Mulheres em jogos de mundo virtual: fluxos a partir do gênero e da sexualidade

Abstract

The expressions and experiments of gender and sexuality are present in different spaces, including virtual world games. This mode of sociability indicates and reflects the challenges of those who escape from the norm cisgender and heterosexual and deal with the impasses, homotransphobia and prejudices propagated even in current times, reality of interest to psychology and psychosocial studies on digital societies. For this reason, this research aims to understand how the experiments of gender and sexuality of LBTQIAP+ women in virtual world games are done, having been organized through two studies. Specific objectives were adopted: (I) identify which elements of the virtual world games make possible the experimentation of gender and sexuality; (II) map the movements of players in relation to gender and sexuality beyond the platform of the game, in spaces such as Youtube, TikTok and Instagram; (III) verify how women are immersed in virtual environments of gameplay; and (IV) describe the experiments of gender and sexuality of the LBTQIAP+ players from the virtual world IMVU. It is qualitative and exploratory research, with the field of digital space and aligned to ethnography in the field of cyberculture. The research was conducted through participant observation, field diaries and twenty-three semi-structured individual interviews with lesbian, bisexual and pansexual women aged 19 to 31 years, players from North to South of the country, based on the Snowball model. As a theoretical and methodological artifice for data construction, the Actor-Network Theory was adopted, coined here as Actress-Network, aiming to understand the brands and connections inside and outside of the game. We also discuss the theories of gender, games, and we have the aid of the qualitative analysis software Atlas.ti (version 23) for organizing the data. As immersion in the field, in the first study historical, aesthetic, and cultural elements of the game were identified, passing through the capital, fashion, pop culture and music industry, which influence the construction of avatars and expression of gender and sexuality of the players. Consistent with the findings, the second study allowed a better understanding of these elements through the experiences narrated by the players, based on divergences and confluence’s identity, related to immersion, permanence, sociability, and connections beyond the game. Despite the relevant controversies in digital societies, the research points out that this socio- technical network operates as a place of reception and refuge for LBTQIAP+ youth, and more specifically, for greater freedom of lesbian, bisexual and pansexual women, of the lower and middle class, in relation to the experimentation of different sexual and gender identities. By outlining these results, alludes to the field of social psychology and humanities the importance of continuing to track the marks that these actants make in digital environments, as well as the need for greater involvement of researchers from the North and studies on Amazonian women in these contexts