Let’s Start a Riot: The Issue of Gender and Sexuality Representation Within League of Legends
Document Type
Panel Presentation
Start Date
19-4-2019 9:15 AM
End Date
19-4-2019 10:30 AM
Keywords
gender, sexuality, representation
Biography
Hunter Reedy is an undergraduate student at Marshall University with a major in International Affairs and minors in Japanese Language and Film Studies, and plans to continue his studies at Marshall as a graduate student. His works typically concern how popular culture influences society and have ranged from how Japan depicts sexuality within media to how the United States propagates wartime. Outside of his studies, he is a tutor at Buck Harless Tutoring Center and is the President/Creator of Marshall University Comic Book Club, as well as a member of the Student Government Association and the Ambassadors of Social Change.
Major
International Affairs
Advisor for this project
Dr. Jason Morrissette
Abstract
When talking about the most popular online video game of the past ten years, League of Legends has to be up there on the list. With over 100 million active players a month in 2016 and regularly dominating the top viewed game list on website Twitch, League of Legends has remained as a gamer powerhouse for the past decade. From the characters experienced throughout the game, to the professional players and e-sports community, to the streamers who play the game, League of Legends has numerous toxic portrayals of gender and sexuality that players are expected to deal with. As the true representative of gaming within the 2010s, League of Legends is the example of what the gaming community has become and is becoming. The behavior that is coming from the League of Legends community should not be accepted, but rather should be reconstructed into a more progressive example for other communities to follow. What are some of the examples of toxic masculinity found within League of Legends, and why are they so detrimental to society as a whole? With my research and presentation, I will explain how the game of League of Legends itself, the environment of Riot Games, the environment of the esports community, and the community of League of Legends players all contribute to the negative treatment of women and LGBTQ+ peoples and the effects that their actions have on these minorities.
Let’s Start a Riot: The Issue of Gender and Sexuality Representation Within League of Legends
When talking about the most popular online video game of the past ten years, League of Legends has to be up there on the list. With over 100 million active players a month in 2016 and regularly dominating the top viewed game list on website Twitch, League of Legends has remained as a gamer powerhouse for the past decade. From the characters experienced throughout the game, to the professional players and e-sports community, to the streamers who play the game, League of Legends has numerous toxic portrayals of gender and sexuality that players are expected to deal with. As the true representative of gaming within the 2010s, League of Legends is the example of what the gaming community has become and is becoming. The behavior that is coming from the League of Legends community should not be accepted, but rather should be reconstructed into a more progressive example for other communities to follow. What are some of the examples of toxic masculinity found within League of Legends, and why are they so detrimental to society as a whole? With my research and presentation, I will explain how the game of League of Legends itself, the environment of Riot Games, the environment of the esports community, and the community of League of Legends players all contribute to the negative treatment of women and LGBTQ+ peoples and the effects that their actions have on these minorities.
