A review by twistingsnake
Chainmail Bikini: The Anthology of Women Gamers by Sarah Winifred Searle, Hazel Newlevant

3.0

I love anything that has to do with 1) the way we interact with virtual realities and 2) women and so I thought that this would be a win no matter how it played it out. While many of these didn't personally connect with me due to my inexperience in the world of DND and LARPing the general thesis was beautiful and heartfelt. A universal experience of womanhood is feeling trapped or contained to a vessel that is expected to perform and conform socially. Video games and fantasy role play give a chance for you to choose and practice autonomy away from those expectations/create a persona around them. There's a special relationship that women and queer people have with interactive media that personally touches me and I really enjoyed the general existence of this anthology. The standout piece in this for me was the comic about GLaDOS from Portal as a commentary on womanhood. It alone was five star piece and I would highly recommended it as a nuanced and outstanding feminist essay. 3 stars.