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, the player becomes a virtual actor in the world of the game, allowing the player to explore their avatar directly. Through various games, books, and anime, I demonstrate how players can find embodiment and how games can achieve a rigid sense of embodiment. Using an intersectional lens of cultural and gender studies, this paper aims to provide a framework for embodied gender exploration that future games can build upon. This framework is enacted through a look at embodiment and how the player is able to find an authentic self in the virtual world.
Author Keywords: Avatars, Embodiment, Embodiment studies, Gender euphoria, Video games, Virtual Reality