Gender Roles

[Vanquished]

After skimming through the thread asking how often you play a character of the opposite gender, I got to thinking about what makes a character decidedly female/male.

Personally, I used to only play females (my gender) because I thought along the lines of, "well I can't think like a man, as I am not a man." Then I tossed that out the airlock. I found that writing as a male character really wasn't any different that writing as a female. I choose my character genders largely based around the role I wish them to play, and how the rp society would view said role. Ex. I won't, typically, stick a female warrior in a medieval rp. It would be highly unlikely-unless said society is female dominant. Then a male warrior would be out of place.

But that's sliding a bit off topic from what I wanted to ask. What traits do you give your female characters, and what do you give male characters? Do you follow stereotypes?

[Mimosa]

I like to think I'm pretty balanced when it comes to gender roles. I play the submissive female about as often as I play the woman who wears the pants in the relationship, and I play the underdog nice-guy about as often as the meathead jock. The only thing I'll do in only one gender and not the other is, I'll often play a female character who is petty, vindictive, and, well, just plain bitchy. I've never done a bitchy male before.

[AlDl]

I don't have a set list of things I to give female or male characters, I just shape a chara by whatever I feel like playing in the RP. The only stereotype I follow (though I think there were some exceptions) is the one where a character never has a whole family, single, bad, or dead parents. What can I say Disney influenced me.

But more on gender roles, I think it's fun to play around with some behaviours that when in a female or male come across differently.

[Rose Swan]

Most of my men are man whores or sweethearts when I play them.

My females are mostly very strong in the heart and a wild child or very submissive and good girl. They're normally fiercely loyal though, and they all have their quirks depending on the character.

[Vanquished]

Hm. Perhaps if I stated it as, what traits don't work for a certain gender?

And perhaps my point is, that if there is no personality or trait or role that is singular to one gender, perhaps rp'ing males and females aren't so different? Or is there something deeper to the divide?

[Dudel]

I largely see gender as irrelevant unless the RP explicitly states that genders have specific roles in a society. I don't RP females for reasons stated elsewhere.

[Brovo]

I like taking stereotypes and twisting them for the sake of drama.

"Female warrior? Can I do it? Done!"

[Kestrel]

I don't even consciously think about a character's gender, to be honest. They just are. I mean 99% of medieval fantasy will have equality between genders, so whether a warrior is male or female typically doesn't matter as much.

Or does it? I have a lot of characters that like to rely on brute strength. This typically is more male than female. That's not even gender discrimination. Look at life; dudes will punch and wrestle each other if they haven't had martial arts training, whereas most girls will bite and scratch. Relying on brute strength is a typically male thing. It's because males typically have greater strength (and also typically fight for dominance more often than to kill, so are less inclined to use their 'fangs.') So if we have a male warrior and a female warrior, the male warrior will typically be more likely to be a heavily armoured axe-swinging brute, whereas a female warrior will typically be faster and wield lighter weapons that rely more on their edge than the strength behind it.

That's kind of where the unfairness of it all kicks in because... There are also lots of lite-footed male dual-wielders too. See the funny thing is, there's a lot more fantasy RP-relevant roles that are typically male than female. I mean what jobs are typically female? Nurse? Working at a daycare for kids? Jobs are traditionally a man's thing and don't get me wrong, I have no issue with any gender performing and job, assuming they are capable of performing it properly, but that stereotype does exist. Stay-at-home-mom really isn't that adventurous.

So essentially in a fantasy game, females typically perform roles that are traditionally male to begin with. Some are just so overflowing with testosterone it becomes hard to make a human female perform those tasks. Fortunately fantasy isn't called fantasy for nothing so you can always turn your character into a hulking she-ogre or let her control a giant golem from within, so there's always ways around it.

[Foster]

My female characters are generally more obviously 'clingy' than the males, and are more likely to have petty nonsensical vendettas for the lulz. (Eample: Marlene Abdelkadar)

Although I sometimes I do make effeminate male characters, largely so that they may be 'clingy' to a girl in the more conservative-minded period-RPs. Otherwise, it's a girl and this is cranked up to 11. (Example: Chartose)

My male characters generally play a more of a rolemodel-type, with a more subdued and realistic pace to forming a relationaship. Also much more likely to consider the relationships of others and possably "encroaching on someone else's woman". (Example: Riley)