Esports Cannot Defeat Homophobia With Capitalism

Bibliographic Data

ID12804668
AuthorsClose (0000-0002-6294-1338, DePaul University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume19
Issue7
Pages916-932
Publication date2023-06-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGames and Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1555-4120 • E-ISSN: 1555-4139
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/15554120231181462
OpenAlexW4381125024
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited44

Esports, competitive video gaming, is an emerging media industry looking to legitimize itself on the global stage. Part of its efforts include addressing a culture widely perceived as toxic. Toxic gamer culture claims hegemonic masculinity by degrading any seen as feminine, such as women and queer men; while this problem is endemic to gaming, it is particularly virulent in esports due to its struggles to be recognized as a “real” sport. The methods esports authorities have deployed to combat patriarchal homophobia, however, are insufficient. They share much with an anti-queer respectability politics that reinscribes the market as the ultimate cultural authority. An alternative approach would be one based on the principles of transformative justice, which emphasizes the humanity of both perpetrators and victims while demanding perpetrators take responsibility for the harm they cause. Transformative justice has already proved viable in game live-streaming, as seen by AnyKey's GLHF initiative

Criminology · Economic Justice · Harm · Masculinity · Political science · Politics · Queer · Sociology · Transformative learning · Digital Games and Media · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Law · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology

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