Performing self, performing character: Exploring gender performativity in online role-playing games.

Online narrative (fiction-based) role-playing games and massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) provide a ludic structure in which role players enact the gender and sexuality of their avatars. To investigate how role players perceive and perform their avatars' gender and sexuality...

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Published in:Transformative Works & Cultures Vol. 11; pp. 9 - 10
Main Author: Osborne, Heather
Format: Article
Published: Organization for Transformative Works - Karen Hellekson 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        au: Osborne, Heather
        affil: University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
      su:
        Roleplaying games
        Gender
        Human sexuality
        Roleplayers (Gamers)
        Multiplayer games
        Interpersonal relations
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          Roleplaying games
          Gender
          Human sexuality
          Roleplayers (Gamers)
          Multiplayer games
          Interpersonal relations
      keyword:
        Avatar
        Identity
        Massively multiplayer online role-playing game
        MMORPG
        Narrative role-playing game
        Sexuality
        Survey
      ab: Online narrative (fiction-based) role-playing games and massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) provide a ludic structure in which role players enact the gender and sexuality of their avatars. To investigate how role players perceive and perform their avatars' gender and sexuality in online games, I invited role players from MMORPGs and narrative RPGs to participate in an online survey. This study examines how the online game environment mediates players' self-expression and their acceptance of minority identities. Qualitative analysis of the data collected suggests that players who demonstrate empathy with and examination of their avatars' genders and sexualities, and who experience a sense of belonging within the game structure, are able to form positive interpersonal relationships that allow them to accept others' expressed identities.
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    language: English
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