PANTANG MENYERAH : RESILIENSI PEMAIN PEREMPUAN DALAM MELAWAN STIGMA GENDER PADA KOMUNITAS PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE

Abstract

The virtual community in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile provides a platform for players to communicate and build social relationships. However, female players continue to experience gender stigma in the form of stereotypes, derogatory comments about their gaming abilities, and verbal harassment. These experiences encourage female players to develop resilience in order to remain active within the community. This study aims to examine how female players develop resilience in facing gender stigma in the PUBG Mobile virtual community. This study employed a qualitative approach using virtual ethnography. Female informants were selected through purposive sampling, consisting of players who had experienced gender stigma, had been actively playing PUBG Mobile for at least one year, and had achieved a minimum rank of Ace Dominator. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, virtual observation, and documentation, and analyzed using the Miles and Huberman interactive model. The analysis was guided by Buzzanell's Communication Theory of Resilience (CTR). The findings indicate that the informants experienced gender stigma in the form of assumptions that female players have lower gaming abilities, are a burden to the team, and are frequently subjected to derogatory comments and verbal harassment, particularly after their gender identity became known through voice chat. Despite these experiences, the informants demonstrated resilience through the five dimensions of the Communication Theory of Resilience, crafting normalcy, affirming identity anchors, maintaining and using communication networks, alternative logics, and foregrounding productive action while downplaying negative feelings. This study concludes that female players' resilience is developed through the process of confronting, enduring, adapting to, and recovering from gender stigma while remaining actively involved in the PUBG Mobile virtual community.