The impact of digital interfaces on virtual gender images

This paper documents an exploratory research in progress,
investigating the relationship between the quality of digital
interfaces, their technical conditions and the interfacial
mediation of the users’ body. Here, we focus on the bodily
dimension of gender. For this reason, we analysed two online
role playing games with different representation modes
(text-based versus image-based) asking which impact the
digital interface and their technical conditions have on gender
performances.
Following sociological investigations (Bahl, 1998/ Goffman,
2001/ Lübke, 2005/ Müller, 1996), the bodily aspect of gender
plays a central role in communication settings due to its
social, cultural meaning which nowadays strongly is mediated
by information technology. For this reason, we focus on the
interfaces. We claim that their representation mode, their
design and software constraints have a crucial impact on the
virtual patterns of gender referring to individual performance,
spatial movement and communication.
This interfacial analysis is just a part of an interdisciplinary
inquiry about the interrelation between gender, design and
ICT. It is allocated in the overlapping fi eld of sociology, gender
studies, design research and information technology.
In this respect, we regard the body and its gender as culturally
constructed interface of social interactions and advocate for
refl ecting it within the process software development and
interface design.
Introduction
Today’s communication is highly infl uenced by information
technology, which substitutes more and more physical body
representations in face-to-face communication. Disembodied
experiences have become a part of ordinary life as self
performances and interactions are often mediated by designed
hardware and software interfaces.
In this context, designers who make ICT accessible via their
product and screen designs can be regarded as mediators
between technological requirements and user needs.
They usually regard interfaces from the point of view of
formal-aesthetic (Apple Computer, Inc, 1992; McKey, 1999;
Schneiderman/ Plaisant, 2005), or of usability (Krug, 2006;
Nielsen/ Loranger, 2006) and interaction-design (Cooper/
Reimann, 2003; Preece/ Rogers/ Sharp, 2002). But designers
not only make ICT usable, but also culturally signifi cant. In this
respect, they also deal with the cultural constructions and
implications of gender which have to be refl ected by their
screen designs. The interfacial conditions decide about the
bodily representations in ICT interaction.
By referring to interactionist (Goffman, 2001), constructivist
(Butler, 2006/ Teubner, Wetterer, 1999/ Trettin, 1997/
West, Zimmermann, 1991, 1995) theories and sociological
investigations of virtual environments (Eisenrieder, 2003/
Lübke, 2005/ Turkle, 1999), we claim that the bodily aspect
of gender is an essential reference point of individual
performance, communication, even spatial movements not
as a physical property of the body, but due to its cultural
meaning and connotative potential. It is supposed to be the
most guiding information referring to interaction contexts
(Goffman, 2001/ Lübke, 2005). It has a crucial impact on the
behavior: Being polite, e.g. opening the door for someone is
often a decision made in dependence of the counterpart’s
gender (Müller, 1996). Not knowing about it causes behavioral
confusion (Bahl, 1998/ Lübke, 2005).
Research Perspectives & Research
Questions
In contrast to a sociological point of view, a conventional
design perspective or technological requirements, we add a
completely new aspect to design and technologically driven
inquiries in two respects:
- By taking the body as a benchmark for analyzing gender
representations of digital interfaces.
- By investigating the virtual body and its gender
representations from an interfacial point of view.
Our investigations and refl ections are guided by the
following questions:
- Which gender images do exist in virtual spaces?
- Which impact do the digital interface and their technical
conditions have on gender performances?
Furthermore, we are particularly interested in knowing about
the impact of design on preserving traditional and stereotype
gender images as well as on modifying or deconstructing
them. Objects of Investigation
Objects of investigations are two online role playing games,
so called Multi User Dungeons (MUDs). They are especially
suitable for this purpose because they directly refer to bodily
representations in form of virtual characters. We choose
two MUDs with different representation modes in order
to compare the effects of opposite interfaces on the virtual
embodiment of gender: LambdaMOO, a popular text-based
online role playing game (see Image 1 LM), is contrasted
with Second Life, the currently most popular and populated
graphical MUD (see Image 1 SL). Examining their interfaces
promise to get concrete insights into the interfacial infl uence
on virtual gender images.
Image 1 LM: Interface
Image 1 SL: Interface
Methodology
We use the methods of content analysis and participatory
observation – the fi rst in order to explore the interfacial offer
of options and tools to create virtual gender representations
and the second in order to know, how it feels developing
and wearing the respective gendered skin. The analysis and
observations are guided and structured using the different
dimensions of the body as a matrix of investigating which
are empirically generated from the observations themselves.
Within these bodily categories, different aspects of gender are
identifi ed:
Body presence
- modes of existence or being there
Personality / individuality
- forms of personal performance
- forms of non-verbal communication (facial expressions,
gestures, vocal intonations and accentuation)
- modes of emotional expressions
Patterns of gender
- categories or models of gender
Actions and spatial Movements
- modes of behavior and actions
- modes of spatial orientation and navigation
Patterns of social behavior
- modes of communication and interaction
- community standards, behavioral guidelines and rules
Research Results
The main fi ndings show, how interfaces and their specifi c
technical conditions can expand or restrict the performance
of gender. Moreover, they demonstrate how the conventional
bipolar gender model of western culture can be re- and
deconstructed by the interfacial properties and capacities.
The table below gives a summarizing overview about how
the different bodily aspects are treated by the respective
interface of LambdaMOO or Second Life. Interfacial elements
which explicitly address gender aspects are indicated in bold
italics. Reference to images are marked “see Image # LM
(LambdaMOO)/SL(Second Life)”. The comparison demonstrates that both interfaces use nearly
the same patterns of embodiment. Referring to the bodily
aspect of gender, Second Life is a poor and conservative space.
Gender modifi cations besides the common model seem not
to be intended by the interface: In case of gender switches the
gender specifi c gestures set does not shift correspondently
(see images 11.1 SL and11.2 SL). In case of a male-to-female modifi cation, the avatars clothes
do not fi t any more (see image 12 SL). In contrast to that, LambdaMOO questions the analogue gender
model by violating and expanding it up to 10 categories.
Outlook
This inquiry belongs to a design research project which
generally deals with the relation between gender and design.
It aims at the development of a gender sensitive design
approach investigating the potential of gender modifi cation
and deconstruction by design.
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