Trans-gaming

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[edit] Trans-Gaming

Trans-gaming is defined as the occasional or consistent choice of an opposite sexed/gendered computer, console, pencil and paper, or board game character. It is closely related to, or even another form of cross-dressing in that it involves the acquisition, by choice, of the opposite gender's look and mannerisms. It's motivation seems to vary among the individuals who make these choices. Cross-dressing is the act of wearing the clothing of another gender for whatever reason.

Most of the research regarding gaming and gender appears to be about how to market to females as well as males, who have been the traditional market for computer games. Therefore the following observations are anecdotal at best and should not be taken as proven phenomena.

[edit] Trans-gamers' actual gender

Trans-gamers, apparently, are predominantly male, playing female roles. This may be related to the fact that the preponderance of gamers is male. It could also be related to the fact that cross-dressing is primarily a male pastime in our culture. One gamer relates, "I know that I myself, and a number of other males I know, have a strong preference, with little understanding as for "why," for playing female characters in video games." Interestingly enough, the gaming community is quickly become a more equal spread of male and female players and so the number of cases where a female plays a male character will likely be discovered to be rising accordingly.


Some initial observations:

  • This is apparently not rare. One estimate puts it at approximately 25% of all gamers choosing the opposite gender more often than not.
  • It's nearly automatic. Given a choice of characters to play, the male player automatically begins searching through females and vice versa.
  • It feels "wrong" otherwise. A number of people, if they find that the game has booted with the controller in the "male" port, will restart the game, which is time consuming, and plug the controller into the other port. If they find the game state locked in a position for the male gender, they will abort / exit / restart in order to have access to the female gendered characters.
  • It's a weak indicator of sexual orientation, at best. It does not say much about whether a person is hetero or gay. The vast majority of trans-gamers seem to be heterosexual men.
  • It's frequently associated with other "feminine" traits. While it's not good indicator of sexual orientation, it usually does come with connection with traits that are generally considered feminine. Perhaps the trans-gamer has a preference or higher tolerance for "soft," or talks about relationships, or cute things, or cooking, or whatever.
  • It's hard to note amongst women. Most games are made for males, and have mostly male characters. A woman who is playing strategically, rather than choosing character gender by a preference, may choose to play a male for his greater strength or weapons capability. In other cases a female character may be chosen due to advantages such as her smaller size, greater maneuverability and/or her ability to generate and nurture cooperative relationships with other characters. It's possible that female gamers view trans-gaming the same way as they generally approach cross-dressing, as a primarily male phenomenon.
  • It's somewhat taboo in social games. In social/multiplayer games, it can be "harder" to play a female character, because males will expect that the female character has a female player behind it, and are dismayed to find that they might have been attracted to a character that has a male player behind them. It can be considered rude to play a female character in such environments: World of Warcraft and Second Life are examples of games where this might happen.
  • It's surprisingly non-taboo in situations in which the other player's gender is known rather than hidden behind that of the character's. If a two-player game is played with someone on the same console, it is even rare for there to be any surprise when playing with a trans-gamer. It's surprisingly acceptable behavior. There is rarely any comment, let alon social sanction, if a male prefers to play Chun Li consistently, for example, in Street Fighter II. (Playing Street Fighter II is considered among gamers as being fairly high on the "macho" scale. It definitely isn't considered a girly thing to do.) Perhaps it may be noticed or commented on the first occurance, but it pretty quickly fades into the background. It's conceivable, though, considering the taboo in social games and with social games becoming more popular, that the taboo may extend even to unambiguous situations.
  • For transgendered people the choice seems to always be to choose the gender that they wish they had been born as, Transmen choosing male characters and transwomen choosing females.

The observations recorded above are from individual experience and/or informal polling. They are anecdotal and do not represent any sort of formal study or investigation.

[edit] 'Playing doll' with the character creation screen

One transwomen's report relates to spending a noticeable amount of time at the character creation screen 'deciding' on the characteristics of the character to make, including the character's back story. Once an acceptable and agreeable combination was reached the process was begun again, from the beginning. This behaviour was repeated and enjoyed to the point that the actual game was ignored.

[edit] General dislike/inability to play a character of the birth sex

Another report from the same transwomen describes a general inability to play a character of the same birth sex, even when the preferred gender options had been previously exhausted. This behavior was initially manifested as a dislike of creating (and playing) a same-sexed character while the transsexuality was actively being repressed. It eventually evolved into an emotional/physical inability to choose and play the game using characters having the same birth sex. This occurred not long before the transsexuality was finally acknowledged.

[edit] Trans-gaming as a means of Self Discovery

Trans-gaming offers an excellent opportunity to discover things about oneself that are not always easy to learn through other means. Because there is almost no negative feedback from picking a character of the opposite sex, it offers an easy way for the gamers to learn about themselves without risking the social costs of doing so in public. Playing a character of the opposite sex offers brief opportunities to explore things that may be hidden or suppressed with less fear of discovery, since, if the behaviour is questioned it could be dismissed as being "just a game." Trans-gamers can explore both male and female characters and their appropriate gender roles under the guise of harmless play.

Some reasons that people play characters of the opposite sex could initially be innocent enough like feeling the other sex has better costumes or that they offer skills, and other opporunities, that were not available with the other gendered characters. Sometimes these choices can raise questions in the players that make them question their original reasons behind their choices. These realizations may lead to more questions and research that could allow them to identify as being transgendered.

[edit] Trans-gaming as safe Self Expression

Trans-gaming can also be a tool for self expression in that it offers an opportunity for the gamers to express who they are inside with little chance of discovery based on physical attributes because personality is almost always the only thing that is apparent in online gaming. For those who are early in a gender transition or who don't feel they physically pass very well in their target gender, these concerns can quickly melt away when they get control over what their character looks like.

Many trans-gamers state that they feel very safe within this form of expression. These opportunities offer them a chance to play either a different version of themselves, or in some cases what they describe as the "real" them, and not what they look like physically. Once someone finds they can pass in their target gender in the online community without much problem, they may grow to appreciate the ease in which their true selves are shown in these games. In contrast, the concerns of fixing their appearance to suit how they feel inside can be lot more difficult and slower to achieve.

[edit] Trans-gaming in Pencil and Paper games

One of the most popular pencil and paper games is D&D, or Dungeons and Dragons. The game is played almost entirely through direct interaction between the players as they (usually) sit around a table. Their characters exist in their minds as well as being represented in a list of statistics on a piece of paper. In some groups it isn't uncommon at all for players to pick a character of an opposite sex.

Playing an opposite sexed character in these venues, though, does take a greater level of skill to pull off successfully. If the choice is made haphazardly the overall character is sometimes played rather poorly. Because characters are presented entirely through interaction, a transgendered individual might find that playing their true personality under the guise of a character in a game offers them a wonderful opportunity. Of course many players can just be very good at role playing and have no gender issues to speak of. They pass well as a character of that sex by emulating mannerisms and personality traits through pure acting.

Because the depth of a character and its background is very important to the enjoyment of the game, transgendered roleplayers find themselves getting lost in their creations because in many cases they're acting more as their true selves playing that character then they can in real life. They many times will develop the character's traits far more than is necessary for play because its an opportunity to explore their bounds.

[edit] Quotes

"I'm not sure why I do this exactly, create female avatars, other than to say that when given the opportunity I want to see something in a game I haven't seen before. It's possible that it's some unreconstructed Whedonism (sic) that makes me do it: maybe this shouldn't be, but it's just better when it's a girl kicking the ass. The kicks are more frequent, and the damage to the ass more enduring." -- Tycho, of Penny Arcade -- ("Tycho" is a big-wig in the gaming world.)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Female impersonation tarts up online games c|net news.com article.

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