Elas não jogam, jogam Ownam: toxicracia, comunidades virtuais e violência nos jogos online.

Abstract

The first decades of the 21st century are undoubtedly marked by the strengthening of social networks and their consequences for virtual environments, making them complex enough to intertwine themes such as politics, economy and culture at the same speed with which information permeates spaces media. This entire context goes beyond the limits of information sharing and provides a plethora of data to algorithms that analyze preferences, both individual and collective. Supported in this context, this dissertation seeks to reflect on violence against women within the online gaming environment, especially in the games Brasil Ragnarok Online and League of Legends. This work aims to analyze the relationships between online games, gamers' performances and their interactions in game environments, the forms of domination legitimized in these spaces and the use of male characters by the female audience as a possible protection strategy. To carry out this analysis, we used field research as a methodological strategy for data collection and, initially, we used an exploratory descriptive approach of the virtual field spaces, then we opted for individual and group interviews, semi-structured questionnaires, participant observation and comparison of collected data in virtual communities, adopting virtual ethnography as a contribution and reflecting on the choice of the most appropriate method for each moment. The disputes for spaces of power conditioned by symbolic violence, misogyny and the restriction of freedom of identity, guided a large part of our contact with the field and, in the course of the process, other themes emerged indirectly linked to the object of this dissertation, but by the its importance was absorbed and provided new perspectives to the text, such as the formation of a toxicology aimed at the accumulation of social capital and control of spaces in the analyzed communities, the theory of structural holes and its importance for the maintenance of social capital and predatory mimicry. The analysis of data and information made it possible to understand the relationships of violence in online games and showed that it presents itself as a current reality, present and inseparable in games. It was also found that the existence of these acts occurs as a result of the reflex actions of social processes, already existing in our society, and the peculiar architecture of origin of the analyzed games. Thus, it is concluded that amidst attempts at intimidation, whether by misogynistic attitudes, impunity or social invisibility, attributed to women in game environments, they remain, position themselves, conquer their spaces and in the midst of an unfair dispute they own.