Can You Only Play Your Own Gender?

[Luminari]

For some reason, my OCs and the Fandom characters that I play tend to be male (and I am not). I don't really find that I have any reservations about playing either gender, though when I was younger I found it hard to play males just because I wasn't completely sure how they operated.


It usually ends up that my RP partners are girls, and on a very slight level I prefer that to male partners. I'm not sure why, and the gender of the character that they play doesn't matter to me.

 

[octopodesrex]

I am currently playing a female in a Shadowrun game, though that term is very loose as she has very few biological organs left that identify her as female, and she was NEVER a lady. At this point she's nigh cyber-psycho, but she at least identifies as female, and ran with an all-girl go-gang, the Queen Bees.


I don't prefer a particular gender for IRL or in-character when playing, though I tend to keep it on the more platonic side if the other player isn't comfortable with flirting or gender roleplay. I generally played Cassidy as "One of the Boys" as this is what they were used to.

 

[jiminie]

I am a lot more comfortable playing females (same sex). I have multiple female characters and only a few male. I think this is because I find it a lot easier to imagine what they're thinking and things like that, with males, it's a bit harder for me. I definitely need to develop my male characters though, they're so neglected.

 

[kibou]

Now before I start I didn't read all or even most of the responses so I'm sorry if I repeat a bunch of stuff/opinions that's already been said. :b


Do you only play your own gender?





Nope! In terms of ratio I play more boys than girls, but I still have a fair amount of girl characters and I dont find either gender harder to write. I'm perfectly comfortable doing both. While characters may be affected by their gender growing up and it will certainly influence them, I dont think it's too big of a deal or too hard to imagine what it's be like. Even if you're playing a character who's the same gender that you are, everyone grows up experiencing it differently. Some girls might be pushed to be pretty, thin, and wear makeup by their families or friends, some might be only on rare occasions, and both girls will have been influenced by their gender in completely different ways and their opinions of their own gender and ideas about it will be influenced by that too. It has a lot to do with enviroment and I think it can be fun to consider small details like that and how it shapes who your character is. Honestly the only time I'd feel wary about playing a character because of their gender is if they grew up in a wildly different culture than myself, or if they were trans because I'd want to give an accurate representation.


Do you have a preference for the IRL gender of your partner? ex. they must be a woman or a man


Nope, I couldn't care less what gender my fellow rpers are. I pretty much only ever do group roleplays so you always get a mix. I think this comes down to romantic interactions between players and how much you project yourself onto your character, and therefore how comfortable you'd be doing something remotely romantic with someone that's the gender you're not attracted to. I can understand how a straight person might think it's odd to write out a romantic plot with someone of their gender or a gay person writing with the opposite gender, but if someone were to absolutely refuse to do it my thoughts would immediately go to the reason being too much projection. Which frankly I'm opposed to in rps, I'm not my characters and their actions are not mine or reflect my morals. It's fine to rp wish fulfilment, but there comes a point when you need to realize you and your characters are separate, not to mention then assuming other people's characters are projections/inserts and getting offended over IC events...


Wanting the character to be a certain gender is completely different, and can make sense for a lot of reasons including plot imo.


I dont hate or look down on people who use self-inserts, I really hope this post didn't come off as elitist. I know that a lot of beginners stick with what they know including their characters gender and that's fine, you'll gain experience. Even though i've branched out, I still tend to stay in a comfort zone.


Some people might just really like playing a gender.


Another reason for playing a certain gender or requesting their partner to be one is that some people just aren't comfortable with people of certain genders because of past experience, and I think that's fine.


This has gotten kind of rambly, so sorry for that lol. But thats my thoughts on it. Feel free to debate if you want. :b

 

[General Deth Glitch]

I have seen this come up a lot with roleplayers in the 1x1 search thread where people only accept partners that play the same sex characters as themselves.
Like if your a girl you play the girl character.


Often times this is in a roleplay search where the person treats the player and character as the same entity but other times it's just when people are more comfortable playing with a specific gender partner and assume this person would prefer to play their own gender.


And so I thought I'd ask the community at large :

Do you only play your own gender? Do you have a preference for the IRL gender of your partner? ex. they must be a woman or a man

And just a reminder, this is a opinion thread, there are no wrong answers and let's not attack other people for their preferences please.

I admit about 90% of my characters are male but that is because that is the perspective to which I am most familiar, if I feel a role or an idea for a character is better suited as a female then I will RP a female with little to no issue.

 

[Taloora]

I do play my own gender, but I play male characters just as often. There really aren't as many differences between men and women as people make out there are. I personally don't find either any more difficult than the other. I don't prefer any gender of roleplayer over the other, because I don't see how it affects anything?

 

[Usagisenpai]

I do play my own gender quite a lot, but I have no problems with playing as a character of the opposite sex. Like the person above me stated, there aren't a lot of differences as people make them out to be.

 

[Edythir]

I find it silly that people won't RP with someone for their gender, i mean, have you ever seen a book written by a female with a male lead, and were like "No, i am not doing that!". Take the Harry Potter books for instance, Written by a Woman, Harry is a man, people read it for the story, not because of who wrote it. To me it is all the same, as long as it is good quality, i don't care what gender you are, you could be a dolphin and i would still RP with you provided that it was interesting


I am genderfluid, in that meaning it identify as both... and neither genders. It's a complicated thing, i have male reproductive organs, yet i don't feel like i should act like a man, and i am happy enough with my body to not get a sex change. I am biologically male, but usually play female characters, just because i love the drama.

 

[wolvielg]

Would I only play my own gender?


Not necessarily. Generally I have a preference to but if you want me to play a girl that's more than fine. I just feel more natural as a guy bc well I am.


Will I only rp with certain genders?


Definitely not. I know some guys that I do rp's with when it's two guys. It doesn't matter to me what gender you are or rp. It's nice to have different perspectives some guys think through girls might not and vice-versa.

 

[Naxtaroth]

I typically play my own gender as a main character, but can have side characters that are not. Most of my characters, therefore, are male, yet I can also create and play female characters. I'm a writer, so I personally think the excuse of, "well I just don't know how to play the other gender because I'm not experienced in being that gender" isn't a very good excuse. I'm not experienced in being a lycanthropic medieval fantasy pirate who sails the high seas looking for treasure, yet I can portray that character.


As far as partners, I tend to gravitate toward 1x1 roleplays with female partners. The main essence of the roleplays is not romance or anything that could spawn from romance, however, if things take that turn I am just uncomfortable doing those styles of roleplay with another male. I have nothing against participating in group roleplays with a variety of players who are a variety of genders and if a female roleplayer wishes to play both male and female roles, that is perfectly fine with me, though i prefer her main role to be female. I personally just get uncomfortable knowing there's another guy on the other side of the screen during a 1x1. I know it's just a story, and I do have a select two or three male partners that are fantastic roleplayers and we do purely battle/adventure based roleplays. However, for the most part, I tend to gravitate toward only doing 1x1s with female players playing a main role of a female character.

 

[Blue Aisle]

Do you only play your own gender?


I would say no. I have many male characters. I'm still female so I'll admit for certain plots I prefer to play female because I lack confidence in accurately portraying a male in those situations. On the other hand, I enjoy playing as a male because it is something new and in a way more exciting.


Do you have a preference for the gender of your partner?


Not at all.

 

[call me rae]

As far as partners, I tend to gravitate toward 1x1 roleplays with female partners. The main essence of the roleplays is not romance or anything that could spawn from romance, however, if things take that turn I am just uncomfortable doing those styles of roleplay with another male. I have nothing against participating in group roleplays with a variety of players who are a variety of genders and if a female roleplayer wishes to play both male and female roles, that is perfectly fine with me, though i prefer her main role to be female. I personally just get uncomfortable knowing there's another guy on the other side of the screen during a 1x1. I know it's just a story, and I do have a select two or three male partners that are fantastic roleplayers and we do purely battle/adventure based roleplays. However, for the most part, I tend to gravitate toward only doing 1x1s with female players playing a main role of a female character.

Is there any particular reason you would prefer them to play their own gender? Or is it that you find they naturally just play a female main role?


Lol your the first person ( that I remember ) that actually shares the ideas I mentioned in the front page so I'm just curious on if there is any particular reasoning for that mentality.


Especially since you don't do romance I'm just curious if it's just a matter of you find that females tend to play the female mains and that's what your looking for. Or if you find females tend to roleplay a specific way that you like?

 

[Naxtaroth]

Is there any particular reason you would prefer them to play their own gender? Or is it that you find they naturally just play a female main role?
Lol your the first person ( that I remember ) that actually shares the ideas I mentioned in the front page so I'm just curious on if there is any particular reasoning for that mentality.


Especially since you don't do romance I'm just curious if it's just a matter of you find that females tend to play the female mains and that's what your looking for. Or if you find females tend to roleplay a specific way that you like?

It's more of a thing where i play stories that require one male lead and one female lead. That's really the only thing, it's not that I prefer the female player to play a female character, it's backwards from that. I prefer the female character to be played by a female. Also, I'm not totally anti romance, it's just not a main theme of an rp, though I am perfectly fine with a romance developing if logical.

 

[Auricula]

Do you only play your own gender?


Nope. I generally prefer playing males actually, but there are periods I go through in which I greatly prefer playing one gender over the other for no particular reason. It might tie into how I see my gender identity though I don't think that's the case. Having two older brothers probably helped a fair bit too. I don't play as many trans characters admittedly, mainly because I don't want to misrepresent them.


Do you have a preference for the IRL gender of your partner?


Nope! The gender of my partner has never crossed my mind as important for what I want in a RP partner.

 

[Elaraal]

I personally prefer to play as my own gender, ie. female. I have played males in the past and it didn't bother me at all, but I usually go for the female role automatically because it feels more natural to me. That being said, I don't care about other people's preferences. Are you a boy who wants to play a girl? That's cool with me unless you're not being distasteful in the process. (And yes, such players exist. I had a very short-lived roleplaying experience with a guy who preferred female characters and he kept focusing on really odd things, like describing in detail that his character didn't wear panties in situations when this didn't matter at all etc.)

 

[Morrisaye]

I'm fine playing any sex or gender. I also have no preference for my RP partner's gender.

 

[Unknown1]

to question 1. Sometimes i want to challenge myself and play the opposite gender, but the thing is the only reason i often times play my own gender is because my men are pretty much the idealistic romantic. Its unrealistic and i know it. However sometimes i'll just have the urge to play as a guy because i have a character that Idea that i really want to play. Leon was my favorite male character, he was afraid of girls and it was hilarious xD .


So i do prefer playinga girl usually, and ironicly my girls tend to be more tough and aggressive and my males more the opposite xD .


Question 2. Honestly the most romantic girl x guy characters are played with another female xD ironicly. So no i don't really care, and in fact i think it would be amusing to play with a guy and he plays a girl and i a guy. LOL so we can play what we think the other gender is like, or maybe a gender bender hohoho.

 

[ChiaRoseKuro]

Do you only play your own gender?


Seeing as I don't actually have an identified gender, the answer's most definitely a 'no'-- but even so, I find it incredibly difficult to play my birth gender and, indeed, think it's easier to play as the opposite gender (or my current unidentified gender) for the most part. I guess it's more of my own psychology than anything else, if I wanted to slap a reason onto it. My birth gender just confuses me like nothing else does ||D


Do you have a preference for the gender of your partner?


Honestly, I fail to see how that impacts on your ability to write. If you're a guy and you want to write for a girl, kudos to you. If you're a girl and you want to write for a girl, kudos to you too. Well, obviously I'll have problems with someone if they tried to, say, make a guy out to be a frog more than a human guy, but if you can write a convincing character that's of their appropriate gender then that's all I want in my partner.

 

[ApfelSeine]

If a novelist is able to create convincing characters of the opposite gender, it follows that a roleplayer has the capacity to do the same. I do think that individuals tend to have a better understanding of characters who are similar to them, but with practice and research, it becomes possible to understand characters of all kinds. I think that people should be encouraged to try stepping outside what they are familiar with and try new things. I can understand why people may feel it is better for people to keep to their own gender in particular kinds of roleplays, but I personally love to see people exploring new types of characters and understanding characters who are significantly different than them. Doing so can build an appreciation for people who are different from oneself, so rather than simply saying that people should be able to roleplay as the opposite gender, I say that it should be actively embraced.

 

[Sythril]

Do you only play your own gender?

Most of the time, I do, because I feel like I can relate with and understand the way they process. Some time ago, I used to roleplay characters of the opposite gender, but I didn't find it as fulfilling as roleplaying those of the same gender as I.

Do you have a preference for the IRL gender of your partner?

Definitely not. Though there are time I become curious about my partners, I don't require them to be of a certain gender to be any more charming than the rest.

 

[girlwholived]

I really like to play both. I'm female so it's interesting to be a male. And I don't need to know my partner's real gender.

 

[Sibelle Grey]

~Do you only roleplay your own gender?


No, I do not. When I first started roleplaying a few years back, I was more comfortable roleplaying as a girl. For the past year, though, I've played more male characters. I've always rped in an almost, if not entirely, female-dominated community. We would end up with a horde of girls and a handful of boys, which made no sense given our setting and plot, so I played more male characters. This used to make me nervous, because I was wary of making them too 'feminine' in some aspects.


I then realized that 'acting too girly' is absolute bs and that I should just act in a way that feels right for my character, and I've been trying to throw my personal anxiety over that out the window


Now, it really depends on what character I think a particular RP calls for. It doesn't make much of a difference to me, and I enjoy my male characters as much as my female charries.


~Do you have a preference for your partner's gender?


No, I honestly do not care.

 

[SilverSkyWolf]

I'm female and although I use both genders I tend to use male characters more.


And even though I'm asexual I tend to roleplay characters of all kinds of sexuality's (mostly straight) because it adds a ingesting dynamic and it's kind of unrealistic for every single charter to be LGBT as only 2% of the population is LGBT in real life.

 

[StoneWolf18]

Most of the time, yes. I would usually play characters that are female or at least identify as such though I have no problem with playing male. Especially of the grumpy kind. This however has no influence of my partner's gender seeing as I avoid romance all together, it's never usually a problem. What annoys me though is when say a male RP'er is trying to play a female character, but they are using all the sterotypes in the book and aren't really being original. Vice versa. I've seen female RP'ers play male characters that are all the classic, stupid, jocks because they don't know how to play anything else.


Gah, this is turning into a rant...hope I got my point across! ^^

 

[Spacekitty]

I primarily make male characters, although I have no problem with female characters (I have played as them before).


People seem to tend to play primarily as their gender, which is fine IMO.


HM...


Female characters wouldn't work in the RP I'm in ATM. I play as an alien race where woman alhave little rights/freedom. Playing a woman would be very interesting but hard and beyond my current ability sadly. Also would be hard to actually make her even remotely important to the plot or really interact with others...


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Now that I say that I might attempt it


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This always happens lol


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