Walkerdine, V. (2007). Children, gender, video games: Towards a relational approach to multimedia. Houndmills, England: Palgrave Macmillan.

Walkerdine, V. (2007). Children, gender, video games: Towards a relational approach to multimedia. Houndmills, England: Palgrave Macmillan.

Walkerdine’s study derives from the psychoanalyzed discussions of twenty-four students which took place during an after school video game club. The book’s primary argument suggests that video games provide an outlet for males and females to perform masculinity. Games create an imaginary space for the player to dominate in their fantastical unconscious. By mastering the game’s various levels, children demonstrate their ability to succeed in a masculine realm. Thus, the inability to beat a particular game may cause frustration for male players, as their masculinity is being called into question, and only by winning can achieve a sense of success. Walkerdine argues that females’ express a confused femininity while playing video games because they desire to win yet simultaneously desire to help others. Females often chose games or avatars that have dichotomous protagonists that are cute and powerful. For example, Pokemon’s Pikachu is an androgenous mouse (cute) with a dangerous electrical shock (powerful).

Walkerdine’s book is very interesting however, by relying on psychoanalysis as its primary theoretical framework, the book does stretch its arguments a bit far. Walkerdine’s discussion of video games and the performance of masculinity will aid my discussion of social strain because it provides another realm in which people are given aspirational references and thus a desire to succeed. Interestingly, Grand Theft Auto (GTA) uses the video game, a technology that fosters the desire to win, in order to portray the minority’s social strain, a structural force that impedes an individual’s capability of success.