Written by: Emma Witkowski & Sutikamon Hojrup
Counselor: T.L Taylor

Abstract
This thesis looks at the possible barriers regarding a female’s entrance into male dominated computer gaming spaces. We
observed multiple, publicly accessible spaces where the
multiplayer game Counter-Strike was the central theme. These
spaces can be called the Counter-Strike Universe, which refers to the spaces that encompass not only the game text, but the
external spaces that support the game. Due to the multiple
contexts in which this game can be played, we have chosen to
focus mainly on the public space of net cafés.

We supposed that net cafés might afford the female potential
gamer with a public space of leisure, a third space, away from
domestic and career based spaces. This space could provide a
real-life social event, where communication and intimacy were
achievable factors, which are established in research on women
and leisure, as what women want.

Areas that emerged from our study emphasized the role that
exposure, access, and authorization have had on many females’
reception and entrance to this particular space of technology and
computer gaming. In comprehending the complexity of this issue, we have attempted to unravel the relationship between the social construction of gender, and its influence on the adoption of
computer gaming as a leisure activity.

We have sought to uncover whether the absence of females in
computer gaming has been based on a general dislike of the activity, or rather, whether disinterest in gaming has been
spawned from psychological issues regarding gendered identities. Through the examination of individuals identities, we attempted
to comprehend the complex navigation into the space of
computer gaming, a space that is currently recognized as a
masculine space.

Finally, we supposed the game of Counter-Strike as a space of resistance to traditional models of gender. To follow this thought
we have examined females already participating in a traditional
masculine leisure activity, that of team sports. We hypothesized
that these individuals who have experienced similar affordances
from the sport, which are also found in the game universe of CS, would be likely candidates as potential female gamers.

Our empirical work includes gamers and non-gamers, both
female and male, of differentiated skill categories.

Keywords:
Social construction, gender, identity, schema, Counter-Strike,
computer games, Net Cafes, public space, leisure, resistance,
technology.