![]() ![]() Creating the digital from forces of realism fails to match those of the past therefore the digital reconstruction of the past eventually leads to poor imitation (Munster 2006, 94). The disembodiment of sociocultural norms lacks the organic forces that allow realism in the digital sphere. Additionally, the proponents of embodiment heavily criticize this disassociation between the mind and body because it contradicts the idea of users’ affective experiences created from these digitally aesthetic worlds. Assuming that most gamers like the sense that they are in control of their online persona, the idea of having no agency through a disconnection with their bodies provides a negative impression that their bodies are not in control of their digital life. Furthermore, the notion of ‘physical bodies in normal spaces’ and ‘bodies stuck in front of the computer screen’ imply that users have no human agency as they cannot choose whether their body can experience the emotional component of the digital environment. I infer a technological deterministic description of disembodiment, as they have the similar sentiment of a one-way interaction between the physical body and the digital realm. ![]() This complements Stone’s idea of cyberspace - an electronically-generated reality inhabited by people who are separated from their corporeal bodies in ‘normal space’ (Munster 2006, 89). One can imagine disembodiment as the situation where physical bodies are parked in front of a computer screen while their disembodied minds are able to roam around the virtual space (Van Doorn 2011, 532). According to Munster, disembodiment relies on the idea of digital Cartesianism - where the mind is separated from the body (2006, 191). Investigating the relationship between the disembodied and embodied experience through gender management in online games shows the disproportional powers that are ascribed to different genders.ĭistinguishing Between Disembodiment and Embodimentĭisembodiment portrays the separation between the physical self and digital self. Particularly, how male gamers have more embodied experience in online gaming than female gamers, also known as ‘girl-gamers’, who face more frequent disembodied experiences. This inequality stems from an imbalance of power where modern sociocultural norms in games are more advantageous towards certain groups of people. However, I would further propose that different users experience a variance between embodied and disembodied virtuality. ![]() I continue to acknowledge that the proponents of the embodiment have better explanations regarding the interexchange of identity and social norms from the physical world into the digital world. This situation hinders the users’ experience of immersion (Munster 2006, 92) - where the user’s physical movement corresponds into certain actions in the digital realm, producing an affective aesthetic experience from virtual reality back into the corporeal body. Consequently, I argue that continuous renegotiation of gender identity within the sociocultural norms of online gaming show a disembodied experience as users find a disconnection between their immaterial identities with the online equivalent. Regardless of these reasons, the disconnection between a user’s corporeal identity with his/her online counterpart challenges the mainstream understanding of the embodiment of the body into the virtual realm. Usually, these discrepancies are caused by the rigid normative characteristics of masculinity and femininity ranging from situations where there are limited choices of avatars that represent genders to cases of hostile networks hosted through computer-mediated communications (CMCs). While most research suggests that people prefer avatars to be based on their corporeal identity, there are many cases where users choose to assume another gender identity. The interrelationships among the sociotechnical norms and the notion of a digital self in online gaming illustrate a paradox between sexism and gender performance leading to discrepancies for gender identity. GENDER TRANSFORMATION GAME ONLINE OFFLINEEventually, sociocultural norms from the offline world are transferred and cultivated in these gaming environments as individuals interact with each other in networked technologies. Online games allow the embodiment of a gamer’s corporeal body to be transposed into an immaterial form, which ultimately acts as an extension of one’s self. Gender-Bender in Online Games: A Disembodied Coping Mechanism or an Embodied Experience? ![]()
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