Date of Award
3-17-2020
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Heritage Studies, Ph.D.
First Advisor
Deborah Chappel Daniel
Committee Members
Edward Salo; Marcus Tribbett
Call Number
LD 251 .A566d 2019 P56
Abstract
Gender and sexuality are ‘hot topics,’ often being the center of much debate and discussion. Although seemingly isolated, these subjects are found embedded and woven throughout aspects of culture including games. I argue that games like Dungeons and Dragons have within them core elements related directly to gender and sexuality and that since its creation in 1974, Dungeons and Dragons has evolved from being a game that exhibited both sexism and misogyny into a gaming platform that exhibits an open and accepting view of both gender and sexuality not just within the game but outside of the game in its players. Focusing on 14 editions and revisions of the Dungeons and Dragons tabletop role-playing game, I examine closely each Player’s Handbook for textual elements related to gender and sexuality and then again for elements related to the same subjects but only within the art and illustrations contained in those Player’s Handbooks. By doing so, I comb through each player’s handbook isolating those instances where gender and/or sexuality are mentioned and use that data to create a larger image of the movement and evolution of these concepts within the game and culture as a whole. Here, I argue that these forms of transient popular culture should indeed be considered as ‘heritage,’ because of the inherent and latent cultural ideas found throughout that relate directly back to heritage. My work fits not only into the discipline of Heritage Studies but also game studies, role-playing game studies, Cultural Studies, performance studies and helps fill a large gap in both scholarship and representation of gender and sexuality within a gaming platform. At the time of this research, little had been conducted on Dungeons and Dragons specifically, as well as gender and sexuality through the evolution of the game and what implications that has on culture and society writ large.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Pinkston, Renee, "Cooperative Acceptance and Tabletop Representation: Gender and Sexuality in The Fantasy Tabletop Role-Playing Game Dungeons and Dragons" (2020). Student Theses and Dissertations. 420.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/420
