Ellie Manzano
Ellie Manzano is a fourth-year student majoring in Sociology.
Her thesis explores how masculinity is enacted and understood within competitive fighting video game communities, particularly the competitive Super Smash Brothers Melee (SSBM) scene.
When she’s not studying, you can find her competing at local Super Smash Brothers Melee tournaments, reading at cafes, and making matcha lattes.
Masculinity in fighting game communities
Many young men today belong to video game communities that validate their masculinity, particularly fighting video game communities that are grounded in in-person, one-on-one competition. Prior studies on video gaming communities focus on online competition and have not examined local, in-person events. This study asks: how is masculinity enacted in fighting video game communities? Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with members of the competitive Super Smash Brothers Melee (SSBM) community, which asked about community-specific behaviors and attitudes, as well as their individual beliefs on masculinity. The interviews were transcribed and reviewed through a coding process to reveal themes of masculinity in relation to community and personal ideals.
Participants in a tournament setting validated their masculinity achieving tournament results, technical prowess, and playstyle. Within the SSBM community, members prioritized community building and labelled competition as secondary, desiring to distance themselves from a self-described ‘toxic masculinity’. These findings highlight the construction of hybrid masculinity within a competitive video gaming setting and contemporary men’s appreciation for community that shares similar values against ‘toxic masculinity’.
How did you become interested in this topic? Why did you choose it for your thesis?
I’ve been following the competitive SSBM scene for over a decade and saw how the community became a more welcoming and inclusive space for all identities over time. I found that this paralleled studies on contemporary young men who wanted to distance themselves from ‘toxic masculinity’ while taking a sociology of masculinity course. Within masculinity studies, competitive, in-person video game events are understudied as a setting that manifests masculinity. I wanted to pursue this gap in research and understand how fighting video game communities, mainly composed of men, enacted masculinity while shedding its less welcoming past and becoming a hub for diverse identities.
Can you summarize your project and its main findings for us?
I interviewed twenty SSBM community members, such as competitors, tournament organizers, and spectators, asking questions about community specific norms and how they enacted masculinity at in-person tournaments. While participants validated their masculinity through traditional masculine notions of pride, particularly in their tournament results, efforts to achieve skill, and playstyle. SSBM community members also valued enacting a non ‘toxic masculinity’ that produced a more welcoming environment, describing competition as secondary to community building. These findings demonstrated how young men who oppose traditional ideas of masculinity desire a community of men who share similar ideals, supporting each other in enacting a masculinity that aligns with their beliefs.
What was your favourite part of doing research?
I really enjoyed speaking with participants and hearing about their perspectives on the community. Participants’ years of community involvement ranged from two to ten years, so for some competitors, the SSBM community was a key part of their young adult lives and shaped their social circles. Listening about their experiences going to tournaments prompted my reflection on why I personally find the SSBM community so important and love playing Super Smash Brothers Melee.
What’s one memory that stands out the most to you from the process of researching and writing your thesis?
As a member of the competitive SSBM community, a few participants cited their history competing against me at a tournament! I remember having the urge to speak about the moment from my perspective, but as a researcher, I had to remain composed and not interject my feelings in the interview. Having insider status was useful when recruiting participants, but I was not prepared for participants to reference their experiences with me and having my reputation shaped by my researcher status. As I attended tournaments during the data collection period, tournament goers began viewing me as the researcher. At events, previous participants would ask about the progress of the study, which led to thoughtful conversations outside the interview setting that further guided my analysis.
If you could continue this project, what other facets to your topic or research question would you want to explore?
Due to most of my participants being men, a research question that I find important is how the growing transgender playerbase perceived the masculinity enacted in the SSBM community? While participants cited being welcoming as crucial to their masculine values, listening to marginalized voices from the community to understand the effectiveness of members’ inclusive actions and if they aligned with their intentions would provide greater context to the findings. As a trans woman, the SSBM community was one of the first spaces that I felt comfortable outwardly living my trans identity. Being able to visibilize the subjugated knowledges from the trans community is a greater researcher goal of mine.
