Lexington Books Games Girls Play: Contexts of Girls and Video Games (Studies in New Media)

Games Girls Play examines the role that video games play in girls' lives, including how games structure girls' leisure time, how playing video games constitutes different performances of femininity, and what influences girls to play or not play video games. Through interviews, focus groups, and qualitative content analyses, this book analyzes girls' involvement with video games. It also examines different contexts in which discourses of girls and video games occur, including girl-oriented video games, activist efforts to change the video game industry, and informal education programs that teach girls video game design. Review [A] poignant, foundational book that looks at gender, girlhood, video games, and the gaming industry.-- "Communication Research Trends" A welcome contribution to both girls' studies and game studies. Cunningham offers us a holistic perspective on girls who play and design games and the larger cultural contexts they must navigate while engaging important questions about the broader significance of girls' current and future involvement in digital play. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in contemporary girlhood, gaming, and the STEM fields.--Mary Celeste Kearney, University of Notre Dame Wide-ranging and thoroughly researched, Games Girls Play helps us understand how girls make sense of video games that have been designed for and marketed to them. More critically, Cunningham elevates girls' voices by presenting their thoughts in their own words. Games Girls Play is a detailed examination of how commercial game design, discourses about youth and gender, and efforts at promoting gaming literacy create a complex and contradictory cultural terrain that must be negotiated on- and off-screen.--Matthew Thomas Payne, University of Notre Dame About the Author Carolyn M. Cunningham is associate professor in the Communication and Leadership Studies Program at Gonzaga University.