Short Abstract:

This roundtable explores the relationship between the digital, representations of the self and virtual embodiment through the lens of ‘dragging’. We aim to disrupt current discourses on gender performances through our digital ethnographies and lived experiences.

Long Abstract:

The increasing enclosure of gender performance mobilises people to experiment and play with embodiments of gender, in digital and physical third spaces. Playing with self-expression through media creation has allowed ‘othered’ individuals to find community and a shared sense of visibility. For example, digital versions of tabletop games provide an accessible space to forge connections and ‘test’ versions of yourself. Through the lens of ‘dragging’, in which boundaries of gender are re-negotiated, experimented with, and performed, this roundtable discusses how people (re)create, embody and perform their queer self in a digital format through drag, play, and fantasy.

Roundtable participants employ anthropological methods, specifically (auto-)ethnographic approaches, to shed light on this:

Isla Francis works on non-normative embodiment on digital platforms from chatbots to avatars.

Ray Abu-Jaber investigates the performance of gender and queerness in games and dating apps.

Zoyander Street uses interactive media and games to explore non-normative subjectivities, based on ethnographic research including oral history.

Geyujing Shen explores the spiritual world and living conditions of young Chinese female queer diasporas through visual ethnography.

Leya George researches human-computer interaction and how games can support people in exploring gender identity.

We will discuss how avatars, voices, and characters present gendered versions of the self, digital infrastructures like stickers and labels on dating platforms open and close possibilities of identification, and how the digital has changed the way drag as an artform is performed. This roundtable opens a multifaceted discussion of individuals’ interventions to perform queerness, gender, and other intersectional markers of identity.