[Air-l] casual games

[T. Kennedy]

A couple of interesting points here....

Yes, women over 35 DO play video games (Tracy raises her hand frantically) -
all sorts actually - and there is also a stereotype that the only kind of
games women like are these 'casual' games. Not the case for all women of
course.
But - research has shown that women play these 'casual' games more so then
men. Why? As noted here, they only take about 30 minutes - and there's a
plethora of literature regarding the lack of time people have (women in
particular - call it the double day, triple day or whatever). Some of these
casual games are sometimes played in the cracks & crevices of the day -
whether at work - or at home (and sometimes during children's naps). 
I digress...
I would suggest posting to some Women's Studies lists, women gamers lists
and so forth. If you (and the same for you Casey for Shira) contact me off
list with some more info/detail about the research - I can post to them. 
Tracy


********************************************
Tracy L. M. Kennedy
PhD Candidate -
Department of Sociology

Graduate Fellow -
Knowledge Media Design Institute 

Research Coordinator -
NetLab - Centre for Urban & Community Studies
University of Toronto
725 Spadina Ave.
Toronto, ON M5S 2J4
tkennedy at netwomen.ca
www.netwomen.ca
www.kmdi.utoronto.ca/collaborative

Virtual Research Assistant -
Centre for Digital Media
Great Northern Way Campus
555 Great Northern Way
Vancouver, BC V5T 1E2

Research Director
Netwomen Consulting
********************************************

Dear All,
One of my undergraduate students is studying women 35+ who play casual 
games such as poker and Bejeweled.
She needs some more people to interview through email or in chat.
Does anyone know anyone who plays these games in this demographic and 
if so, how the student could contact them? Or any listservs or whatever 
that might have such players? She has found several players on MySpace 
and Facebook who are willing to talk but they are too young for her 
study.
The student has been playing herself but people are reluctant to give 
interviews when they have no idea who they are talking to. The games 
are only 30 minutes or so so it's difficult to establish rapport.
I think this is an interesting area of research as apparently a lot of 
women in this age group play, subverting the stereotype that games are 
for young(ish) males.
Thanks for any help.
Bonnie A. Nardi