Post Sections ⇅
- The Underlying Presumption
- Cross-gender Roles Are Not Limited to Games
- My Characters Are Not Me
- Character-Building and Story-Writing
- But…I Don’t Understand Men Very Often
- Reasons I Play Female Characters
- A Word to Parents
- A Question to Female Gamers
- TL;DR Does Men Playing Female Characters in Games Matter? Not Really.
The Underlying Presumption
For simplicity and to avoid this turning into a feature-length dissertation, I’m just going to discuss the binary genders of male and female. I don’t play a game where character gender is anything but binary. When people ask me (as they periodically do) why I often – or from some people ‘always’ – play female characters, there is a presumption they’re not stating. They assume that male gamers should play male characters. And although they don’t say it, by default they have to also assume female gamers should play female characters.
But why should this be the case?
Cross-gender Roles Are Not Limited to Games
From the realm of acting and stage-play, playing a character who is not your gender is not unheard of. A quick web search shows that women have played male roles, and men have played female roles.
This is where games that fall under the RPG, Role-Playing Games, comes in. If well-known actresses and actors can convincingly play the opposite gender, why should games be any different?
My Characters Are Not Me
When it comes to my own MMOs, I am not trying to create a digital version of myself. Neither in looks (thank goodness) nor necessarily in their own personalities. I have two characters that are ‘close matches’ in terms of how I am as a person.
Caethir (LOTRO)
Cor-Jhan Arcturus (SWTOR)
So whether I create and play a male character, or a female character this is not me. It’s also not me pretending to be something I am not.
Character-Building and Story-Writing
I see the characters I make in MMOs similar to story-writing. In the case of N’wyn Glinmaethor and Talitha’koum, I mean that literally.
But where I am not physically writing stories, I am creating them in my head – sometimes called “head canon” by other gamers. I want to explore how they react to people and the world around them. I seek to understand their preferences and loyalties.
If I were doing this as an author I wouldn’t have the question of why I write female main characters. JK Rowling’s main character, or the one of the greatest focus was the male character of Harry Potter. Stieg Larsson (a man) wrote The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
I am doing the same, just either on my blog or in my head.
But…I Don’t Understand Men Very Often
While I wouldn’t dare to claim I understand women, I can say with confidence that I understand them much better than I do men. Most of my friends in the past were females. Most of my current friends are also females. I do have some male friends that are dear to me, but they are few in comparison.
But I don’t understand men who have to prove their strength. Males who want power. Male-driven cultures that resist women joining their ranks. And men who mistreat women get me really angry – and most of you have never seen me angry!
People have said that I am more sensitive than most men. My wife, when we were dating, said I had more ‘female traits’. This wasn’t a criticism, but a description – and she was probably correct. I understand and display emotion, I allow myself to cry over stupid emotional scenes in movies or books.
During university years (a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away) I shared a house with a couple of guys and a girl, as you do as students. I still remember the girl telling me “real men don’t cry”. And she believed it. I also believe she was wrong, but it does show those preconceptions still exist.
Reasons I Play Female Characters
I explained to one person recently than whenever I try a new game, my first character is always male. I’m not really sure why. Unfortunately this sometimes means making bad choices – e.g. I chose the wrong combat class to play and it made my hand pain worse. So after a long discussion, here are some top reasons I play female characters.
1. Because I Enjoy It
As I’m not female I don’t have that mental restriction when making clothes for my female characters. And incidentally, I like my female characters more-or-less fully dressed!
2. I Believe in Strong Females
Because of that I love creating strong female characters. Sometimes this strength is physical, which is why most of my Tank-class characters are female. Galactic Warden Alekah (SWTOR), Guardian Glinmaethor (LOTRO), and my Gladiator Miqo’te (FFXIV). A physically and emotionally strong women has just as right to charge headlong into battle as their equal to men.
In the case of LOTRO, I have two female Hobbit Wardens – Lamuna and Rubybella. But I loved creating Shield-Bearing Hobbits to go take on the giant foes in Middle-Earth. And why not?
3. Story-Writing
4. Escapism or Not-Me-ism
I’m Not Pretending
I am not also pretending I am female, because to do that would be to live a digital lie – plus I have no experience of being a female so I could not pass as one even in an anonymous world. If people ask me in-game about my IRL gender, I will answer truthfully. (And yes I’ve been hit-on by someone who told me they were male while I was playing a female character. I gently informed him I wasn’t and not to presume gender of players by the avatars they see in-game).
But not-me-ism, can be very helpful.
5. I Connect With Them Better
Writing fiction, or playing games is a similar process for me. To want to play a character I have to connect with them. And aside from Caethir (and his brother Ayrthir) and Cor-Jhan, I don’t often connect with male characters. Somehow I do, when it comes to female ones. It’s likely a reflection of my offline self finding it easier to connect with the opposite sex.
6. Females Accidentally Become My Favourite Classes
I’m not actually sure how this happened! But sometimes the random nature of life does things – and in my case it’s about the classes I play. With the increase in Fibromyalgia pain, especially hand pain, I have had to adjust to how I play games.
The result of this is that I usually play Tank classes for durability and risk-aversion. Guardian in LOTRO and Gladiator/Paladin in FFXIV. When I regularly played SWTOR, it was with a Tank Jedi Shadow – he is male but my Guardian was female.
So the class can become an accidental “choice” to play female characters.
A Word to Parents
Kids have less knowledge of the world by virtue of the fact they’ve lived in it less time. So it is our responsibility of those of us of adult age to gently protect our children. They need to know that people online may not be who they say they are. We must make sure they don’t give any personal details online and that avatars they see in online games have no bearing on the person behind them. Not every gamer has innocent intentions, but from experience, the troublemakers are a tiny minority.
A Question to Female Gamers
One friend I know feels that it is rarely, or never, questioned when females (those who identify as female) play male characters. Only when men play female characters. If you’ve got input on this, please do use the comments while they’re open. Or Tweet Me with your comments. It would be good to know if this is true, or whether you have had it questioned or opposed.
TL;DR Does Men Playing Female Characters in Games Matter? Not Really.
Let’s not block off the positives out of fear of the negatives. And when it comes to games, let people play them their own way. If they’re enjoying the game and they’re not trying to misuse it or manipulate others, then more power to them. I love my female characters and I will continue to play them for most of my gaming time. Whether you play your own gender (or the closest match to it) or not, we all just want to play – so let’s do that!