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Girls and Gambling – Stereotypes and Representations of Girlhood Dr. Johanna Järvinen-Tassopoulos NYRIS 12, Tallinn University 14.6.2013 Johanna Järvinen-Tassopoulos 1
Johanna Järvinen-Tassopoulos 1
Girls and Gambling – Stereotypes and Representations of Girlhood
Dr. Johanna Järvinen-Tassopoulos
NYRIS 12, Tallinn University
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Johanna Järvinen-Tassopoulos 2
Introduction• Youth gambling is an important research topic in gambling studies• Minors are seen as a risk group of gamblers, because of their age
and social position• In many European countries gambling is forbidden to underage
gamblers, but there are many opportunities available for youth on the Internet
• There are very few gambling studies that address to girls and their gambling behavior
• Girls gamble less than boys: the Western gambling culture is very masculine
• Advertisers know how to approach young women: gambling industry offers dreams of far-off lands and endless shopping – and girls are not blind
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Content
Introduction1. Gambling Girls: Do girls really gamble?2. Girls As Others: Are girls plain extras on the gambling
scene?3. Girls Are All Right!: What should gambling studies learn from
girlhood studies?Conclusion
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1. Gambling Girls• Boys start to gamble at a younger age than girls• Boys gamble more often and for longer periods than girls• Girls play games of chance (e.g. lotteries), while boys like to
bet or play online (Fröberg 2006)• Participation in horse and dog tracks and slot machine
playing tends to be similar between boys and girls (Jacobs 2004)
• Girls gamble more nowadays: this reflects the disappearance of moral, social and economic constraints against female participation in gambling (Jacobs 2004)
• In Finland, the proportion of non-gambling girls increased from 1995 to 2007 (ESPAD survey) (Järvinen-Tassopoulos & Metso 2009)
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• According to a Canadian study, girls (12 to 19 years old, n= 572) thought that gambling can become a problem, gambling should be for adults and gambling advertisement try to convince youth that gambling is a form of entertainment and fun (Derevensky et al. 2010)
• Female adolescent gamblers tend to turn toward excessive gambling as a means of escape from depression or stressful circumstances (Gupta & Derevensky 2011)
• Gambling industry does not target overtly girls, but young women are welcomed as hostesses and customers
• Girls may become gamblers while playing social games: money games are often hidden among funny games
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2. Girls As Others• “Man is defined as a human being and a woman as a female -
whenever she behaves as a human being she is said to imitate the male” (Simone de Beauvoir in Second Sex)
• We ‘construe’ others “out of the sedimented, selected and processed memory of past encounters, communications, exchanges, joint ventures or battles” (Bauman 1993)
• There is no hegemonic femininity (Connell 1987): the global subordination of women to men provides an essential basis for differentiation, e.g. “emphasized femininity” (accommodating the interests and desires of men) or strategies of resistance, forms of non-compliance
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• Rent-a-Spacers (Fisher 1993): teenage girls who are spectators in slot machine arcades, while teenage boys are the players – it is about gender exploration!• “Women are not good poker players” (Beadle 2009): 18-year-
old Annette Obrestad (Norway) won the World Series of Poker Europe in 2007 and she was the first female poker player to win so much money (1.45 million Euros)
• Do it with avatars and pseudonyms: the player may choose a very feminine or masculine appearance or nickname
• Gender-Swapping (Beadle 2009): female or male persona online – nobody needs to know!
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3. Girls Are All Right!• Girlhood “is constituted through multiple and frequently competing discourses, which position girls and young women in different ways, and are shaped by class and ‘race’ as well as gender and sexuality” (Reay 2001) • Girl power (Aapola et al. 2005): the phenomenon clearly
signals a shifting mode of youthful femininity, a new articulation of girls and girlhood and new forms for thinking about how girls’ lives might be lived
• “Digital gender divide”: an obsolete idea, because girls know how to play, create games and construct their own home pages and web sites (Reid-Walsh & Mitchell 2004)
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• Virtual girls: girls express themselves through Internet, they shape new identities and reformulate cultural spaces (Nayak & Kehily 2008)• Alternative femininity (Kelly et al. 2005): skater girls• Problem girls : a range of pressures on girls may create
problems for any girl (Lloyd 2005)• Girlhood as crisis: self-esteem, body-image, eating disorders,
risky sexual behavior, violence, substance abuse (Aapola et al. 2005)
• ‘Girl’ is a cultural category (Aaltonen & Honkatukia 2002)• Gambling studies should get interested in girls: focusing on
non-gambling does not tell much about what girls like to do and who they wish to become
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Conclusion• The otherness on the gambling scene is based on the idea that girls form a homogeneous gender category: stereotypes emerge from this kind of thinking• Girls are much more visible and active in gaming environments• Social gaming (e.g. Facebook, web sites) also includes social
casino gambling (e.g. cards, boards, slots)• From non-gamblers to targeted potential customers: girls gamble
less than boys in many countries, but as young women they become potential players for the gambling industry
• Young people produce, design, modify and make changes in their popular culture (Gee & Hayes 2010) - girls can choose what they want to do and never mind the gambling industry!
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ReferencesAaltonen, S. & Honkatukia, P. (2002) Tulkintoja tytöistä. Helsinki: SKS.
Aapola, S., Gonick, M. & Harris, A. (2005) Young Femininity. Girlhood, Power and Social Change. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Bauman, Z. (1992) Intimations of Postmodernity. London, New York: Routledge.
Connell, R.W. (1987) Gender and Power. Standford: Standford University Press.
Derevensky, J.L. & Gupta, R. (2004) Gambling Problems in Youth. Theoretical and Applied Perspectives. New York, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. (Jacobs)
Derevensky, J.L., Shek, D.T.L. & Merrick, J. (2011) Youth Gambling. The Hidden Addiction. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. (Gupta & Derevensky)
Fröberg, F. (2006) Gambling Among Young People. A Knowledge Review. Swedish National Institute of Public Health.
Gee, J.P. & Hayes, E.R. (2010) Women and Gaming. The Sims and 21st Century Learning. New York: Palgrave MacMillan
Harris, A. (Ed.) (2004) All About the Girl. Culture, Power and Identity. New York, London: Routledge. (Reid-Walsh & Mitchell, Reay)
Järvinen-Tassopoulos, J. & Metso, L. (2009) Pojat ovat pelimiehiä, tytöt rahapelien harrastajia. Vuoden 2007 ESPAD-koululaiskyselyn tulosten tarkastelua. Yhteiskuntapolitiikka 74(5), 523-536.
Lloyd, G. (2005) Problem Girls. Understanding and Supporting Troubled and Troublesome Girls and Young Women. London, New York: Routledge.
Nayak, A. & Kehily, M.J. (2008) Gender, Youth and Culture. Young Masculinities and Femininities. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Phillips, D.K. & Wilson, V.A. (Eds.) (2009) Gambling and Gender. Men and Women At Play. New York: Peter Lang Publishing. (Beadle)
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