A Conceptual Framework For Gender-Inclusivity

Abstract

Despite the dramatic growth of gender and games research, many challenges remain in designing a more gender-inclusive game. This report addresses the problem of how to apply the concept of gender-inclusivity into game design. A central contribution of the research is the development of a gender-inclusivity framework. The conceptual framework is founded on the analysis and synthesized information from related theories and research. It demonstrates how the concept of gender-inclusivity can be defined and expressed in three key components: 1) genre, which indicate the type of game, (2) gameplay, which describes the game behaviour e.g. conflict resolution, feedback, challenge and flexibility, (3) aesthetics content, which describes the game content including character/avatar, music, storyline and game world graphics. This framework can be use as a reference point by providing a common vocabulary for discussing issues of gender-inclusivity i.e. literature, methods and results. In addition to that, it serves as a boundary of what constitutes gender-inclusivity in games. Subsequently, it acts as a filtering tool for what is relevant and not relevant to gender-inclusivity in games. Two novel applications of the gender-inclusivity framework are presented. The first is a measuring instrument called the Gender-Inclusivity Rating Scale (GIRS). The GIRS instrument was designed to assess the degree of gender-inclusiveness in a game. The second application extends the notion of gender-inclusivity to design practice. The Gender-Inclusive Game Design Model (GIGaDM) guides designers in the design process. It helps to deconstruct the overall gender-inclusivity design tasks into smaller, conceptually distinct and manageable tasks. Finally, the direction of future work is outlined.

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