The purpose of this study is to understand what boys and young men are seeing and experiencing in the online gaming community.
Although women’s interest and participation in online gaming is on the rise, boys and young men are still the majority of those who participate in video games and online gaming in the US. What do boys and young men see and experience in online gaming in terms of relationships, violence, and ideas about what it means to be men? More recently, there has been a willingness to discuss and address ideas of toxic manhood and masculinity, as well as misogyny and the exclusion of women in the gaming community. To aid in these discussions, it is important we understand the way manhood is presented, discussed, and perpetuated in the gaming community. Given the amount of time many boys and young men spend in these spaces and communities, these are vital questions for promoting and sustaining gender equality and healthy masculinity.