e-Sports Participation among Women in Pakistan

In a recent study, Texas A&M University sport management students and faculty members, including CSMRE faculty affiliate and director George Cunningham, examined the motivation and experiences of women in Pakistan who participated in e-Sports. The researchers observed their participation and also conducted interviews. Study participants relayed that they play e-Sports as a form of oppositional agency and as a way to counter oppressive gender norms. Results also showed the ways in which the women were marginalized in society. They wrote, “The study contributes to the limited scholarship concerning Indian subcontinent Muslim women’s e-sports participation.”

Hussain, U., Yu, B., Cunningham, G. B., & Bennett, G. (2021). “I Can be Who I Am When I Play Tekken 7”: E-sports Women Participants from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Games and Culture.