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1. “Everyone creates stereotypes. We cannot function in the world without them.” (S. Gilman)

1.1 Revisit the first exercise (mapping of you & the other). What are the assumptions you (still) have about the ‘user group’? How were they debunked or confirmed?

Community driven: confirmed. I saw that there was a wide variety of communities, and especially in the queer communities that we mostly researched, community is very important. What stood out to me was the importance & variety of guidelines and “systems” created within this community.

Mostly male: debunked, I found an article that said the male/female ratio is more or less 50/50 nowadays.

Mostly straight/mostly cis: confirmed, the “Gaymer” community is HUGE, and there is a big variety of subgroups, queer gamer websites, etc. But in percentages, LGBTQ+ gamers make up only 10 percent.

Anti-social: debunked, gamers have a huge online community and make friends online to have friendships that work on their terms. They are highly social beings.

Gamers are nerds & losers: debunked (change of opinion), the gaming lifestyle is an act of rebellion. I admire them for building their own world and society.

1.2 Write down your personal interest in this group? What are you curious about? How do you relate to this group (positive of negative); do you want to be part of it, do you admire them, are you more negative about them?

My personal interest in this group started because I was aware that I had so many stereotypes about gamers. I saw the gaming community as quite a toxic place, with a lot of homophobia and racism. I wanted to see if this was true, and if so, what countermovements could be found within the community. I also admit that I saw gamers as nerds, losers and as very uncool.

2. Signifiers that stereotype: Objects and their meaning

2.1 Which existing stereotypes have you found about your group? Describe them.
The IT worker: gamers are very smart and work in technical IT jobs.
The Obese: gamers are obese because of their unhealthy eating habits and the lack of physical exercise.
The Cosplayer: gamers love cosplay and participate in it and go to cosplay conventions.
The Junkfood Lover: gamers have unhealthy eating habits and love junk food and snacks.
The anime lover: gamers really love anime and hentai own a lot of anime merch.

Interesting paper about stereotypes in gaming:
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Factor-Loadings-for-All-Factors-and-Factor-Items-for-Gamers-n-176-and-Nongamers-n_tbl1_258127460

2.2 Fragmentation and Fetishized: Which objects (e.g. food, products, clothes, part of the body) are used to stereotype with? Where did you find them? In which shape, form or media (jokes, sayings, news, tv, politics, shops, history, education,…)
Food: Hot Cheetos, crisps, burgers, pizza.
Clothes: Anime/gaming merchandise, dirty clothes (foodstains), hoodies, sweatpants, cosplay.
Behaviour: anti-social, rude, sexually frustrated, fetishises Asian women.
Language: Nerd and geek are often associated with gamers.

Where: cartoons (like South Park, the Simpsons), news, any stock image about gamers, commercials.

3. The effect of stereotypes: Power and discrimination

3.1 Who spreads these stereotypes about your usergroup? What do you assume their intention is? Did you find examples of discrimination, ongoing conflicts, historic events or other injustices where stereotypes are used to control or overpower your ‘user group’? Which system of oppression is it part of (racism, classism, agism, sexism?)
The one who spreads these stereotypes are usually masculine males with a very different lifestyle and personality type than gamers. These people are usually goal-oriented and part of a performance-focussed society (with performance meaning for them, success as in the American Dream: a good job, a nice car, a family et cetera).

The gamer movement started in the 90s on platforms like GeoCities, which can be seen as a continuation of zine culture. Gaming was part of alternative culture back then, which can explain why it’s still seen a kind of “outsider” group.
Racism may also be a factor. Video games started seeping into western cultures because of the arcade games, usually made by Japanese gaming companies like Nintendo. People who liked these arcade games, started to appreciate the Japanese elements of the games: the clothing, the language, the way of portraying the character. That’s why in gamer culture there’s often a link with anime culture. The appreciation of a non-western culture, especially a Japanese one, was seen as kind of odd and even problematic. Realise that the Vietnam War and even Pearl Harbour were still recent events when videogames started becoming popular.

Systems of oppression: racism (see above), classism (because gamers reject the American Dream ideal), maybe also agism because gaming is seen as the youth’s way to waste time.

3.2 Have you found examples where your ‘social group’ is reversing the stereotype; using the known stereotypes and appropriating them for their own cause? (see more Hall, 5.1: Reversing the stereotype).
Yes, think of the “Geek Chic” fashion trend, or the “Geek Chic” portrayal of Anime characters. Think of gamer youtubers and streamers who can be their “nerdiest” selves and make money from it. Think of E-Sports, where “gaming all day everyday”, becomes something cool and admirable, a sign of persistence, not laziness. In games and fanfiction where the shy, nerdy gamer is the protagonist and hero of the story.