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RBTurk Dissertation 2019.pdf (9.84 MB)

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Costuming as Inquiry: An Exploration of Women in Gender-Bending Cosplay Through Practice & Material Culture

Turk, Rebecca Baygents
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4006-6544
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1553514620815081

Abstract Details

2019, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Arts Administration, Education and Policy.
This study explores the phenomenon of gender-bending cosplay (GBC) through its material culture using costuming (the acts of making and wearing artifacts and the artifacts themselves) to examine the motivations/interests/expectations of women who participate. GBC embraces the shifting, or bending, of the identified gender and/or biological sex of a fictional character to match the gender identity and/or biological sex of the player. This study concentrates on self-identified women adapting male characters to female versions of the same characters. The principal approach of the research design is Practice as Research (PaR) from an Art-Based Research (ABR) paradigm. Research methods include costuming, performance, ethnography, narrative inquiry, interviewing, participant observation, and discourse analysis. The worlds of text and image are melded in the amphibious, mixed-methods design and presentations of this study. GBC involves creating and using material culture, the artifacts of a culture/community. It becomes a creative outlet for many who may not otherwise be making art. When material culture can be worn, an interactive embodied performance can be experienced between the maker and the player, the player and the artifacts, the player and the audience, the player and fellow players, the player and cultural texts. This performance simultaneously emphasizes and challenges gender binaries, gender roles, and expectations. It is a performance of culture. The communities of play collaborate to interpret and reinterpret the performance and the material culture. They tell and share stories that uncover insights into the phenomenon, society, and culture.
Shari Savage, PhD (Committee Chair)
Jennifer Schlueter, PhD (Committee Member)
Christine Morris, PhD (Committee Member)
179 p.
Art Education
costume; costuming; cosplay; gender-bending; costume design; practice as research; material culture; art and design education; performativity; play; adaptation; narrative collage; arts based research

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Turk, R. B. (2019). Costuming as Inquiry: An Exploration of Women in Gender-Bending Cosplay Through Practice & Material Culture [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1553514620815081

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Turk, Rebecca. Costuming as Inquiry: An Exploration of Women in Gender-Bending Cosplay Through Practice & Material Culture . 2019. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1553514620815081.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Turk, Rebecca. "Costuming as Inquiry: An Exploration of Women in Gender-Bending Cosplay Through Practice & Material Culture ." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1553514620815081

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1553514620815081
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© 2019, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.