Revision of Queer Bodies: Modifications of Sexual Affordances in World of Warcraft (original) (raw)

I Exist: Improving the Representation of Queer Perspectives in Videogames [EXTENDED ABSTRACT]

2016 Digital Games Research Association of Australia (DiGRAA) National Symposium, 2016

Queer representation in videogames is gradually becoming more prevalent, but even as the inclusion of queer perspectives in games increases, there is limited research being conducted in the area (Shaw 2009). Research that is being conducted seems focused on quantifying the amount of queer representation (Shaw & Friesem 2016), rather than on the qualitative impacts it has on those accessing videogames. In May 2016, I conducted a survey that aimed to identify the ongoing impact of positive and negative representation of queer characters and themes on both queer and non-queer audiences. This survey received 158 responses and allowed me to identify issues with representation, including the comparative prevalence of same-gender attracted characters, the way character customisation tools and pronouns are being used to depict diverse genders, and the use of ‘optional’ queer content and playersexuality in games as an attempt to appease queer players. Respondents provided insights into why these particular aspects of queer representation are problematic, and this paper presents a foundational analysis of these issues.

Dressing Commander Shepard in pink: Queer playing in a heteronormative game culture

Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 2015

This article explores the strategies of queer playing of video games and their relationship to the heteronormative game culture. Its premise is that most video games are, either implicitly or explicitly, heteronormative and the inscribed player of such games is in the majority of cases a heterosexual male. In order to achieve the same level of identification with an avatar and to enjoy a similar gameplay experience as the heterosexual player, the LGBT player may have to deploy various strategies to challenge the game and work around it, or to find the LGBT content which some more progressive games offer. The study is based on in-depth qualitative interviews with six players (5 males and 1 female) who identified themselves both as homosexual and as players of the Mass Effect or Dragon Age series, games that include several opportunities to initiate same-sex romance. We have identified three different queer playing strategies: imaginative play (queer reading of unspecified or heterose...

Representations of Queer Identity in Games from 2013–2015 [EXTENDED ABSTRACT]

Proceedings of DiGRA 2017 International Conference, 2017

Representation of diverse sexualities and genders has traditionally been uncommon in games (Shaw 2009). As the influence of independent developers grows (Anthropy 2012) and interest in queer content increases (Gravning 2014), the heternormative nature of the medium is beginning to be challenged; however, gaps remain in the study of queer content in games. In collaboration with in-progress qualitative and quantitative studies that are attempting to holistically analyse the history of LGBTQ representation in digital games (Shaw, Lauteria, Persaud & Cole 2017), the research we are presenting examines titles featuring queer content in games released from 2013–2015. Prior research for an existing project (Queerly Represent Me 2017) revealed a statistically significant increase in titles featuring queer content in this three year period, highlighting this period as warranting further study.

Real Boys Carry Girly Epics: Normalising Gender Bending in Online Games

Eludamos: Journal for Computer Game Culture, 2008

Players in online games frequently choose the opposite gender when they select an avatar. Previously, this has been attributed to a player's unconscious sexual anxieties and the need to experiment through the anonymous location of the avatar. However, this paper argues that the development of choice in games, where players have frequently selected the female form for ludic reasons, means that this choice has become normalised through a historical process. The avatar is frequently considered as a tool, with gender regarded as a freely admitted aesthetic pleasure. The player does not see this as a site of tension, or seeks to absolve this tension publicly as an act of appropriation typical to Jenkins¹ textual poachers. Overall, the act of gender switching is not considered deviant within gaming; more, it is embraced as a common practise with historical precedents to support it.

Where is the Queerness in Games?: Types of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Content in Digital Games

International Journal of Communication, 2016

With increasing popular and academic attention being paid to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) content in video games, the time has come for a thorough account of the history of this content in this medium. In the project reviewed here, we have documented more than 300 games and more than 500 examples of LGBTQ content spanning 30 years. Using a grounded theoretical approach, we were able to classify this content into nine large categories—characters, relationships/romance/sex, actions, locations, mentions, artifacts, traits, queer games/narratives, and homophobia/transphobia—each of which contains several subcategories. In outlining our classification system here, we will demonstrate the myriad ways queerness in gender and sexuality have been integrated into digital games.

“We don’t want it changed, do we?” - Gender and Sexuality in Role Playing Games

Eludamos: Journal for Computer Game Culture, 2008

Video games in virtual worlds serve as reference points in negotiations of socially efficacious meanings. Therefore they entail the potential either to reproduce and affirm or to challenge traditional concepts of identity. This article presents findings of an in-depth content analysis of three role playing games with a male avatar belonging to the Gothic-series that was published between 2001 and 2006. Focal points of the examination were issues of gender and sexuality, how they are incorporated in narrative, interactions and rules of the game series, and how they are being discussed on fan sites and player forums.

Gay for Play: Theorizing LGBTQ Characters in Game Studies

The Game Culture Reader, 2013

This paper began as a presentation at the SW/TX PCA/ACA & PCA/ACA conference in San Antonio, in 2011. It hopes to position modes of reading gender in games other than those prescribed and proscribed by the games themselves to show that GLBTQ characters, themes, concerns, issues, etc. are far more available--and should be--within game spaces than otherwise advertised or presupposed.