Role-playing Games as Transformative Spaces for Trans People to Explore, Express, and Embody Gender

This dissertation investigates how role-playing games serve as spaces where trans people can safely explore, express, and embody their gender identities. Setting out from the vulnerable sociocultural conditions many trans individuals navigate, the research highlights the necessity of protective environments that foster personal discovery, courage, and supportive networks that can subsequently inform daily life. Drawing across queer and trans theory, game studies, and transformative role-playing studies, the inquiry explains the mechanisms through which players carry out this identity work. Comprising four peer-reviewed articles, the project adopts and justifies a scavenger methodology to analyze this marginalized subject with adequate nuance and depth.