Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 3-5-2018 For Those About to Rock: Gender Codes in the Rock Music Video Games Rock Band and Rocksmith Elisa M. Melendez [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FIDC006558 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the American Popular Culture Commons, Digital Humanities Commons, Ethnomusicology Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Leisure Studies Commons, Musicology Commons, Other Film and Media Studies Commons, Other Sociology Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Melendez, Elisa M., "For Those About to Rock: Gender Codes in the Rock Music Video Games Rock Band and Rocksmith" (2018). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3685. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3685 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK: GENDER CODES IN THE ROCK MUSIC VIDEO GAMES ROCK BAND AND ROCKSMITH A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in COMPARATIVE SOCIOLOGY by Elisa M. Meléndez 2018 To: Dean John F. Stack, Jr. choose the name of dean of your college/school Green School of International and Public Affairs choose the name of your college/school This dissertation, written by Elisa M. Meléndez, and entitled For Those About to Rock: Gender Codes in the Rock Music Video Games Rock Band and Rocksmith, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this dissertation and recommend that it be approved. _______________________________________ Benjamin Smith _______________________________________ Laurie Shrage _______________________________________ Nelson Varas-Díaz _______________________________________ Guillermo Grenier, Major Professor Date of Defense: March 5, 2018 The dissertation of Elisa M. Meléndez is approved. _______________________________________ choose the name of dean of your college/school Dean John F. Stack, Jr. choose the name of your college/school Green School of International and Public Affairs _______________________________________ Andrés G. Gil Vice President for Research and Economic Development and Dean of the University Graduate School Florida International University, 2018 ii DEDICATION To my family. To Evan. This is all your fault. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation, much less the research that supports it, would not have been possible without the support, guidance, kindness, and patience of countless people. To my family, who first instilled a love of both music and video games in me from a very early age—this is all your fault. To Evan, who helped me make music of my own. To Robert Loggia Baratheon, First of His Name, for laying on every book, iPad, laptop, and scrap of paper and imbuing it with your magical essence (and hair). To Dr. Guillermo Grenier, who lit the initial torch that sent me down this long and winding path. Thank you for your patience. We did it! To the QLC crew: for 90s compilations, for that interview with Moira Quirk, for Jackbox parties, for leaves of brown and skies of gray, for generally keeping me sane. You’re the best friends anyone could ever ask for. To the developers at Harmonix and Ubisoft, and to the players interviewed: thank you for letting me look into your world. To Gearbox, thank you for letting me be a part of yours. Finally, thank you to Janis, Grace, Rita, Ann, Pat, Lita, Freddie, Gwen, Lisa, Shirley, Amy, Hayley, Morgan, Anita, Brenda, and countless others for inspiring me to use my voice. iv ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK: GENDER CODES IN THE ROCK MUSIC VIDEO GAMES ROCK BAND AND ROCKSMITH by Elisa M. Meléndez Florida International University, 2018 Miami, Florida Professor Guillermo Grenier, Major Professor This dissertation explores gender codes within the intersection of two American pop culture staples, video games and rock music, by conducting a feminist analysis of two video games (Rock Band and Rocksmith). Both video games and rock music have had their share of feminist academic critique: Musicologists point out how lack of canonical inclusion, gendered attitudes towards instruments, and messages from supporting media create an unwelcome environment for women to pursue a rock music career. Game studies scholars have examined similar attitudes, including a lack of women represented in both the video games and the studios that create them. Through a mix of creator and player interviews, participant observation, content analysis, and autoethnography, I look at the intersection of these two literatures (the rock music video game) to see how gender is hard-coded into the game, and what opportunities, if any, exist for subversion of societal and industry gender norms. Through not just looking at the game as text, I present a more “thick description” of a video game that takes into account the creators of the games, the players that play them, and a researcher that occupies multiple identities within the space. I argue that, in an effort to v replicate an authentic rock musician experience in a video game, Rock Band and Rocksmith often replicate a lot of these gendered messages. The games’ text and set list emphasize a male-centric rock music canon. Rocksmith’s original whiskey-soaked visual design and marketing skew heavily towards an older male demographic. However, resistances to these codes exist in both the players who defy expectations by showing up to perform and compete, as well as the creators who actively work to make these games more inclusive via changes to future games as well as inclusive hiring practices, marketing, and music sourcing (with varying degrees of success). vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 (Woman) Player 1, Press Start ........................................................................................ 1 For Those (Women) About to Rock ............................................................................... 2 Plastic Guitars, Real Implications ................................................................................... 3 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................... 8 Intersections of Gender and Sexuality ............................................................................ 8 Feminist Musicology .................................................................................................... 14 The music video ........................................................................................................ 16 Gender, Gaming, and Virtual Worlds ........................................................................... 20 Console Music Games .................................................................................................. 23 III. METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................... 27 On Cyber Ethnography ................................................................................................. 28 Ethnographic Inspirations ............................................................................................. 30 Cyberethnographic Inspirations .................................................................................... 31 The Creator-Game-Player Dynamic ............................................................................. 36 Methodological Approach ............................................................................................ 38 Autoethnography........................................................................................................... 43 IV. THE ROCK DOC: AN AUTOETHNOGRAPHY ..................................................... 44 Prologue: Putting the Rock in RockDoc ....................................................................... 44 Introducing Eventides ................................................................................................... 46 Eventides in the Spotlight ............................................................................................. 47 Eventides, the Frag Doll Cadette .................................................................................. 55 ElisaRockDoc is Now LIVE!........................................................................................ 59 ElisaRockDoc, Industry Insider .................................................................................... 62 V. ROCKING OUT WITH ROCK BAND ...................................................................... 65 Harmonix and Rock Band: Origins............................................................................... 66 Harmonix Speaks .......................................................................................................... 68 Rock Band: The Set List ............................................................................................... 74 Rock Band: Figurative School of Rock ........................................................................ 83 Playing