‘Oh you’re really good for a girl’: Sexism, Stereotypes & Subcultural Capital in Board Gaming Culture

Scoats, Ryan and Maloney, Marcus (2025) ‘Oh you’re really good for a girl’: Sexism, Stereotypes & Subcultural Capital in Board Gaming Culture. Cultural Sociology. ISSN 1749-9755

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Abstract

This study explores gender dynamics in hobby board gaming culture through 43 semi-structured interviews with women who play these games. While recent scholarship indicates potentially decreasing toxicity in geek and video game spaces, less is known about gender relations in analogue gaming communities, and specifically, hobby board games. Similar to other geek spaces, this research demonstrates how women are often stereotyped as having particular interests and competences and are thus frequently relegated to lower status positions within the community. Some women were, however, able to elevate their status through demonstrations of subcultural capital, even if these instances served to reconfirm the established, male-coded status quo. Finally, this research highlights how sexist encounters were sometimes reframed as individuals with poor social skills and being no different to wider societal experiences rather than be understood as board games culture itself having a problem with sexism. Accordingly, this research provides important insight into how sexism is experienced and understood within these gaming environments as well as providing deeper insight into how women make sense of and navigate sexism more broadly.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	accepted for publication in Cultural Sociology by Sage
Identification Number:	10.1177/17499755251345035
Dates:	Date Event 7 May 2025 Accepted 28 June 2025 Published Online
Subjects:	CAH15 - social sciences > CAH15-01 - sociology, social policy and anthropology > CAH15-01-02 - sociology
Divisions:	Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences > College of Law, Social and Criminal Justice
Depositing User:	Gemma Tonks
Date Deposited:	26 Jun 2025 15:02
Last Modified:	01 Jul 2025 12:59
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16431

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