Re: gender switching in chat / MUDs

jh - here is my limited 2 cents for what it's worth.

I've been involved in online communities for approximately 10 years - I am female, and now 40.

There are many different aspects to this subject - and I believe you will find many different reasons for the behavior - and that they will vary widely not only between biological males and females - but also in age ranges and personality types.

Normally, my online names and avatars are female. I am older - fairly secure in my own identity - I feel no need to hide behind a masculine avatar or name. Note - there could be many reasons for a biological female appearing male online, but one very good one would be to avoid unwanted overtures or harrassment in an online community.
The very few times I have used a gender neutral name or chosen a male avatar was for exactly that reason.

Another good reason for some - especially in some of the newer 'virtual world games' would be they find the female avatars exploitive/offensive in both unrealistic body types and/or clothing. I have talked to women online that sometimes feel they will be taken more seriously if they are perceived as male. I strongly suspect there are more women in these online communities that some realize - simply because they are perceived as male to fit in.

I found the adhoc study at women gamers interesting. By far the overwhelming concensus was playing as a female somehow gave them a tactical advantage either in gameplay or in gathering ingame items. I'd be very curious if these same respondents have female personas in other areas like chatrooms or areas where there is no perceived advantage being female.

Another interesting facet of this is the spotting of the crossgendered persona. Personally - I *think* I can spot them fairly easily given sufficient exposure to them - course it would be hard to know that for a fact. Only once or twice in 10 years have I ever been truly surprised. Seeing a female persona acting out in stereotypical 'whore' mode fairly screams adolescent male - those are the easy ones.

Replies:

Re: gender switching in chat / MUDs, by Paulo, 06/06/00 Re: gender switching in chat / MUDs, by John, 06/07/00 Re: gender switching in chat / MUDs, by Paulo, 10/23/00 Re: gender switching in chat / MUDs, by John, 10/25/00 Re: gender switching in chat / MUDs, by Nik, 08/19/02

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