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Accepted Paper:
"Naughty games": hen party games as ritual play
Sheila Young
(Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen)
Paper short abstract:
"Naughty Games" are a previously neglected group of games played at hen parties. A number of these are subverted children's games. Their manipulation is what Boussiac terms "the profanation of the sacred". These games encourage rule-breaking for both playful and ritualistic outcomes.
Paper long abstract:
Due to its ludic nature, the hen party is an excellent event for examining the complex relationship between play and ritual. Since the 2000s, hen parties have become increasingly sophisticated rite of passage rituals, involving several different component parts, one of the most important being the playing of games. Between 2012 and 2016 I researched hen parties in Northern Scotland, gathering information on the variety of games played, as well as their purposes. My work brought to light a previously neglected group of games, which encourage rule-breaking and which I have termed "naughty games". This paper will explore how the inner spaces of games and rituals are established, controlled and manipulated. It will conclude that the hen party is a playful ritual, but that within it there are elements of ritualistic play.