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Tabletop ‘pen and paper’ role-play games (TTRPGs) can function as spaces of creative experimentation with gender identity through shared storytelling. The last decade has seen an explosion of Actual Play (AP) shows that broadcast recorded gameplay of TTRPGs to online audiences. Neverafter is the 15th season of well-known AP show Dimension 20 and is a horror-themed re-imagining of classic fairy tales through the rules of Dungeons and Dragons. Four of the six player characters are male, based individually on the fairy tales of Pinocchio, Puss in Boots, the Frog Prince, and a (gender-swapped) Mother Goose, adventuring together in a story-world called ‘The Neverafter’. Not only are these versions of the fairy tale characters shaped by the players' own explorations of identity, but as an AP show, this is also layered with the expectations produced by the show's wide fan base. Their diverse gender explorations and their subversion of fairy tale conventions are enabled by the fluency of the players and audience in freely flowing between the framing perspectives of player and character. This chapter will focus on non-binary player Ally Beardsley's creation and performance of Mother Timothy Goose as a gay, elderly, human man as a particularly meaningful case study. This analysis considers how heroic masculinity is reconceptualised in Neverafter through the horror-themed embodiment of fairy tale men in the context of contemporary gender issues.

This paper draws on African anti-colonial thought and Black consciousness to propose critical conscious leadership (CCL) as a decolonising leadership approach appropriate for pursuing emancipation, social justice and innovation in a new African university.

I utilised the method of critical discourse analysis to study Ihron Rensburg’s language as he reflected on his leadership at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The study engaged with Rensburg’s writings and texts on his account of leading the merger and transformation of UJ. The primary text draws from his book “Serving Higher Purposes” (2020).

Through the construction of CCL, the paper proposes alternative tenets for leading transformation towards a new African university. CCL grounds a decolonised and pluriversal new African university’s character premised on a consciously revitalised alternative thinking that will carry the communitarian spirit of Africa in knowledge production, dissemination and consumption in humanising all and serving the greater good. And it operates within the dialectical tensions of the social and economic purpose of higher education (HE), African and global relevance, African and Western paradigms, excellent performance and attainment of social justice.

The proposed CCL offers an alternative leadership approach that responds to the call to “Dethrone the Empire” by centring Blackness in HE leadership, which is crucial for authentic transformation and decolonisation.

Fairy tales were first transmitted orally to teach the community to adapt and engage with their surroundings (Zipes, 1987, p. 1). Nonetheless, they have also contributed to reproduce traditional gender roles and stereotypes (Meland, 2020, p. 912). Indeed, they encourage ‘females to become passive self-denying, obedient, and self-sacrificial’, and males to ‘be competitive, authoritarian, and power-hungry as well as rational, abstract, and principled’ (Zipes, 1987, p. 3). Likewise, Western fairy tales are characterised by a racial dichotomy manifested through the uses of colour: purity is usually associated with white, while black is related to death. This binary opposition suggests that ‘[w]hiteness is often the invisible, privileged state, whereas any other skin colour is marked and laden with ideological judgments’ (Jorgensen, 2013, p. 56).

Carnival Row (2019–2023) is a neo-Victorian TV series created for Amazon Studios that rewrites Western fairy tales through the lens of postcolonial and gender studies. It is set in a fantastically reimagined Victorian England, where mythological creatures – e.g. fairies or centaurs – are allegorical representations of the ethnic Other. The male protagonist of this series, Philo, is a ‘half-breed’ – half human, half fairy – who passes as human to avoid racial discrimination. However, he evolves from being a male character who rejects his ethnic identity to a heroic figure who eventually embraces his racial origins at the end of Season 1. As I demonstrate in this chapter, Philo's nuanced development arguably subverts traditional depictions of white male heroes in fairy-tale narratives, where they tend to be portrayed as strong, principled and non-complex characters.

Fairy tale narratives have placed significant emphasis on depicting female and male protagonists through a binary understanding of gender roles. Major male characters are portrayed with traits associated with hegemonic masculinity, reinforcing concepts that uplift masculine superiority, such as independence, exercise of power, authority, and strength. Conversely, female protagonists are often represented in ways that emphasise hegemonic femininity, aiming to disempower and marginalise them by highlighting traditional feminine traits like passivity, dependence, and helplessness. Any female characters deviating from these norms and depicted as powerful and dominant are positioned as villains in relation to the main female protagonist, embodying non-hegemonic feminine characteristics.

The representation of women in these ways primarily serves one purpose: to uphold masculine superiority. Hegemonic femininity portrays women as damsels in distress, awaiting rescue. On the other hand, non-hegemonic femininity manifests through villainous women performing antagonistic acts towards conforming female protagonists, thus forcing them into a helpless position. This is the critical juncture where the main male protagonists' step in – rescuing the helpless female protagonists and defeating the female villains – reinforcing masculine values in both scenarios.

However, the 21st century fairy tale narratives have challenged this ideology. I argue that recent fairy tale narratives have adopted the technique of ‘Feminist Quest Heroine’ to challenge and deconstruct male characters' heroism through the re-portrayal of female and male characters. The selected fairy tale narratives include Frozen (2013) and a comparative analysis of Sleeping Beauty (1959) and its cinematic adaptation Maleficent (2014). The findings suggest that these fairy tales rework the representation of male characters in three ways: the application of post-feminist masculinity, the modification of heteronormative temporality, and the prominence of sisterhood upon the critique of patriarchy.

What's in a name? Not much if you're Prince Charming. While the erstwhile indistinctive princes and heroes of fairy tales have enjoyed a bit of the spotlight in modern television and film narratives, this exposure has not extended, as much, to the academic study of fairy tale men.

This collection of chapters delves into the often-overlooked realm of contemporary male fairy tale characters, a domain that remains largely unexplored within academic circles. By drawing on diverse narratives from television, film, and literature, this interdisciplinary collection sheds light on the evolving representations of male characters in fairy tales and their intersections with broader socio-cultural themes.

Through an acknowledgement of the historical roots of the fairy tale genre, this collection explores how these characters have transcended their original contexts and infiltrated various fictional genres. By examining the thematic resonance of fairy tales in contemporary narratives, this collection underscores its enduring influence on modern storytelling.

This collection seeks to fill the scholarly void surrounding male fairy tale characters, particularly within the realms of queer studies, gender studies, and postcolonial studies. By including a range of academic approaches, from character analysis to fan studies to film and television studies, this collection enriches the understanding of the complex role of male characters in modern fairy tale discourse.

The pervasive issue of employee exploitation has surfaced as a salient ethical quandary within the context of modern-day workplaces, thereby demanding expeditious and imperative deliberation and redressal. This research endeavor aims to meticulously investigate the ramifications of employee exploitation on the proclivity to partake in the act of cutting corners within the workplace. This analysis encompasses the sequential mediating variables of negative emotions, namely resentment, anger, and frustration, as well as moral disengagement.

A purposive sampling technique and self-administered questionnaires were utilized in this study of 132 SME sector personnel. The current study is time-lagged in nature and uses the Amos software, the data were analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, as well as structural equation modeling.

According to the results, employee exploitation has a strong positive impact on cutting corners. This effect is mediated progressively by negative emotions (resentment, anguish, frustration), as well as moral disengagement. According to the findings, organizations should prioritize addressing employee exploitation to build a healthy work environment that promotes employee well-being and encourages employee voice.

This study’s novelty comes from its analysis of the sequential mediation of negative emotions, as well as moral disengagement, in the relationship between employee exploitation and cutting corners. The study’s findings add to the body of literature concerning management development, conflict handling, and employees’ attitudes and behaviors by offering a thorough grasp of the detrimental effects of employee exploitation on cutting corners as well as useful recommendations for businesses looking to promote productive workplaces.