Opposite Gender Roleplaying

[CortexiphanGirl]

Hello RPG,

I've been trying to do a little digging to see if there was any feedback on this topic already; but this site is MASSIVE! So I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask!

I feel like I'm getting the hang of role playing my characters pretty well. Thus far I've only roleplayed female characters, because it's in my comfort zone. I get how we think and feel, etc.

However, I've noticed a lot of roleplays who need a male character. Does anyone have any suggestions or tips on how to convincingly roleplay a character that is of the opposite gender as you are - without making it generalization-heavy or too cliché?

Thanks in advance,
Lilaiy

[Queen of Ice]

That's an interesting question; I've never really thought about that before.

I guess when I'm playing as a character that I'm not necessarily comfortable with or "good" at playing, I try to base their behavior off of someone I know or a character I've read, played in a video game, etc. Usually I can get the hang of it if I use someone else as a model, than slowly start to develop that character and make it more my own.

So basically I would say find a model character, then as you go I think that you'll naturally just get a feel for the character and start to write in your own unique way.

Personally, I've never played a "manly-man", and this has made me want to give it a try, haha.

[CortexiphanGirl]

Hello Queen of Ice,

Thanks for the great advice and tips! I'm definitely going to use them. I'm assuming, just like most things, that it's never as scary as you think it is!

Thanks again for your response, and have fun working on your "manly-man" ;)

::Lilaiy::

[Jag]

I think a key is to find something that drives the character. Don't focus so much on the gender and how that affects the person. After all, not everything a character does is motivated entirely by their sex. If you're making a male character, make him just as deep and complex as any female character you'd write. There's no deep-seeded psyche into which you have to tap to be able to write for the other side. For the longest time, I would only write male characters. I didn't do so because I felt that I couldn't properly write a female character but rather because I've found a distinctive backlash in RP to male writers playing female characters. Females playing males seems widely accepted without much trouble at all, but when the shoe is on the other foot people seem less enthusiastic and often even opposed.

Make advice to you would be to make a good character that could stand on its own regardless of gender. I wouldn't start with "Male Character" and devlop him from there so much as I would come up with a dynamic character that just so happens to be male.

[Mr_Doomed]

When I first started to write (not on RPG but just on my own) I would base female characters off of friends, family and people around me. Being a little young, I still had a few problems understanding some of the problems that occurs more often with females. Slowly I worked my way up and decided that when I created a female character, I would try to create one from scratch instead of a template. I finally got to a point where I was just able to create a character description and then decide from there whether it would be female or male.
Try to do what I did. I found it to be very helpful in learning how to properly develop a character whether it was female or male. Don't be afraid to ask people of the opposite gender how they think about things too. It is a good way to get into the psyche of a man or woman.

[Jag]

Also, going the stereotypical route isn't always a bad place to start. Just make a stereotypical man. Is it going to be the most complex and dynamic character you've every written? Of course not. But once you start to play into the character and allow yourself to think in those terms, you can then start to branch out and add little touches one by one until you've create a character that is truly unique with an individualized approach to the world.

[CortexiphanGirl]

Wow! Thank you both for the great advice! I feel a lot less intimidated to try it out now :)

Thank you again!
-Lilaiy

[Lieutenant]

On the topic of a male playing a female character, Ive seen the bit of distain. Ive used a few female characters myself, but the effort to be convincing without suffering ridicule in less mature communities. Personally Id support both sides of the fence as long as its done in a mature fashion.

[Script]

I have a whole load of characters, as most people who know me will attest to, and the majority of them are female. I'm not entirely sure why I tend towards making female characters, but I feel it's at least partly influenced by the fact that some of the most awesome characters I've ever read - Egwene Al'vere, Cadsuane Melaidhrin, Sonea, Sabriel and Lirael, Graceling, etc. (from the Wheel of Time, Magicians Guild, Abhorsen and Graceling books respectively) - have been female.

I'd agree with Jag that there is some unease in some people around a male playing female characters, but that never really bothered me. I think there's a lot of stigma attached to playing opposite gender characters that isn't always necessary. The characters I make, I barely think about their gender - I have a hardened and coarse policewoman, a vulgar and violent female mechanic and car-jacker, and an introverted and reclusive female hacker. None of my characters really conform to gender stereotypes -- this actually brings me back to a thread I made a while back, about gender.

If you don't want to read the whole thing, an overview is that Judith Butler, a psychologist and gender theorist from California, argues that gender and sex aren't as solidly linked as most people think. The 'roles' we associate with men and women, both in society and in general attitudes and behaviours, are brought about not by the sex itself but by people's imposed ideas about it. The few men and women who choose to express themselves differently tend to be stigmatised, leading to the gender identities reinforcing themselves - but overall, she says that we shouldn't associate gender with sex, but rather with personal identity.

By that, I think that roleplaying a character of the opposite sex should - in theory - pose no more problems than roleplaying your own gender. There are some discrepancies with biology and the like that are difficult for another sex to understand enough to write (for example, I avoid ever addressing the issue of female hormones and menstruation in my female characters, as I'm in no position to understand what that's like) but apart from that you should be able to design your character and play them as you would any other.

Hope that helps, even though I'm mostly just rambling about a topic that interests me! xD

[LawOfTheLand]

Vulgar and violent female mechanic? Sounds like my Pokemon character Titania. XD

I find that it helps to think less of gender as something that dictates everything else about a character and more as something to take into account when considering how he/she would react in certain situations. There's also a short thread in the Library about playing characters that, shall we say, throw a curve. While at first it seems unrelated, many of the same principles covered there apply, namely that characters act according to their experience and their current situation instead of any one aspect of themselves.

Also, when playing across the gender gap, keep in mind that there are typically defined gender roles, and your character might either submit to them, fight tooth and nail against them, or find some kind of middle ground. In an effort to say something that hasn't already been said in this thread, however, what I will say is that it could be worth it to do some research on the specifics of the opposite sex. Look up the various physiological differences that will affect how your character might move and fight as a starting point, with psychology being an entirely different can of worms that you can tackle after having some experience. For example, females get those curves on their body due to having more evenly distributed subcutaneous fat, their pelvis is wider and shaped differently (hence the hip-shake gait), and there is such a thing as being too well-endowed for your own good.

Just throwing that out there.

[Valencia]

Ironically, two of my favorite characters I ever played were androgynous, both physically and mentally. It's a great way to get involved in an RP that has a whole bunch of prowlers (those who are just into the game for the sexy bits). Because no one wants to try and get in the pants of someone who doesn't really have pants to get into. :p

I think it also gives you alot of freedom to make a personality your own. As mentioned before, there are typical gender roles if you need those for guidelines, but honestly, how many personality traits are mutually exclusive to a gender? None, when you think about it. There are men that are maternal, women, paternal. Macho ladies, sissy boys. It's really up to how you want to portray the character.

[RedRaine]

Ahh... Umm. I do it all the time. If you check out my profile I have about 17 characters with only 3 guys. I just find it very boring to constantly play the male as there really is no challenge. Of course after a time I've found female characters really no different. What I've noticed is that if you look at a post where one character is a specific gender, most of the time, as long as there isn't something that is blindingly screaming that it must have a gender specific reaction, you can probably completely reverse that character's gender.

Personality wise it's all very interchangeable. Instead of having a female character it's quite easy to play a feminine male in the same situation or having a tomboyish girl be in the same situation as a stereotypical male hero. Of course though it's generally more 'acceptable' for a female character to worry or become nervous while it's similarly 'acceptable' for the male to be more of a dick.

One of the biggest differences however is the physical situation or how a character would react in a situation dependent on the body. In example for a genital attack, although it would hurt for both sexes to be hit there, a male would definitely take more damage in that area. Similarly for the chest a male is able to exercise it to a point of toughness where they would take much less damage and unless the female is a body builder she will most likely be hurt more when hit there. It's also highly unlikely a male will trip or stumble in heels as it's not something a typical male would wear.

Point being, aside from the physiological build and dealing with imposed gender roles from different targets or aspects there really is no difference, personality wise, from male or female characters.

[Akita]

I've had a large number of characters throughout my 7 years of roleplaying, even wayy before I joined this site. I am a female, but I feel more comfortable playing male characters than I do female ones. I don't know why, but I swing more towards that way. However, I do enjoy playing male and female characters equally. I agree with what the lot of replies already posted here, where they've mentioned that male and female characters really aren't that different. If you're playing any type of character, it's important to recognize the amount of work you must put into it and how much passion you need to successfully play that character. I've played a good number of different types of characters, from fantasy, to real world, to monsters. It's all based around how you perceive the character's actions and how you want to portray this character to the roleplaying world and whatever setting you put them in.

When I first joined on this site, I joined under the username "Rhoan," and that is also my main character's name on this site that I've used in two different roleplays that eventually got meshed together. I played such a great male character that everyone on the site thought I was a guy. It was interesting to me to know that I succeeded in playing a character that well that people actually thought I was a male. That's the response you want to get from people, I believe. Playing the character successfully means grasping the personality and make it come to life (through writing). Any male or female character can be just as hard-headed or deep. Some women have rock-hard personalities while some men can have sweet, sensitive personalities.

Try to find the main connection between male and female characters and I think you'll have what you need to successfully play a character.


Here's some examples of what people have said to me:


(22:00:21)
AdaRPG says:
Akita is the master RPr. A chick that plays one hell of a guy.

From Sonata on MSN:
Holy Soldier says:
lol
You do play a good guy
Because I thought you were one when I came



You can also refer to this thread for examples: nyx-chosen-t35005.html

[p5ych0love]

To be honest even I have trouble with that. I feel playing a girl is easier since I am a girl and it makes it hard to play as a guy. This is very informative. Even I am reading the post hoping it could help me too xD