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In over two and a half decades of roleplaying, I've done both ... played Characters of my gender, and played Characters of another gender ... and in some SF and hero cases, played characters of oddly variant genders.
I have been complemented on my opposite gender characters and their presentation.
And for me, at least, I believe is that, first and foremost, I look to create a PERSON as opposed to a gender or any other archtype (which is just a stereotype in a fancy, more palatable name. Though in terms of plot and storytelling, stereotypes/archtypes have important roles as both PC or NPC).
Whats more important is not "is it a boy or a girl" but "is the character one I and other folks can believe in as a real person. And not to diminish the importance of gender in personal development, the characteristic "keys" that make a roleplaying game feel real - depth of background, depth of personality, distinguishing traits - are, in the most part, arise from viewing the character as a whole as opposed to being a totem of a gender type.
Gender roles and presentation, in a gaming environment, also tend to be more influenced by the IC game culture and mores than our current views of 'what makes a man a man or a woman a woman. For an example, and on two ends of the spectrum, a High Science Fiction setting and a Traditional Mediaeval setting. The SF setting usually tends to be more egalitarian, diminishing the difference between male and female cultural standards and acceptable behaviors, where the roles taken by a player aren't determined by sex - its just as easy to find a chain smoking rough and tumble female starship pilot as a male pilot for example). Where as the Medieval Setting may have strict cultural roles for males and females, determining standrads of behavior, actions and manner for each sex (and we aren't even going to touch the complexity of gender roles in terms of social position). How a gendered character is played, created and presented in these two extremes results in very different mannerisms put forth by the player in order to create a believable role in each particular environment.
Create a person first ... and that person will tell you if they should be a male or female character. And its my experience that folks enjoy RP with a person more than a gender type.
Second, a while ago I stumbled upon an inherent contradiction in this whole discussion.
You see, for over 2/3rds of the time I've been roleplaying, its been at the task of gamemastering in one form or another.
As a Gamemaster, its not just a possibility, but a requirement to be able to present both male and female non-player characters in a believable and realistic-feeling manner.
And if one is expected to be be able to pull off cross-gender characters as a gamemaster ...
How much difference then is doing so as a player?
Mikkel
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