Bridget Marie Blodgett

University of Baltimore | UB · Science, Information Arts and Technologies

In Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History, Michel-Rolph Trouillot writes that by examining the process of history we can “discover the differential exercise of power that makes some narratives possible and silences others.” Alternative Historiographies of the Digital Humanities examines the process of history in the narrative of th...

Gender in American Literature and Culture introduces readers to key developments in gender studies and American literary criticism. It offers nuanced readings of literary conventions and genres from early American writings to the present and moves beyond inflexible categories of masculinity and femininity that have reinforced misleading assumptions...

The months leading up to the release of Disney franchise films The Last Jedi (December 2017) and Black Panther (February 2018) were marked by speculation, concern, and fervor in equal measures from the established fan communities of Star Wars and Marvel. Both franchises have been associated with toxic geek masculinity, a performed, communal hyperma...

History has recorded the aggressive fandom campaigns of the 2010s, which drove vulnerable minority actors from their careers and homes. #GamerGate was the most iconic of these movements with its claim to focus on the ethics in games journalism. This article examines select news coverage of the #GamerGate movement from its initial outset in 2014 to...

While queer narratives have recently gained greater prominence and attention [35][51][48] both in games and game studies, they still represent a tiny portion of the playable romances available. Even fewer among these represent the potential of what Edmond Chang [12] has referred to as "queergaming," or games which refuse to conform in their narrati...

Hero-worship and aspirational hypermasculine role models abound in geek-friendly popular culture. We will examine the construction of the figures of male heroism that dominate modern media tagged as geek-oriented, with particular attention to science fiction. We will expose the silence of women in these same franchises, as characters such as Amy Po...

As the media roles reflected to us play a strong role in shaping group identity, we will consider geek identity as constructed through television depictions. The Big Bang Theory and many similar franchises revolve around the stereotype of a beautiful but stupid woman pursued by socially inept but brilliant men. We will deconstruct the tension of th...

Geek culture is full of stories in which heroes receive their due reward, often embodied in the form of a woman alongside property, status, and wealth. These narratives are often translated into a perception of action and reward within communities: just as Jaime Lannister is expected to be rewarded for his rescue of Brienne or Littlefinger for his...

Our examination of US geek masculinity is inherently critiquing a moving target. As we consider emerging trends in cultural discourse and upcoming and recent released, we note the continued influence of mainstreaming on defining geek as part of hegemonic masculinity. Even as communities within geekdom rally to resist this perceived erasure of the s...

Geek masculinity is difficult to frame: it is apparently at war with, and presenting different ideals from, our traditional conception of American hegemonic masculinity. However, the past decade has brought with it the rapid mainstreaming of geek culture and the incorporation of geek masculinity into hegemonic ideals. We contextualize both this evo...

Although marginalized identities have often been disregarded by popular geek media there are occasional productions catered towards acknowledging these audiences. This chapter will look at several media productions geared towards marginalized audiences within the geek communities and will deconstruct the larger geek response to these narratives in...

As comics have moved from a perceived specialized media to major records-breaking blockbuster franchises, the opportunities for expanding the awareness and fandoms of male characters has increased. Women characters, by contrast, have played within the media narrative as plot points for advancing male characters’ stories as either love interests or...

Gaming embodies many of the contradictions between geek culture and masculinity, as avatars are often hypermasculine (athletic, militant, and violent) while the act of playing a video game is not inherently physical or masculine. In this chapter, we will examine the construction of the male geek avatar, from the sexually challenged Leisure Suit Lar...

This book examines changing representations of masculinity in geek media, during a time of transition in which “geek” has not only gone mainstream but also become a more contested space than ever, with continual clashes such as Gamergate, the Rabid and Sad Puppies’ attacks on the Hugo Awards, and battles at conventions over “fake geek girls.” Anast...

The 2016 US election brought with it a torrent of related media and responses, thanks to the combination of the intense political divide and the turmoil and upheaval of the nation following the surprising results. We will examine selected games from the months preceding and immediately following the historic outcome of November 8, 2016, focusing on...

p>Built as a hypertext work of electronic literature, “Alt-Right: Ctrl+A; Del” explores the social media fatigue experienced by a woman operating in online spaces. The work takes place from November 9 2016 to January 20 2017, during the pivotal moments of transition prior to Donald Trump’s inauguration. It is heavily influenced by the ongoing chall...

As video games have attracted more critical attention and theoretical discourse and games play a more visible part in our media landscape, the modern video game community impacts the wider world of online culture and warrants more detailed study. Using the case of the Dickwolves incident from Penny Arcade.com, the authors address issues of hypermas...

As video games have attracted more critical attention and theoretical discourse and games play a more visible part in our media landscape, the modern video game community impacts the wider world of online culture and warrants more detailed study. Using the case of the Dickwolves incident from Penny Arcade.com, the authors address issues of hypermas...

Purpose – This paper aims to define and articulate the concept of digital protestainment, to address how technologies have enabled boundaries to become more permeable, and in which this permeability leads to the engendering of new cultures. Design/methodology/approach – Two case studies, within Second Life and EVE Online, are examined to see how d...

We report preliminary results from a socio-technical analysis of scientific collaboration, specifically a loosely connected group of physical anthropology researchers. Working from a combination of interview data and artifact analysis, we identify current barriers to the scientists' collaboration as it relates to a valuable but scarce resource, a h...

Purpose – This paper aims to define and articulate the concept of digital protestainment, to address how technologies have enabled boundaries to become more permeable, and in which this permeability leads to the engendering of new cultures. Design/methodology/approach – Two case studies, within Second Life and EVE Online, are examined to see how d...

We take a generational lens to the study of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the changing U.S. workplace. Specifically, we draw from a broader qualitative study on generational difference in the workplace to explore the questions: How is the interplay between generational differences and ICTs reshaping the culture and boundarie...

Within this paper, the authors present an initial analysis of a protest case study in Second Life and the policy, legal and regulatory issues it involves. In particular, the authors elaborate on the current understanding of legal frameworks within virtual worlds and build on the concept of inter-real harm first introduced by Warren and Palmer. Thre...

In this paper, we introduce a case study of social protest that has occurred in the virtual world Second Life. This case is a labor strike that occurred against IBM by Italian employees and a large European labor union. We begin with identifying the four key elements in the protest organizing process: Identifying Supporters, Organizing and Establis...

The Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program was seen as a historic attempt by the Obama administration to bring broadband access to the underserved or unserved communities of the US while also investing capital into many of the economically hard hit companies and regions that support such technological development. Expectations for the first N...

Protest has made the jump between the offline and the online spaces and is frequently used in most virtual worlds available today. Despite the frequency of these protest actions in virtual worlds, and their similarities to offline protest actions, further research is needed to see how the adaptation to a virtual environment changes the protest. Thi...

In virtual worlds, users interact with each other by creating virtual identities through avatars. As the avatar creation process is constrained by the assumptions of designers who develop the avatar creation tools, some potential participants in virtual worlds are forced into narrow social roles that may not accurately represent them. Drawing on st...