Gender preference

[Sheliak Bob]

Ack. Had one of these threads flame up over at the RPGNet forums.
My short answer is that, due to some very-very-VERY bad experiences and practically NO good ones, I impose an implacable, unyielding, never to be exceptioned ban on cross-gender characters in any games that I run.
I don't play in games run by other GM's that have cross-gendered PC's in them.

All my older players are quite comfortable with that. The few who strained against the ban just moved on to other groups and passed into the fog of history.
The newer players I've gamed with seem much more puzzled by my "quaint prejudice", but respect my gaming abilities enough that they "humor" the old guy.

Mind you, I don't give a damn about the sexual preferences of PC's. No problems with any of the possible permutations. But I just can't stomach cross gender play.

[Fugazi Grrl]

My whole RPing group is female (the players, not the characters).

Where I live it is very, very hard to find men who are into gaming. And the six of us just kinda got together out of our mutual love of Star Trek and started gaming.

Now we play all kinds of games, including FGU's Privateer's & Gentlemen- an RPG set during the 18th century and usually in the British navy.

Needless to say we all RP both guys and girls. And I'd say we do about the same either way, as far as getting into and staying in character.

I have certain characters I can stay in easier- some male (Omega, the Android- if an android counts... or Captain Northcote) and some female (Baxala the crazy Betazoid pilot, or Chief Engineer Kristine McBride).

I think it has to do with how good of a character you're playing- how well developed they are- and whether or not you can identify with the character.

I've been RPing a lot longer than my "Ladies' Adventuring Club" has been going- since... my gosh... nearly 20 years... and I've RP'd with a lot of guys too.

And if I can say so without offending any of the guys here, I think men have a harder time adopting a female role than women do a male. I'm not saying this is 100%... it has just been my common experience.

[C5]

My whole RPing group is female (the players, not the characters).

Where I live it is very, very hard to find men who are into gaming. And the six of us just kinda got together out of our mutual love of Star Trek and started gaming.

Wow. Did not know there were places on Earth where you could find more female than male RPG players Around here RPG ranks slightly below belching contests in the category of disgusting male-only behaviours.
(then again, this is France we're talking about, the country where Star Trek is known as the crappy old series with the pointy-eared Venusian guy )

And if I can say so without offending any of the guys here, I think men have a harder time adopting a female role than women do a male. I'm not saying this is 100%... it has just been my common experience.

I've noticed that female players tend to roleplay more realistic males than male players for females. Usually female characters played by males tend to be either completely asexual or on the contrary some variant of a femme fatale (or less respectable). Male characters played by female tend to be much more balanced.
Though this tend to change (for the better) as the ages of the players rises, I must say.

[Nolmir]

I've got to agree: men generally do not rp female characters well. I've tried it once, and will never be persuaded to do it again. Maybe it's just so difficult to figure out the female psyche.

Or maybe we're just blockheads.

[The Tatterdemalion King]

I've never understood why an unsexualized female character, played by a male, was a problem. Most people, in my experience, play unsexualized male characters all the time...

[redwood973]

I've never really noticed a problem having players play opposite gender characters. Of course most players I've had experience with had some form of stage acting (schools or community theater).

We've had a much bigger issue with Deltans and homosexual relations than with player/character gender.

[Fugazi Grrl]

Or maybe we're just blockheads.

That would depend on the guy - any I have ever dated, yes... the blockhead flaw definitely applies !

Probably why I don't do that anymore...

[Fugazi Grrl]

Wow. Did not know there were places on Earth where you could find more female than male RPG players Around here RPG ranks slightly below belching contests in the category of disgusting male-only behaviours.
(then again, this is France we're talking about, the country where Star Trek is known as the crappy old series with the pointy-eared Venusian guy )

I think it does depend on geography. Despite my claim of living on the Orion Homeworld in my profile, I actually live in the southern US.

I've been gaming for nearly 20 years (since I was 16) and it always seems the majority of the people I've played with have been other women, or guys who are not necessarily the most masculine of men. Which is cool with me.

And on line, in the e-mail RPGs I'm on (which are really interactive writing games and not true RPGs) I'd say 90% of the players are women.

[Nolmir]

Really? Not to sound sexist or ignorant, but I've played rpgs for probably about five or six years, and I've never actually met a woman that liked rpgs. I've played in games with one or two on pbp games, but that's it. Like C5, my experiance has been that most women don't seem to "get" what is fun about rpg's. Then again, most guys don't either. But more guys seem to enjoy it than women.

[IceGiant]

I've met a number of woman gamers over the last 28 years or so since I've been in the hobby. I've even been in a few groups with some of them. Women bring a totally different mind set and view point which I've always enjoyed. it's just been rare that I've been able to experience it. They do seem to be a rare sighting, but that could be age dependant as well. I'm playing a female in a long running Exalted game. Only reason being is because the gm started us with the premades and she was the only thief/ranger type charater. I play her pretty much asexual as sex isn't a part of the game.

Now I also play World of Warcraft and there the mix gets alot bigger.

[Psycho Circus]

I have no problem with people playing opposite genders as long as they're serious about it, and roleplay the character in a realistic and believable fashion. My group is quite large, over thirty of us all together (not all of us play together at the same times, most of the time, though it has happened a few times, of course), and they're all exceedingly talented roleplayers, and take it quite seriously. Our group is roughly 50/50 on gender, not exactly, but almost half of them are women. I've also found and known many female gamers in my time. You'll find an enormous number of them online in online chat rooms that cater to roleplaying, for example, as well.

I have played with literally hundreds of different people over the thirty five years I've been roleplaying (you guessed it, I stared with the Basic D&D boxed set in April of 1974), and those players have run the gamut from extremely casual to extremely talented and into it, and everywhere in between.

Most of those I've played with that have played opposite genders have done so with varying degrees of success. Some have been eeriely convincing, and some have been absolutely disasterous. That being said, I guess it depends on the individual player and circumstances whether or not it bothers me.

It doesn't hurt having my kid sister, the shrink, playing to get all sorts of psychological insight into such matters in the group, either. *chuckles*

[tonyg]

I've seen people pay characters of opposite gener. I've even done it myself. THe results depnd on how well the player can roleplay. If they suck at roleplaying to begin with, then they will suck at playing the opposite gender. If they are good rolplayers, then they will probably be able to pull it off.

I once ran a Trek campaign where a woman was playing a male character. Upon getting the first shore leave in the campaign and being asked what she was going to do she replied, "go get laid."

[Nolmir]

That's a pretty broad generalization. Just because a person has a hard time rp'ing a character of the opposite gender doesn't mean that they're a bad roleplayer, and vice versa. I've known very good roleplayers who just couldn't roleplay opposite gender characters.

[tonyg]

That's a pretty broad generalization. Just because a person has a hard time rp'ing a character of the opposite gender doesn't mean that they're a bad roleplayer, and vice versa. I've known very good roleplayers who just couldn't roleplay opposite gender characters.

I think you took things in reverse. I didn't mean to imply that someone is a bad roleplayer just because they can't play a convincing cross gender character. I meant that is someone is a bad roleplayer they are going to be bad at role-playing a character of opposite gender.

If someone is a good roleplayer they probably will be able to pull off a decent cross gender character. Maybe not always, but most gamers I've know who were good roleplayers could do a decent job of it.

The biggest obstacles are usually in roleplaying romantic situations. It hard for one guy to act affectionate and say "I love you" to another guy while being surrounded by a group of friends-especially male friends. Even if it is only pretend for a game.

[Rotwang]

I am mixed on this issue, but I don't have access to a high quality of player. I don't think some of these guys could even pass a Turing test, and they have poor understanding between the connections between background, personal philosophy, and life choices. They seldom make choices beyond a two-dimensional understanding of their characters. If I had better players, I would be more open to letting them play characters outside of their natural gender. I would be more open to allowing women characters to play male characters because of the infantile and pornographic minds of the typical male player that is available.

If I am convinced that a player has the creative chops, then I would be open to allowing them to take harder character backgrounds, and I don't expect anyone to roleplay any character perfectly, but I would like at least an honest and thoughtful attempt at the roleplaying.