Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Maiden, Mother, and Crone: Female Monstrosity in Video Games

Maiden, Mother, and Crone: Female Monstrosity in Video Games

Stang, Sarah

Hardcover

Series: Palgrave Studies in Mediating Kinship, Representation, and Difference

Games & Activities GeneralGeneral Gender StudiesGeneral Sociology

PREORDER - Expected ship date October 28, 2026

ISBN10: 3032251141
ISBN13: 9783032251145
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
Published: Oct 28 2026
Pages: 312
Language: English
This book examines how the design of female monsters in science fiction and fantasy roleplaying games positions women's bodies and behaviors as transgressive, horrific, and threatening. Engaging with established feminist theories related to nonhumanness, transgression, female embodiment, and the horrific, this book unpacks the misogyny embedded in interactive entertainment media and technology in overt, subtle, and intersectional ways. Specifically, utilizing a close reading methodology employing visual and textual analysis of visual design, narrative role, developer commentary, and player reception, this book provides a thorough critical examination of female monsters such as the succubus, siren, broodmother, banshee, harpy, hag, and crone in several games.Through a focus on the archetypes of maiden, mother, and crone, this work reveals how games promote misogynistic beliefs via the design of female monsters related to sexualization and seduction, maternity and pregnancy, and old age and disability; position transgressive women as enemies to be fought and slain by heterosexual male protagonists; and remediate sexist tropes and assumptions that are deeply embedded in mythology, popular culture, the game industry, and gaming culture. In its exploration of the relationship between technology, difference, gender, and monstrosity, this book contributes to feminist media scholarship by highlighting a key problematic in game design that has remained largely unexplored in scholarly and critical writing.

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