The+Foundation+of+the+Digital+Gender+Divide



// **THE FOUNDATION OF THE DIGITAL GENDER DIVIDE** //

// **Arcade Culture** //

// As video games rose to popularity in the late 70’s and early 80’s, the arcade became a haven for boys. It was a virtual Mecca for blooming gamers, a breeding ground for what was to become a nation of addicted virtual battle heroes and cyberspace sports celebrities. Arcades were spaces where boys went to expend adrenaline in front of the screen and socialize on the side. It was loud, fast, full of “bells and whistles,” explosions, noises of electronic victory, and social competition. The games available were primarily simulations of driving cars and shooting guns. The arcade was a place for kids to gather and have fun without the strains of parental guidance and school regulations. //

// However, this liberating and expressive youth subculture was devoid of female representation for precisely the reasons it was so attractive to boys. Girls could not identify with the game settings and subjects and were not driven to competition. Despite the obvious social aspect of arcades, the atmosphere left little room for expressive and compassionate interactions among comrades – qualities that, according to Joel Cooper and Kimberly D. Weaver of Princeton University in their book //Gender and Computers//, are typical, if not usually necessary for girl-friendly social situations. “It is also true that girls tend to do quite well in so-called “cooperative learning tasks where the outcome of a lesson depends on the cooperation and communication among peers,” explain Cooper and Weaver. //(Cooper, Weaver 2003, pg 44)// Video game arcades allowed gamers to retreat into individual game consoles, which calculate wins and ratings by an objective point system instead of a cooperative system of problem solving. Therefore, girls felt estranged from this particular partially-social experience and were left with a limited knowledge of popular media technologies and how to use them.

Although arcades are no longer a Friday night destination for boys, the same culture has been translated into the home with portable game devices such as GameBoys, and home systems such as X-Box III.