Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Power In Dice And Foam Swords: Gendered Resistance In Dungeons And Dragons And Live-Action Roleplay, Rachel M. Just

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Much of the existing research on gaming suggests that women are often excluded from or discriminated against in gaming communities. However, few scholars focus on women’s positive experiences within those communities, and even fewer examine tabletop and live-action roleplaying games. In this thesis, I utilized Jurgen Habermas’ theory of communicative action, Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity, and James C. Scott’s theory of hidden transcripts to analyze how in-game and out-of-game comradery among players created a space in which passive resistance against normative gender expectations was possible. Specifically, the question I wanted to answer was how do women communicatively enact …