Research On The Gender-identity Construction Of Female Gamers From The Perspective Of Immersive Communication

With the development of internet technology and popularity of popular mobile phone network games,an increasing number of female users start playing network games and become gamers.Moreover,development of network games enables games have the feature of immersive communication,thus gamers focus on information contents of shaped by virtual environment in games.Gamers have the stronger sense of substitution and third dimension.The survival of network cyberspace shapes the virtual environment that differs from the realistic life.Also,the principle of anonymity and brand-new environment enable female gamers freely create their identity and construct the new identity that is different from their realistic life.This challenges unicity and certainty of traditional identity concept formed in social life.Also,it is the reflection on realistic environment and self-status.In this study,"Mr.Love:Queen's Choice" regards the women's love game as a research object.Firstly,the trust with gamers is constructed through the participative observation to observe network interaction of gamers and analyze their internet discourse.Then,gamers are deeply interviewed to gain analytical data.The author studies the constructive process of female gamers' new gender-identity in the virtual environment of games,contradiction and tension between the new identity and original gender-identity and influences of new gender-identity on female gamers.Through analysis of interview information and gamers' speech,the author finds that in terms of young female ganers,"patriarchy" orientation in real wor-ld and female role norm restrain the real self-expression,while games break through the original power system and gender specification to shape the idealized virtual environment expected by female gamers.They use the game to get emotional experience and self-expression independently.By virtue of the plot selection,elaboration and preference interaction of virtualizing others,they can fully reveal their own style and extend elf-demand.During the game process,they can shape the new gender-identity through mental projection in this idealized environment.Through the diversified integration of "resonance","reflection" and "interaction",they complete the constructive process of new gender-identity in the virtual environment.Majorities of respondents gradually construct the gender-identity of independent females and challenge the tradition that men dominate the society and require women to plead men and depend on men.Gamers form the new identity in the virtual environment and this means to destroy reconstruction of realistic identity.This is also the construction that conforms to the realistic self-expectation formed in the ideal virtual environment.This is the reflection on old identity.The constructive process of new identity can destroy certainty of the inherent identity in realistic society.It develops a positive influence for female ganers to increase self-confidence,improve themselves,expand knowledge and develop the new interpersonal relationship in realistic world.However,due to existence of virtuality and reality,excessive immersion in games will make people hate themselves in reality and form nothingness in realistic life.