DMing Gender?

[RangerWickett]

Gender is also a matter of personal identity, so even in arguments of semantics, people do have genders. I'm a dude, and I think I'm masculine.

As for roleplaying, well, for six months in 1998 I had a second screen name on AIM that I convinced my friends belonged to a female cousin of mine in Wisconsin, and nobody seemed to figure she wasn't real. Yes, I know it was stupid.

In games, I think I do a pretty good job of letting the players know whether they're talking to a man or a woman with just a slight change in my pitch and tone of voice. Honestly, when I have to roleplay a scene with two or more NPCs, it's a heck of a lot easier when they're not all the same sex.

Or gender.

 

[jackston2]

I purposely make a vast majority of the women "ugly". I'm trying to fight the trope of all men are ugly but every woman is a chainmail bikini model etc.

 

[MrApothecary]

I purposely make a vast majority of the women "ugly". I'm trying to fight the trope of all men are ugly but every woman is a chainmail bikini model etc.

Equality in hideousness, I suppose.

Anyway, I've always been frankly confused by those who suggest it is harder to roleplay a human woman than, say, a male lizardfolk. Compared to the way the Lizardfolk think, the confusion the sexes have about each others ways of thinking would be minute, you'd think.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

Gentlegamer: Gotta nit pick your nit pick. According to my OED:

gender
2. the state of being male or female (chiefly in cultural or social contexts).

Although I grant you that definition no. 1 was the grammatical one.

Mr. Apothecary writes:
Anyway, I've always been frankly confused by those who suggest it is harder to roleplay a human woman than, say, a male lizardfolk. Compared to the way the Lizardfolk think, the confusion the sexes have about each others ways of thinking would be minute, you'd think.

This is part of what I was alluding too above re. that dragon. The differences between humans and lizards are much greater, one would expect, than between genders. But I guess the thing is that no-one is going to find my version of a talking lizard that out of whack with what they expect, there being a dearth of talking lizards to compare it too. Women are much more common, even in gaming circles. People know (or think they do) what a woman should be like and will notice the subtle mistakes in my portayal. So in that sense, it is harder to portray a believable member of the opposite gender than a talking lizard. Not that this is a reason to avoid trying.

 

[Fenes]

Using indirect speech often can make roleplaying different characters easier.

"The guard asks you in a rude, almost challenging and rough, uneducated way what you are doing here."

vs.

"Hey, ye blokes, what in devil's name are you doin' here?"

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

People know (or think they do) what a woman should be like and will notice the subtle mistakes in my portayal. So in that sense, it is harder to portray a believable member of the opposite gender than a talking lizard. Not that this is a reason to avoid trying.

Exactly.

That's one of the reasons I play so many "alien" characters... because my portrayals of human beings-- male or female alike-- usually end up landing square in the trough of the Uncanny Valley. My lizardfolk and illithids are vibrant and compelling.

 

[S'mon]

I have not had a problem roleplaying gender, but I recall 20+ years ago when I was a teenager, I tended to describe female NPC speech in third-person while using first-person for male NPCs.

Edit: For PCs, I tend to play not-particularly-feminine women; which is not much of a stretch - I can get in touch with my feminine side easy enough to play Pink, but not Cristina Aguilera.

 

[delericho]

Has anyone every DMed and had a problem roleplaying gender?

I used to. Not so much any more.

For the most part, I present NPCs as people first, and then whatever else (race, gender, social class...) second.

 

[Tervin]

Old ladies and preteen tomboys with various personalities have long been my favourite NPCs as a DM. One of the advantages of being a long term Vampire storyteller is that you get used to running powerful NPCs of both sexes and all ages, so you get more of a chance to practice "being" different types of people.

The old trick of figuring out what is distinctive about every important individual before you portray it works just as well for people of the other sex as for those of your own. I often base NPCs loosely on people I have met somewhere just to get a starting point, then let them get their own lives gradually. For example "the hot elven chick" could be based on a quirky, possibly bipolar, sharp featured beauty that I used to run into at parties in the early 90s. I would borrow her characteristic facial features, her sudden changes in facial expression and her husky voice. Next step would be to decide what motivates her, what entertains her, what annoys her and what scares her - then I just need to play her to get to know the rest.

When working on a bunch of NPCs for a story or a setting I try to make short notes like that, often with keywords linked to real people as a shorthand. Oh, and I make sure not to base NPCs on people that my players will be able to recognise.

 

[Byronic]

Guess who I'm paraphrasing.

Roleplaying a woman is easy, simply take a man, and then take away all reason and accountability.

Seriously though it's not terribly hard, although you might not want to do it *too* well. I did that once and it really scared one of my players.