You and Your Characters: Gender and Sexuality

[Vael]

Male playing mostly male, but I've played a few females. My first RPG character was a haughty female elf Druid in DnD 3.5. And one reason I like Eberron so much is that I love playing Changelings (I like the gender/shape-switching element) or the almost neuter Warforged.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

I'm pretty surprised that only 8% of the respondents so far were female. I know it's a male-dominated hobby, but I had no idea that it was that extreme.

 

[Fox Lee]

I'm pretty surprised that only 8% of the respondents so far were female. I know it's a male-dominated hobby, but I had no idea that it was that extreme.

I'm sure a sample size of 117ish is not a perfect reflection of the real population... but yeah, I'm surprised too. If anything, I'd have thought the gender gap would be smaller online than in the real world - though I guess the difference between those two areas is also closing for gamers.

To say anything for certain, we'd need statistics on how the userbase of EnWorld is distributed. And probably on how likely males and females are to respond to weird online polls, amongst other things

 

[Fox Lee]

[Friggin double post. Something on my computer puked on submit... >_<;]

 

[Shortymonster]

I do tend to stick to my usual gender, but sexuality can go either way. Most often than not, I don't think about it until something happens in game that wold bring it up. At that point I make a decision based on how I have played the character so far, and just go for it.

 

[Kingreaper]

I'm male, and mostly play male characters. I play the occasional female character, when it feels right for the character; and one of my recent characters was a "female-ish" genderfluid individual in that she was a succubus, and while she preferred that form she also had the ability to use incubus form [I decided that that version of the myth fit well), and often did.

Occasionally even when flirting with the (entirely straight) male Eladrin in the party; because she found his reactions funny.

 

[Dethklok]

I'm a guy, but I play other things. Most of the time, gender wasn't much of an issue; people are people. But one girl did become romantically involved with a guy played by another male. One interesting character was a female with gender dysphoria who overcompensated by drinking and fighting all the time; she was desperate for an alchemical "cure" that would turn her male.

These things work fine if you grow accustomed to using the third person - it may put more distance between yourself and the character, but it isn't at all difficult for other players to appreciate the character as something other than a same-gendered extension of yourself.

I'm sure a sample size of 117ish is not a perfect reflection of the real population... but yeah, I'm surprised too. If anything, I'd have thought the gender gap would be smaller online than in the real world - though I guess the difference between those two areas is also closing for gamers.

To say anything for certain, we'd need statistics on how the userbase of EnWorld is distributed. And probably on how likely males and females are to respond to weird online polls, amongst other things

I'm not remotely surprised. I always like a girl or two at my gaming table, but when I played games run by other people, most of the time it was an all-male cast.

And goodness, why should be be surprised? A heavy reliance on rules, tables, and numbers, along with the focus on ego enhancement and achievement (collecting gold and XP and measuring your success with a numerical level) is a great way of appealing to a narrow and overwhelmingly male niche. This isn't terrible, anymore than it's terrible that Twilight is very fulfilling for junior high girls. But it does suggest an uncomfortable parallel.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

I'd also guess that male and female gamers may tend toward different gaming styles.

 

[S'mon]

I am a heterosexual man; I tend to always play humans these days (as a teenager I'd play AD&D Elf Fighter/M-U/Thief etc for the cheese). About 2/3 of my PCs are men, 1/3 women. My last 3 PCs:

Raknar Olafson, Norse Cleric of Erastil (Golarion), male
Shaedra, Thyatian Griffon Knight Cleric of Vanya (Mystara), female
Valgrim, mercenary Fighter in service to the Overlord of Punjar, male

Nearly all my PCs are heterosexual, though there was one female PC ca nine years ago who I wasn't sure of, she might have been a bit the other way.

Edit: Oh, before Raknar I think my previous PC was Barbie Benton, a female corporate executive in a zombie apocalypse Savage Worlds game. That's the only time I can recall being made to feel a bit uncomfortable in my gender choice, by the GM and one of the players. Not that they'd mock me, more that I felt they tended to ignore/dismiss me. And my character was an Alpha type, but not as aggressive/domineering as an equivalent male PC would have been.

 

[S'mon]

To me, exploring a variety of different personalities is interesting, but trying to adopt a perspective I truly don't understand is futile. And, having an academic background in gender issues, I'm keenly aware of how different the sexes can be, and how poorly I do trying to emulate the opposite sex.

My female PCs are certainly more male-brained than the average woman; I've known a lot of such women IRL. It seems likely to me that they would be the sort of women more likely to become adventurers. They still have a different psychology from men or from my male PCs, though. I
don't find it difficult to 'get in touch with my feminine side' and play a female adventurer character from an internal aspect. I know some men do have that problem and that it seems to be partly culturally determined, affected by eg how rigid gender roles are in their society or culture.