The Girl’s Guide To Gender Bending
In
its dealings with transgender roleplaying, so far Revenge Of The Gamer
Chick has dealt primarily with the problems of male gamers playing female
characters. These are some of the more
popular sections of this site; in fact, The Joys Of Transgender
Roleplaying is still the most widely read essay in this collection. But there’s an entirely different angle on
the challenges and rewards of playing a character of a different gender that,
until now, I haven’t really addressed. What
about female gamers playing male characters?
How can they portray a man “correctly,” and what problems may they face
while doing so?
Creating
a male character, of course, should be handled no differently than creating a
female character. A well-thought-out background,
clear goals, and intelligent roleplaying (as discussed in the “Woman’s Work”
essays) are key. Once again, female
gamers have it easier; due to constant exposure to male players and their
(frequently) male characters, we learn early on how men behave and can apply
those lessons to our transgender characters much easier than our male
counterparts. Of course, women playing
men should be just as careful to avoid stereotypes and create a realistic,
well-rounded character. In fact,
because of roleplaying’s male majority, a poorly drawn male character can
become more offensive than you’d think. For women languishing in groups full of combat monsters and lecherous
teenagers, the temptation to play a truly loathsome psychopathic ladies’ man to
show your fellow gamers how foolish they’re being can be very strong indeed. Try to resist it; imagine a man doing a
similar thing in a group full of women!
It
has also been my experience that when a woman plays a male character, it’s
generally seen as more “acceptable” than a man playing a woman. Male gamers are often so accustomed to
all-male adventuring parties that it may actually cause less disruption of
their routine for the group gamer chick to play a man. I’ve even talked to some female gamers who
were discouraged from playing their own gender by early groups, and came away
with the misguided notion that female characters weren’t even allowed in
roleplaying games! The real challenge
for a female gamer isn’t so much choosing the “right” gender as working up the
nerve to walk into a gaming group in the first place. Still, once she’s established in a group, a woman wanting to play
a male character should think things through and play the opposite gender as
well as she can.
In
fact, there are plenty of women who for whatever reason prefer playing male
characters, and it’s the sad truth that these women can run into some pretty
nasty prejudices because of it. Character
gender is a simple matter of taste, just like having a favorite race or
character class, and shouldn’t be seen as anything else. If a woman plays a man, it’s not an
indication of sexual preference, or a hint that she doesn’t think her own
gender is good enough. Let’s not
promote this ridiculous idea any more than it has been already.
This
isn’t to say, however, that women dabbling in transgender roleplaying don’t
face challenges. I learned this firsthand
recently when I began an Earthdawn campaign (with a male GM, three other female
players, and one male player—it’s great!).
My character, Valeris Skyblood, is a male ork who is very young,
somewhat naïve, and secretly a bit of a coward, but in the end a pretty decent
guy to be around. The other three
female players all created female characters.
The male player got creative and made an elvish nethermancer who is (for
lack of a better term) a flaming homosexual.
Naturally, in Earthdawn’s non-modern, less “politically correct”
setting, my character was assumed to be the leader of the party, although
several of the other characters had far better leadership skills. This was a new challenge, not only for Val
as a character but for me as a player.
Typically, I’m 75 percent Real Roleplayer and 25 percent Loony, and
prefer to leave the big decisions to the Real Men of the party, but I found
myself thrust into a situation where I was exercising gaming muscles I’d never
really used before. Sure, it took me
awhile to get to my feet, but once I did, I came out of the experience as a
better, more well-rounded gamer.
I’ll
admit that I haven’t had as much experience as some with playing male
characters. As a Gamer Chick, I make it
my duty to bring a uniquely female viewpoint to all of my gaming groups, and
this task is often better served by playing female characters. Still, I know that playing a male character
can be an enlightening experience, both for the woman portraying him and the
other members of the group, and I’ve become more and more interested in it
lately. In short, playing male
characters isn’t always easy for female gamers, but it can be an immensely
rewarding experience. I’d recommend
it to any gamer chick who wants a new experience as a gamer—or maybe just wants
to see how the other half lives!
Copyright (c) 2001 by Beth Kinderman. This is my original work, so please respect it.