What: “Beyond Damsels in Distress: Moving Towards Intersectionality in Feminist Game Criticism”

Who: Candice Merritt, Georgia State University

When: October 4, 2017, from 3-4:00 PM

Where: CMII Conference Room #211, 25 Park Place, Georgia State University

The electronic gaming industry has served as a multi-billion dollar global enterprise. Known for genres dedicated to war, sport, and fantasy, video games have created multiple virtual spaces for shaping old and new socio-political imaginaries. Feminists have already noted the limited role of women in the development process of game-making and the lack of positive representations of women within game worlds themselves. This session will discuss the controversial game analysis put forward by feminist media critic, Anita Sarkeesian, and explore how feminist game criticism must be attuned to multiple vectors of politics and difference operating in and outside games themselves. Thinking of how ideologies of gender, race, and (dis)ability work simultaneously, we will play Nintendo’s arcade game, Donkey Kong, the Nintendo DS game Super Princess Peach, and the PS3 action adventure game, Golden Axe: Beast Rider.

Candice Merritt is currently pursuing a M.A. in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Georgia State University. She received her B.A. in Women’s Studies at Emory University. Her current project engages questions around race, mothering, and ambivalence in feminist theory. She is an academic advisor by day and an avid gamer by night. She enjoys games and their cultural meanings and influences in wider society. Some of her all-time favorite games are Super Mario World, Splatoon, and Monster Hunter. To catch her latest essays on race, gender, culture, and identity please visit her blog at www.lordeandcompany.wordpress.com.