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Message no. 1
From: dbuehrer@****.org (David Buehrer)
Subject: Female Characters played by Male Players
Date: Mon, 7 Oct 1996 07:15:20 -0600 (MDT)
Steven Ratkovich wrote:
|
|And I don't allow male players to play female characters... They can't do
|it... and they play them stupid...

Bummer. If a male player wants to make a female character
you should let them try it.

|In general (NOT EVERYONE!!!), men cannot play a female character because
|they play them as they view women, or as they wish women were... Or they're
|just idiots...

The personalities of women are as varied as men. Who's to
say whether or not the female character that one of your
male players would create isn't actually possible? And as
long as everyone has fun what's the problem.

I made my first female character (I'm male, BTW) about
seven years ago. At first the character was somewhat
stereotypical. Over time the character has grown
considerably and I don't RP her stereotypically anymore
(except on those rare ocassions when the character acts
stereotypical to take advantage of a macho male NPC's
perceptions). And its definitely improved my roleplaying
abilities. Now all my character's personalities are grey
with lots of dimension, as opposed to black and white.

Its like anything else. If you don't give your players a
chance they'll never learn.

-David

/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\ dbuehrer@****.org /^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\
"His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking
alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free."
~~~http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1068/homepage.htm~~~~
Message no. 2
From: Shad Owens <shadow@******.linfield.edu>
Subject: Re: Female Characters played by Male Players
Date: Mon, 7 Oct 1996 11:13:20 -0700 (PDT)
> Steven Ratkovich wrote:
> |
> |And I don't allow male players to play female characters... They can't do
> |it... and they play them stupid...
>

We have had several men play women characters, with various
amusing results. Now that we have some women playing, though, I find
that the guys are improving alot in their role-playing. After all, it's
probably easier for them to play a women, since they are able to observe
women all the time, then it is to play a rigger, decker, sam -- something
they've never actually seen, much less lived around for all their lives...

Jennie (aka Shad)
Message no. 3
From: Robert Blackberg III <blackbrc@***.fiserv.com>
Subject: Female Characters played by Male Players
Date: Mon, 7 Oct 1996 17:11:14 -0400
David Buehrer wrote:

>Steven Ratkovich wrote:
>|
>|And I don't allow male players to play female characters... They
can't do
>|it... and they play them stupid...

>Bummer. If a male player wants to make a female character
>you should let them try it.

And if I may suggest it, try playing characters of other ethnic
backgrounds and sexual orientations. If the players are dedicated to
a good role-playing experience, then they should try to stretch their
abilities. (Although I must admit, it's hard to roleplay the
seduction of one of the other characters when the player is the same
sex as you. Can you say "uncomfortable?")

>|In general (NOT EVERYONE!!!), men cannot play a female character
because
>|they play them as they view women, or as they wish women were...
Or they're
>|just idiots...

<snip>

>Its like anything else. If you don't give your players a
>chance they'll never learn.

I truly think that if more of us tried to imagine what the other
person goes through on a daily basis, even if it's by using our
imagination while gaming, we might live in a more polite, tolerant
society (in RL, not SR. SR is NOT polite.)

Hmmm, how did I end up on this soapbox. I better get down before
someone throws something unpleasant. <grin>

Robert
Message no. 4
From: dbuehrer@****.org (David Buehrer)
Subject: Re: Female Characters played by Male Players
Date: Mon, 7 Oct 1996 15:03:05 -0600 (MDT)
Robert Blackberg III wrote:
|
|And if I may suggest it, try playing characters of other ethnic
|backgrounds and sexual orientations. If the players are dedicated to
|a good role-playing experience, then they should try to stretch their
|abilities. (Although I must admit, it's hard to roleplay the
|seduction of one of the other characters when the player is the same
|sex as you. Can you say "uncomfortable?")

I've got a male player in my game with a homosexual female
character. And no, she isn't a dike (the stereotypical
lesbian). The character started the game with a very
stable relationship with another woman. I was actually
amazed at the complexity of the character (and still am).

|I truly think that if more of us tried to imagine what the other
|person goes through on a daily basis, even if it's by using our
|imagination while gaming, we might live in a more polite, tolerant
|society (in RL, not SR. SR is NOT polite.)

I've found this to be true. Unless a person is a complete
asshole I am very tolerant. And I think part of it comes
from my gaming experiences.

|Hmmm, how did I end up on this soapbox. I better get down before
|someone throws something unpleasant. <grin>

<throws a handful of canned spinach> :)

-David

/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\ dbuehrer@****.org /^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\
"His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking
alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free."
~~~http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1068/homepage.htm~~~~
Message no. 5
From: Pete Sims <petesims@********.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Female Characters played by Male Players
Date: Tue, 8 Oct 1996 02:49:57 +0100
In article <9610071315.AA01824@******>, David Buehrer
<dbuehrer@****.org> writes
>Steven Ratkovich wrote:
>|
>|And I don't allow male players to play female characters... They can't do
>|it... and they play them stupid...
>
>Bummer. If a male player wants to make a female character
>you should let them try it.
>
>|In general (NOT EVERYONE!!!), men cannot play a female character because
>|they play them as they view women, or as they wish women were... Or they're
>|just idiots...
>
I can vouch for this, from personal experience in my game, when a male
player decided to play a female rigger. He designed the character quite
well, but he had some *very* strrrrange ideas about the things women do
(in private), and led to several hysterical game sessions before he
decided he was doing something wrong, and sent her over to Africa in a
minor panic. :)

I can't go into the details of what he was getting up to, as some of it
is a teeny bit personal and *odd*. But he gave up. I've yet to see a
male play a female character accurately.

I have played a game with more effeminate males, and they also avoided
the prospect of playing female characters, not because of any bigotry on
the part of other players, but as they explained, and as I try to point
out to players who want to *have a go*, men don't think like women, and
we don't understand a lot of what goes on in a womans mind, and I don't
care what anyone says, the typical male, *cannot* play a believable
woman. :)

>The personalities of women are as varied as men. Who's to
>say whether or not the female character that one of your
>male players would create isn't actually possible? And as
>long as everyone has fun what's the problem.
>
It's not that the character couldn't be believable, but I have noticed
that the *behaviour* is not particularly believable.

[snip female character bit]
>Its like anything else. If you don't give your players a
>chance they'll never learn.

I envy you your accuracy David, and tip my hat to you, there are very
few males who could carry this off convincingly, and I've had quite a
few players try :)

Pete
--
Pete Sims
Heroes or Fools? That's a determination others will make in hindsight. But by
being here now, we make that determination for ourselves, and it's neither.
Lt.Col.T.C.McQueen

Further Reading

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These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.

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