chinese Multiplayer Online Battle Arena Games

Authors
Suoyi Zhang1, *
1Department of English, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, King’s College London, Strand, London, WC2R2L5, United Kingdom.
*Corresponding author. Email: k1924746@kcl.ac.uk
Corresponding Author
Suoyi Zhang
Available Online 17 January 2022.
DOI
10.2991/assehr.k.220105.206How to use a DOI?
Keywords
visual culture; digital culture; gaming; multiplayer online battle arena; moba
Abstract

This paper sets out to discuss the implications of female representation in Chinese Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games for female players. Due to the sexist treatment of women in the gaming sphere, this paper hopes to open new discussions of how visual representation of women in games is harmful for female players. By examining a 2020 case study conducted by Tingting Liu and Zishan Lai on a top Chinese MOBA and applying various works by Judith Butler, Mary Ann Doane and Laikwan Pang, gaming is considered as a performance, masquerade or distorting mirror in which gender is explored. The visual representation of women in games puts forward a distorted view of female players and therefore influences the way male players view female players and how female players view themselves. Although it is a shame that this topic should be discussed from a cis-normative angle, perhaps through discussing the dynamics between cis-genders can this paper bring up new topics. Ultimately, this paper hopes to provide a more holistic view of the issue by pointing out possible links between the subjects and to better understand the possible gender bias present in mainstream MOBA games with a broad reach of audience.

Copyright
© 2022 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.
Open Access
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Social Development and Media Communication (SDMC 2021)
Series
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research
Publication Date
17 January 2022
ISBN
978-94-6239-512-1
ISSN
2352-5398
DOI
10.2991/assehr.k.220105.206How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2022 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.
Open Access
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license.

Cite this article

TY  - CONF
AU  - Suoyi Zhang
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/01/17
TI  - The Female Body and Experience in Chinese Multiplayer Online Battle Arena Games
BT  - Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Social Development and Media Communication (SDMC 2021)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 1125
EP  - 1129
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.220105.206
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.220105.206
ID  - Zhang2022
ER  -