ABSTRACT
Steve’s comment shows how identifying with an online avatar can be a serious affair for some gamers.1 Virtual re-presentations of ‘self’ in an online environment are for some, a liberating experience; however, as demonstrated above, they can also be problematic. Steve, for example, identifies as a masculine, heterosexual man, but the race2 of male blood elves in World of Warcraft (WoW) are constructed as flamboyant with egotistical personalities, and are portrayed with bodies that could be described as elegant and feminine. In massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) such as WoW, it is common practice for both game creators and the majority of players to reinforce heteronormative values and norms. As a result, players who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ) are often marginalized and made to feel ‘out of place’. While there is intolerance and discrimination, however, there is also resistance. Therefore, it is relevant to examine the ways in which the spaces of online games serve as sites of resistance to authority and inequality (Del Casino, 2009).
