[Air-L] Book Announcements: Gender in Play Trilogy

[Gerald Voorhees]

Dear Colleagues,

I’m very excited to announce the recent publication of a trilogy of edited
books, Queerness in Play, Feminism in Play, and Masculinities in Play. Each
of the books in the trilogy claims ground for gender studies “in” and “as”
game studies.


We hope that you will encourage your institution’s library to order these
three books. They are also conveniently available in paperback and ebook
for a very reasonable price (as far as academic book are concerned) from
Palgrave.com and most online book sellers. In fact, between now and
December 3rd, 2018, you can receive %20 off of books in the trilogy when
you order from Palgrave and use the promotional code: PM18TWENTY4.

Queerness in Play, edited by Todd Harper, Meghan Blythe Adams, and Nick
Taylor (https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783319905419) examines the many
ways queerness of all kinds—from queer as ‘LGBT’ to other, less
well-covered aspects of the queer spectrum—intersects with games and the
social contexts of play. The current unprecedented visibility of queer
creators and content comes at a high tide of resistance to the inclusion of
those outside a long-imagined cisgender, heterosexual, white male norm. By
critically engaging the ways games—as a culture, an industry, and a
medium—help reproduce limiting binary formations of gender and sexuality,
Queerness in Play contributes to the growing body of scholarship promoting
more inclusive understandings of identity, sexuality, and games.

Feminism in Play, edited by Kishonna Leah Gray, Gerald Voorhees, and Emma
Vossen (https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783319905389) focuses on women as
they are depicted in video games, as participants in games culture, and as
contributors to the games industry. This volume showcases women’s
resistance to the norms of games culture, as well as women’s play and
creative practices both in and around the games industry. Contributors
analyze the interconnections between games and the broader societal and
structural issues impeding the successful inclusion of women in games and
games culture. In offering this framework, this volume provides a platform
to the silenced and marginalized, offering counter-narratives to the
post-racial and post-gendered fantasies that so often obscure the violent
context of production and consumption of games culture.

Masculinities in Play, edited by Nick Taylor and Gerald Voorhees (
https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783319905808) addresses the persistent
and frequently toxic associations between masculinity and games. It
explores many of the critical issues in contemporary studies of
masculinity—including issues of fatherhood, homoeroticism, eSports, fan
cultures, and militarism—and their intersections with digital games, the
contexts of their play, and the social futures associated with sustained
involvement in gaming cultures. Unlike much of the research and public
discourse that put the onus of “fixing” games and gaming cultures on those
at its margins—women, LGBTQ, and people of color—this volume turns
attention to men and masculinities, offering vital and productive avenues
for both practical and theoretical intervention.