The construction of queerness and the challenge to gender conventions in Omegaverse Novels

Abstract

This research examines the construction of queerness through storytelling in Omegaverse novels and analyzes how readers decode and challenge gender conventions. Using qualitative methodology through textual analysis and in-depth interviews with general readers and readers with diverse sexual orientations, this study is grounded in queer theory as its theoretical foundation. The findings demonstrate that Omegaverse Novels construct queerness by creating a simulated or virtual universe with a hierarchical secondary gender structure (Alpha, Beta, and Omega) that challenges traditional binary gender systems. This genre creates an imaginative space for gender and sexual fluidity through narrative techniques that combine biological references with critiques of gender-based power relationships. In terms of readers, the research shows that they utilize online communities as platforms to exchange ideas, negotiate, and construct new meanings of gender identity and sexual relationships. Omegaverse Novels thus operate as a contested space with dual characteristics, namely reproducing certain gender ideologies while resisting mainstream gender conventions simultaneously. This phenomenon creates social spaces that enable cultural practices among marginalized groups within dominant gender discourse. Accordingly, the study offers significant academic contributions across various dimensions, i.e., literary studies, gender studies, communication arts, and an analysis of the contemporary cultural industry.