Playing in the dark with online games for girls
Article
de Rijke, V., Philips, M. and Sinker, R. 2017. Playing in the dark with online games for girls. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood. 18 (2), pp. 162-178. https://doi.org/10.1177/1463949117714079
Type | Article |
---|---|
Title | Playing in the dark with online games for girls |
Authors | de Rijke, V., Philips, M. and Sinker, R. |
Abstract | Pregnant Rapunzel Emergency is part of a series of online free games aimed at young girls (forhergames.com or babygirlgames.com), where dozens of characters from fairy tales, children’s toys and media feature in recovery settings, such as ‘Barbie flu’. The range of games available to choose from includes not only dressing, varnishing nails or tidying messy rooms, but also rather more troubling options such as extreme makeovers, losing weight, or a plethora of baby showers, cravings, hospital pregnancy checks, births (including caesarean), postnatal ironing, washing and baby care. Taking the online game Pregnant Rapunzel Emergency as an exemplar of a current digital trend, the authors explore the workings of ‘dark digital play’ from a number of perspectives – one by each named author. The game selected has (what may appear to adults) several disturbing features in that the player is invited to treat wounds of the kind of harm that might usually be associated with domestic violence towards women. |
Keywords | Digital games; early childhood; feminist theory; gender; psychoanalysis |
Publisher | SAGE Publications |
Journal | Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood |
ISSN | 1463-9491 |
Electronic | 1463-9491 |
Publication dates | |
Online | 04 Jul 2017 |
01 Jun 2017 | |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 06 Nov 2017 |
Accepted | 04 Jul 2017 |
Output status | Published |
Accepted author manuscript | File Access Level Open |
Copyright Statement | Rebecca Sinker, Mike Phillips, Victoria de Rijke, Playing in the dark with online games for girls, Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, Vol 18, Issue 2, pp. 162 - 178. Copyright © 2017 (The Author(s)). Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications. |
Additional information | Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, Volume 18 Issue 2, June 2017 - Special issue: Dark play in digital playscapes |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1177/1463949117714079 |
Web of Science identifier | WOS:000405030900005 |
Language | English |
https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/8747y
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