Let’s turn it around
Why is it expected that males should/would play males and females females? Why is this the accepted norm, and why does it usually end in a question about sexual orientation if the opposite happens?
I think that’s because the assumption, when given a choice in an avatar (unlike say Diablo II), that the player will see the avatar as a projection of themselves but probably idealized (thinner, stronger, taller, prettier … with hair). And that might be true if RPing was a priority. But since most people don’t actually RP as their avatar it really isn’t a RP breaking issue (if using voice chat).
If you played games for as long as some of us, we’ve played female characters since we didn’t have much of a choice. Samus, Laura Croft, the sorceress in Diablo II, the gender of the avatar you are “driving” is immaterial. So when given a choice is your avatar’s gender any different than skin or hair color. It’s just one of the few choices you have to customize your avatar’s look (I came from CoH so yes, few choices).
Is choosing race any odder than gender? Are you a furry because you like Charr? What about skin tone or hair color? Have you always secretly wanted to be blond or a redhead?
Go CoH! I4 through sunset, Virtue.
Interesting that you bring up races as I was having a discussion recently along those lines. Discusee was asserting that they didn’t understand how anyone could ‘get into’ a character of a different gender since males and females were so different from each other. My position was that the variety of races differed far more from being a human in our real world than being a different gender would.
For instance, if I chose to play a female asura, the bulk of the difference between me and that character is that the character is asura(and that they exist in a completely different world/culture) and I am human, with gender being a secondary difference. I have more in common with my girlfriend then I do with even a male human in Tyria.
Why do we do that?
I can only speculate, and use myself as an example. I’m a straight male and 90% of the time I have a gender choice in a game I choose female. I love the female form- and this isn’t about sexualizing pixels, it’s an aesthetic preference. I just don’t care about how any of the few male characters I make look and usually end up deleting them.
The male body is boring to me.
Let’s turn it around
Why is it expected that males should/would play males and females females? Why is this the accepted norm, and why does it usually end in a question about sexual orientation if the opposite happens?