How To Perpetuate Gender Stereotypes Through RPGs
I realize that the title of this essay presents quite a large goal that some people may believe is impossible to attain. Actually, there are only a few easy steps one must follow in order for gaming to become even more hopelessly mired down in inflexible 1950s-era sex roles. Read on:
1.
Realize that all characters of the opposite gender are inferior, poorly
drawn caricatures and treat them as such. If
you are female, assume that all male characters are womanizing, disgustingly
violent, male chauvinist swine who think with their groin. If you are male, understand that female
characters only come in three varieties: the bitch, the easy one, and the
eternal victim. Feel free to pigeonhole
them into these broadly drawn, usually inaccurate characterizations and deny
them the respect you would give members of your own sex. If evidence to the contrary should present
itself, ignore it.
2.
If any member of your group strikes out against this, taunt and
ostracize them. Let the insults fly with full
force. "Girly-man" and
"traitor to the female sex" work particularly well.
3.
Don't trust PC members of the opposite gender. Do all the work yourself or share it only with those who share
your chromosomes. Leave the freaks to watch
from the sidelines since you know they'd make a mess of it anyway.
4.
Play your own gender the way it should be played. If you are male, run around bashing things into submission with
swords and bragging about it in taverns afterwards. If you are female, use your charming wink, your nice collection
of body parts, and your superhuman nagging skills to get what you want. Everyone will be impressed by your honesty
and realism.
5.
If any member of your group dissents, they are obviously gay. And should be treated as such.
Armed
with this "to-do" list, you're ready to make sure that things take
two steps back for every small step forward they may have taken in the past few
decades. But for every list of do's,
there's also a list of don't's:
1.
Avoid cross-gender
roleplaying like the plague. It raises
too many suspicions about, um, orientation.
And it might force you to actually attempt to understand other people
and depict them realistically. We can't
have that, now, can we?
2.
Don't stray from your narrow concepts of acceptable character classes
for your gender. Men should be warriors,
wizards, thieves, or barbarians. Women
should be witches, connivers, warriors in chainmail bikinis, or just plain
whores. Stray too far from this and
you're asking for trouble.
3.
Don't make friends in the opposite gender. Let's face it, they're good for nothing but procreation.
4.
Boys, if a girl shows up in your game store or RPG group, treat her
like the last remaining passenger pigeon.
Stare, giggle, and whisper. Ask
her if she's lost. Give her a lot of
help finding things and generally treat her as though she doesn't know what
she's doing. Make a pass at her if you
feel like it, cause let's face it, greasy hair, pimples, and Star Trek T-shirts
with unidentifiable Taco Bell stains in strategic spots are dead sexy.
5.
Make all of your dealings in the game with members of the opposite
gender as unrealistic as possible. When men
meet women they should flirt and grope relentlessly, even if she's royalty--you
know they all want it. When women meet
men they should automatically assume that this is what men are out to do, and
break out the heavy artillery.
6.
Finally, never, never use your RPG campaign to deal with gender issues,
or anything else serious for that matter.
After all, it's a game; it should be about busting some heads, not sex
or big topics like racism or even telling a good story with interesting
characters. Why should it have any use
to anyone at all?
Copyright (c) 2000 by Beth Kinderman. This is my original work, so please respect it.
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