Year: 2024, 2024
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Games immerse players. Through immersion, players can see themselves embodied in their avatars. There is space for meaningful experimentation of gender through these avatars as embodied players can blur the lines between their real-life and virtual selves. The player's avatar becomes that person — in terms of personality, feelings, and gender identity/expression. In virtual reality… more
Year: 2024, 2024
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This dissertation focuses on the intersectionality between images posted on social media and social rules in the lives of young people. The findings are based on thirty-four qualitative interviews with young social media users where photo-based methodologies were employed. From these interviews, three key themes emerged: 1) Posting and sharing images are connected to identity exploration… more
Year: 2023, 2023
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>This dissertation traces the emergence of the "transgender predator" discourse on social media. Taking its cue from the 2019 British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal case Yaniv v. Various Waxing Salons, in which a white Canadian trans woman named Jessica Yaniv unsuccessfully filed a series of complaints against a number of racialized cisgender aestheticians claiming that they… more
Year: 2022, 2022
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The purpose of this research is to highlight the limitations and opportunities for playful expression of gender identity in character creation systems of virtual worlds, and how these might work to reinforce, or disrupt, the heteronormative imperative. The primary sites considered in this analysis are the video game World of Warcraft and the live action role-playing game Amtgard. I… more
Year: 2019, 2019
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Affleck, Sara Jane, Thesis advisor (ths): Hollinger, Veronica, Degree committee member (dgc): Junyk, Ihor, Degree committee member (dgc): Pendleton Jimenez, Karleen, Degree committee member (dgc): Chivers, Sally, Degree committee member (dgc): Verwaayen, Kim, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Parody has been a strategy within cultural production since the ancient Greeks: "paraodia" referred to a song sung alongside the main narrative thread of a dramatic work; the prefix "para-" also signifies "against." In A Theory of Parody: The Teachings of Twentieth-century Art Forms, Linda Hutcheon offers this core definition: parody is "a form of… more