I’m posting this call for proposals here so that it can easily be found and revisited. If you see it and are interested, please feel free to submit a proposal.<\/p>\n
Call for Papers: \u201cTechnological Futures\u201d at the National Women\u2019s Studies Association Conference (November 13-16, 2014 in Puerto Rico) <\/strong><\/p>\n Abstracts due 2\/1\/2014<\/strong><\/p>\n The relationship between feminism and technology is a fraught one, whether we are discussing the dearth of women in technology-related fields, the treatment of women in online forums, or the representation of women in video games. A series of recent events have drawn both critical and media attention to the persistence of misogyny in and around video gaming: the online harassment of Anita Sarkeesian for her \u201cTropes vs. Women in Video Games\u201d feminist video series; the public backlash against the appointment of Julie Larson-Green as head of Microsoft\u2019s XBox division;protests mounted against female game developers Jennifer Hepler and Dina Abou Karam (among others); and the hypersexualized digital representations of female characters and avatars in popular games like World of Warcraft<\/em> and Grand Theft Auto<\/em>. These examples all reflect the extent to which a highly vocal segment within the gaming community has been resistant not only to feminist analysis and criticism, but to the presence of women \u2013 both real and digital \u2013 within that community.<\/p>\n Whether a cause or a product of this vocal resistance, women are under- and often mis-represented both in the industry and in games themselves. While women make up approximately 45% of the consumer gaming market and 70% of women aged 12 to 24 play video games according to Entertainment Software Association, they represent only 11% of designers and only 3% of programmers in the game industry. Despite the significant presence of female consumers, however, only 15% of video game characters are female, and even fewer are protagonists.<\/p>\n Drawing on NWSA conference sub-theme \u201cTechnologizing Futures,\u201d this session invites papers focused on the role of women in video games and the gaming community more broadly. We welcome papers from a range of disciplines that analyze the role of women (and\/or trans*women) in games and gaming culture, including both humanities and social science methodologies. Potential topics for analysis might include, but are not limited to:<\/p>\n *analysis of the relationship between individual games and the institutionalized (and often unintentional) misogynist culture of the industry<\/p>\n *critical challenges to the culture of video game misogyny, including online activism<\/p>\n *feminist narrative and\/or ludic analysis of individual video games<\/p>\n *feminist interventions in and alternatives to mainstream gaming culture<\/p>\n *narrative and\/or ludic analysis of recent feminist \u201cindie\u201d games and production companies<\/p>\n *intersectionality and gaming culture, including resistance to marginalized identities and\/or the development of intersectional \u201cindie\u201d games (such as Dys4ia<\/em>)<\/p>\n *feminist pedagogy and the place of video games in the women\u2019s studies classroom<\/p>\n Please send a one page abstract accompanied by a 100 word truncated abstract (an NWSA requirement) to both Dr. Kristin Bezio (kbezio@richmond.edu) and Dr. Jennifer L. Airey (jennifer-airey@utulsa.edu) by February 1, 2014. Each panelist will speak for approximately 15 minutes with time for Q&A after the fact.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"