Gamers and Gender Bending

[Valiente]

Alright, so here's the deal.

What are your thoughts on people playing the opposite sex in-character in a table-top game? As a chick, I personally am a teeny bit weirded out by it--the guys I've seen play female characters, or most of the stories have heard...well, girls don't act like how they're describing they played their character. Anyways, needless to say, it usually annoys or weirds me out a bit. On the net it doesn't bother me at all, mostly because I don't have to listen and/or watch guys act out the image of how they perceive females

Sooooooo, what's your opinion? Is it okay? Good, bad? And remember, this is ONLY in regards to table-top, face-to-face gaming here---no online stuff.

Would/do you allow people to gender bend in your games?




If you're a guy that does plays a female character on a frequent basis, here are a few hints/tips--

1) Not all girls are not solely concerned with their appearance--we do have other things to think about.
2) Not all girls are afraid of spiders, mice, frogs, snakes, or lizards
3) We are not idiots that think every guy that's nice to us wants something more
4)We do not give guys that something more just because they're nice.
5) "like" and "Um" are NOT spoken every other word by every female.

Hope those help. ^.~

[vilerwormchild]

Heh heh, while I did commit a little gender bending on another forum, I find it quite weird when playing a pnp game with my friends. Just out of curiosity are there any girls that play guys, in which case here's a few stereotypes I don't appreciate.

1. We are not all shovanist pigs who think all women should be in the kitchen
2. Just because a guy appreciate's the works of Keats and Chauser doesn't mean he's gay
3. Just because a guy likes taking care of children doesn't mean he's a Pedophile
4. We are capable of thinking of something other than alcohol and sex
5. Just because a guy is sensitive doesn't mean he will do what you ask.
6. We are capable of free thought, we don't need you to tell us how to look good.
7. Just because a guy is stylish and can dance doesn't mean he's gay.
8. Just because a guy out with his friends, who have been with him through thick and thin for years, doesn't mean he's cheating on you or he stopped caring and it definatly doesn't mean he's gay.
9. We don't always leave every habitat we enter in filth and if we clean after ourselves doesn't mean we're gay
10. If a guy doesn't like sports it doesn't mean he's sociopathic, lazy or gay

Ok, I'm sure there's more but that's all I can think of

[Valiente]

LMAO Viler

I actually have played a few male characters in PnP games, not counting NPCs of course. Usually, if I play a male character, I'll go with a monk or paladin (for DnD, obviously), specificially so I don't have to be quite so concerned with other stereotype male aspects by cleverly using the cover of inner reflection, LOL.

[Angelus]

That's really the problem, isn't it? It's hard to really come across people who can portray a character of the opposite sex properly. One such problem, comes from there being too many stereotypes for either side to really know where the middle ground is.

Is she a beautiful helpless woman that's scared of everything and wanting a nice strong man? Or is she capable of overcoming her fears in a dangerous situation, and not constantly rely on others for help?

Is he a big muscular man that's always thinking of it when he saves the "damsel in distress"? Or is there really a whole lot more to him than muscles, fighting, sex, and alcohol?

One thing I've found that's common with cross-gender role playing, something I really come to hate, is the need to make their character homosexual. She's a busty blonde, with legs and a body to kill, she's also looking for another female to love. He's a big muscular hunk of a man, with eyes that you could fall into, and oh, he's very gay and looking.

2) Not all girls are afraid of spiders, mice, frogs, snakes, or lizards
3) We are not idiots that think every guy that's nice to us wants something more
4)We do not give guys that something more just because they're nice.

No, not all girls are indeed like this. It doesn't however stop some guys from seeing it this way, and using it as a starting point to rping as a female. Some generally want females like this, some haven't seen many that weren't like this. Something that isn't done in most cases, though it's definitely a good idea, is to go to a close friend of the opposite sex that's also a rper, though I suppose the wouldn't have to be, and get some pointers on it.

When turned around, female playing male, it tends to go differently from what I've seen. Instead of playing it how they generally see it, they play it how they generally want it. I could probably get several denials come at me after this, whether guys denying the above paragraph, or girls denying this one. But it is true. I've seen only a few girls generally play a male character well. And few males play a female well.

While I don't frown upon it being done, I also don't give it my blessings, especially if I'm running the show it's taking place in. If they're going to do it with more stereotypes than anything else, then they're done. If they're trying to play as the opposite sex just for some perks that their gender can't get (And believe me, I've seen this done with more than just rping), then I say no, and don't allow them to join in.

I play(ed) two female characters. One was played according to character info that was already set, while being able to safely avoid having to deal with anything that could sway how the character was meant to be played. While the other is younger and at a point where the differences between a young boy and a young girl are slim. I also considered giving the character off to one of my close friends, whom I could trust, as both a female and a good rper, to rp the character better than myself.

[Shinan]

I think I've played a female maybe once or twice. I think my first one was a staff-wielding magic-user psycho... I guess she could have been of either sex any day.

Other than that I'm mostly GM and GMs have to portray all sexes (including the "other" part). I guess I'm a weak player in the sense that the sex rarely matters. I prefer to have a lot of racism in my games rather than sexism (though there's a fair amount of that from time to time too).

[hamster]

the biggest problem, i see here, is that one gender cannot really grasp the inner workings and thoughts of the other easily enough to come through as genuine. its hard to think through each action and word when you have to weigh it against "would she really do this" or "what's his motivation here" (i use the gender pronouns assuming the char is opposite of the player)

but, you have to do this every time you take on a new character...not many of us know what it really feels like to be a halfling sorcerer practically addicted to pralines (my newest character) but its fun to pretend. why not take it to the next step and switch your char's gender...its tough, from an RP perspective and a writing perspective, but the challenge can be worth it.

if you don't mind a little strong language, check out this link to something positive http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp04302002.shtml
the strip really explains itself, and you'll get a kick out of not being that guy. and if you are that guy, please just play male characters. it's less painful, really.

[Twilight]

I've played a few female characters, and never really had any problem with them. This may be because of how I played them.
The first was a psychotic elven lasher who was an ex-slave who was abused by her male masters. She became convinced that women were worthless and that she was in fact a male, and started to dress and act appropriately (although what she thought was appropriate clothes turned out to be obscenely disturbing). SO, whith her, I never had to deal with feminine things.
The second was Missy Smashum, a dim-witted dwarf battle-rager with pink pony-tails and ample womanhood. She had the mind of a child, and a warhammer the size of a truck. Once again, with her being so dumb, I didn't have to worry about her being female.
The last was Jessie Kildayne, a 7th Sea prostitute from Avalon. I played her exactly like half my male characters, intrested in only 3 things; sex, money, and sex. As long as I didn't go into detail with her exploits, I was okay. Of course, the male PC's wouldn't have anything to do with me...

So, pretty much, I played females that were either completely abnormal, or super stereotypical, in order to get around the fact that women are insane, incomprehendable riddles representing the greatest depths of chaos within nature, that no sane, God fearing man could ever understand. :)

[Valiente]

ROFL Twilight!

We're not ALL insane and incomprehensible...all the time.

Another thing that kind of annoys me is when people will play the opposite sex, but then make that character gay. It's like it's just an excuse to not put any effort in to playing the opposite sex effectively.

[Twilight]

Yeah, a friend of mine always plays insane goth lesbians. I think he's just living out his own twisted fantasies.

[NNyMoose777]

A male friend of mine plays female characters a lot, as he rolls a die to decide such things, and his dice seem to enjoy making him play a female. He seems to do it fairly well, from what I can tell. His characters are by no means helpless. Fairly often, they're better fighters than my characters.