Editorial note: This article was originally published in the Knutpunkt 2026 book Seasons of Larp. It has been reprinted from there with the editors’ and authors’ permission. It has not been edited by Nordiclarp.org.
Introduction
Can larp be a tool for preventing sexism in the world of today? As an active larper, I see sexism used as a larp world element in numerous games, those from the past and those happening right now or very soon. Sometimes it is very clear and straightforward, showing a sexist community; sometimes it’s a more hidden element, disguised by fantastical worlds and supernatural powers. Nevertheless, it appears consciously (and sometimes also unconsciously) as an element of the designed world and gameplay in numerous larps. Looking closely at this topic encouraged me to think about the role that those games play in their players’ lives and how they encourage reflection towards not only society but also towards the players themselves. And those exact musings brought me here, asking the big question about the possibility of larp being a tool for preventing sexism, and deciding to pursue this topic as my PhD research.
As a young woman, the issue of misogyny and sexist attitudes towards women represented by young men plays a significant role in my life. Seeing the increase of sexism and blatantly open aggression towards women among far-right voters has prompted me to try and research how to prevent it. In my doctoral research under the flag of University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland, I will study the topic of sexism in larps and whether playing games focused on it can be a source of reflection for the players. Based on both qualitative and quantitative research methods I will attempt to determine what are the effects on the participant of playing larps involving sexism.
One of the main thing that sticks out today for me is this: if we, as a society, don’t attempt to breach the gap between the genders so visible in Gen Z, we will watch that generation grow into hatred, resentment, and unhappiness, unable to form friendships and relationships beyond their own gender. It is disheartening that in times when we should keep fighting for trans and queer rights, we have to come back to the issue of sexism, misogyny, and misandry. Despite the disappointment of it, I feel the call for action, and want my research to be a small step towards resolving this issue.
As mentioned, I will conduct doctoral study on the subject. This article is a small intro and breakdown of how I plan to research and write that doctorate and most importantly, what inspired me to do it.
Literature review
To conduct a valid and in depth study, I first have to consult already published data, as I want to anchor my work in existing research, and present my findings as a continuation and response to it. I am still finding more and more publications on sexism in young people, and the ones presented in this article are only the peak of an iceberg. At the moment I am focusing on sexist views and behaviours among men, but I am starting to expand my research to women’s sexist behaviours towards men.
Current studies about men show that sexist attitudes are highly present in young men especially.
The most recent International Women’s Day 2025 Ipsos report shows that not only does the gender gap among Gen Z persist compared to their previous research, but that perceptions of tensions between men and women is also the highest with younger age groups, and that there is more optimism about the future for young women than for young men.
- Harriet Over (2025) from the University of York in the United Kingdom has recently published a study on the ‘manosphere’, which Cambridge Dictionary defines as “websites and internet discussion groups that are concerned with men’s interests and rights as opposed to women’s, often connected with opposition to feminism or dislike of women,” showing that their preliminary data suggests the ‘manosphere’ is encouraging sexist attitudes.
- Lucas Gottzén (2025), at Stockholm University, Sweden, conducted a study showing that both far-right and Jihadist extremists contend that masculinity is threatened by feminism, and that young men often become radicalised not primarily for ideological reasons, but as ways to prove their masculinity.
- On November 18th, Equimundo has launched a new report on the state of UK men (2025) which states that 1 in 4 men believe no one will ever fall in love with them, 71 percent of men believe that people take jokes about gender stereotypes too seriously, 44 percent believe that men make better executives and leaders, and a third believe that a man should always have the final say in his relationship or marriage, among other observations.
Another element I am looking for as a part of the background research is reading articles that focus on an educational and transformative aspect of larps. I am interested in works that both prove and disprove that larps are a good tool for those purposes and to find reasons why.
- Jiayi Zhang (2025) from North China Electric University conducted studies showing that in comparison to the control group, the experimental group which used larp as an educational tool exhibited a significant increase in social–emotional competence.
- The research by Jessica Lichy, Yuan Zhai, and Derek Watson (2025) from IDRAC Business School in Lyon, France, reveal larp as an innovative tool for management development, demonstrating its positive influence on developing managerial identity development, while extending its effects to participants’ real-life identities.
The articles and reports presented above are just a few examples of texts that for now form a part of my research.
Methods
Another important element of my research is to choose the right methods to conduct it. This is not an easy choice at the moment, as I am still in the planning phase, and many elements can change by the end of this academic year.
At the moment I am thinking about the following:
- Researching different larps that use sexism as a significant part of their in-game world and are organised in 2026 and 2027, in order to see how this topic is currently explored in games.
- Consult with those larp organisers to have a clear understanding on the topic of sexism used in their games, so I can find potential research participants.
- Conduct semi-structured interviews with those larp organisers, with an intention of gathering data on their design process and game-play intentions about sexism.
- Create a voluntary survey for those larps’ participants to gather quantitative data on their motivation to play on the topic of sexism, their experiences, and reflections.
- Conduct semi-structured or unstructured interviews with a small number of those players, in order to dive deeper into the understanding of their experiences and combine it with the quantitative data.
I plan for my research to span a larger area than only Poland, but at the same time to be easily accessible for me and doable in a span of four years, which is why I decided to look for games organised within Europe. I will be focusing on games organised, facilitated, and played in English only, as it is a restriction that will let me run a more in-depth study, because it will not require any translation work.
Results
I am expecting that larp will turn out to be an effective tool to encourage reflection on sexism and potential change in sexist behaviours and attitudes in young people. When I larp, I look to experience situations and feelings I might not be face in my everyday life, or that I might not be conscious are happening around me. I want to feel deeply both as my character and as myself, and I want these feelings to have a meaning. And because it is my intention, I usually come out of larps with lots of thoughts and reflections, and sometimes even realisations about myself and the world around me. Personally I consider it a strong transformative tool, and I am certain many other larpers feel the same way. But is it a common feeling? If yes, then how common? Could larp become a universal tool for reflection and change? The only thing I can be sure of is that my findings will be interesting and complicated.
Discussion
Mapping out the methods and finding the right tools were both significant steps forward for my upcoming research and I hope that this article has given some insight around my reasoning so far.
My study aims to see if larp can be an effective tool for fighting sexism, focusing on young people, maybe especially men. It is not a straightforward topic and I will face many difficulties, starting from elements as basic as finding the right participants for it and not being critical towards sexist beliefs and behaviours in my survey and interview questions. These difficulties led to some questions for me:
- Which larps should I choose?
- Should I decide to conduct my own experiment, test my own larp?
- Which qualitative and quantitative research methods should I choose to reach as clear results as possible?
- How can I account for the researcher bias during the whole process and how can I use it to my advantage?
These dilemmas are all happening now, at the beginning of the research, and I have not even reached the stage of designing any of its elements yet. When I reach this point of my study later in 2026, it will only mean more questions for me, and I cannot express how excited I am about it. It is only the beginning. My doctoral studies will span the next four years and I am certain to discover more and more on the topic with every passing month. I am also thrilled for this study to be a great opportunity for new collaborations with scholars who focus their research on live action role-playing.
Bibliography
Equimundo, 2025. Equimundo’s State of UK Men 2025, accessed 14 December 2025.
Gottzén, L., 2025. Exploring the Link Between Masculinity and Violent Extremism: Remasculinization as Individual and Political Project. Sociol. Compass 19. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.70100
Ipsos, 2025. International Women’s Day 2025, accessed 30 October 2025.
Lichy, J., Zhai, Y., Watson, D., 2025. Shaping managerial identity using live-action role-play: non-western perspectives. J. Manage. Dev. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-09-2023-0268
Over, H., Bunce, C., Konu, D., Zendle, D., 2025. Editorial Perspective: What do we need to know about the manosphere and young people’s mental health? Child Adolesc. Ment. Health 30, 272–274. https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12747
Zhang, J., Mollandsøy, A. B., Nornes, C., Erevik, E. K., Pallesen, S., 2025. Predicting hostility towards women: incel-related factors in a general sample of men. Scand. J. Psychol. 66, 35–46. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjop.13062
Zhang, J., Xu, J., Li, M., 2025. The impact of educational live action role-playing games on social–emotional competence: a mixed-method study with Chinese college students. Front. Psychol. 16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1538761
This article is republished from the Knutpunkt 2026 book. Please cite it as:
Leśniewska, Julia. 2026. ‘Larp Against Sexism.’ In Seasons of Larp eds. Erlandsson, A., Svanevik, M., Holkar, M., and Brind, S. Gothenburg. Knutpunkt.
