Olivia Thorne
(she/her)

BA and MA (Bath Spa University)

Research student

: ThorneOG@cardiff.ac.uk

I am a research student at the School of Journalism, Media and Culture (JOMEC), examining video games using media psychological theories, a questionnaire, semi-structured interviews and feminist reflexivity to understand the impact of gaming on women. Beyond that, I am keen to get involved in collaborative work, including (but not limited to) digital activism, feminist activism, the current video gaming landscape, and media cultures. My interests primarily lie in video gaming, feminism, film, television, and media.

I am currently an active member of the JOMEC Feminist Media Studies Research Group.

Thesis

How do the experiences of gaming affect women, and in what ways does it impact them?

How do the experiences of gaming affect women, and in what ways does it impact them?

Informed by the cycle of exclusion (Kowert, Breuer and Quandt 2017), I intend to examine the experiences of women who play video games. To do this, I will use a mixed-methods approach, beginning with a questionnaire, to gather various responses regarding experiences, what they play, why they play and more. Secondly, from the questionnaire, my respondents can provide their email addresses for a semi-structured qualitative interview, of which the questions will be tailored based on responses from the questionnaire. Using the methods in a triangulated dialogue and feminist self-reflexivity, I hope to discover the relationship between women and gaming.

In 2017, I began studying Media Communications at Bath Spa University (BA Hons. 2017-2020, Upper Second Class Honours). During my bachelor's degree, I was particularly interested in media as a whole, feminist advances and the portrayal of these in media, representation, and particularly video gaming. At this point in time, I was interested in using my love for video gaming to pursue a career in marketing for a video gaming company.

In 2020, after graduating, I was inspired to remain in education to further my knowledge in Marketing and Brand Management (MA 2020-2021, Pass with Distinction). While completing my master's thesis titled "An investigation into the representation of gender, ethnic minorities and the LGBT+ community on video game marketing", the results from this study highlighted that there is a stigma surrounding the definition of gamer, and most interviewees mentioned that they noticed the prevalence of geek masculinity within gaming. This thesis inspired me to begin my doctoral research.