Top Mud Sites Forum - View Single Post - Gender Roles, Roleplay, and Possible Glass Ceilings?

Trisagion · 04-22-2009, 07:33 PM

I’ve been mudding for about five years now; four of those in either the roleplay-enforced or RPI environment. Consistently, from the outset, whether I choose characters aligned with good, evil, or somewhere in the murky mid-line of grey (and I simplify here for both brevity and clarity), I have made a conscious choice to try to bring strong, intelligent, non-sexually-driven female characters to life.

Consistently, I feel I’ve fallen short of the mark I’d set for the character at creation. But neither do I feel I’ve been outshone by other female characters, per se. Putting aside my own creative limitations, I have found myself wondering of late…

And so the question I thought I’d bring to the table is this:

“Does a glass-ceiling exist for (most) female characters in the MU* community?”

Part of me believes that for female characters of a certain cast/mould/archetype, a glass ceiling -does- very much exist. I have a theory or two rattling around as to why, but before I delve too deeply into my own observations and notions, I’d really appreciate hearing input from others.

As for the part of me that doesn’t believe there is a glass-ceiling for female characters, it’s also the part that is screaming a “You’re just setting yourself up to be flamed, baby!” warning in my ear.

Experiences? Thoughts? Theories of your own?

04-22-2009, 07:33 PM	#1
Trisagion New Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 3	Gender Roles, Roleplay, and Possible Glass Ceilings? I’ve been mudding for about five years now; four of those in either the roleplay-enforced or RPI environment. Consistently, from the outset, whether I choose characters aligned with good, evil, or somewhere in the murky mid-line of grey (and I simplify here for both brevity and clarity), I have made a conscious choice to try to bring strong, intelligent, non-sexually-driven female characters to life. Consistently, I feel I’ve fallen short of the mark I’d set for the character at creation. But neither do I feel I’ve been outshone by other female characters, per se. Putting aside my own creative limitations, I have found myself wondering of late… And so the question I thought I’d bring to the table is this: “Does a glass-ceiling exist for (most) female characters in the MU* community?” Part of me believes that for female characters of a certain cast/mould/archetype, a glass ceiling -does- very much exist. I have a theory or two rattling around as to why, but before I delve too deeply into my own observations and notions, I’d really appreciate hearing input from others. As for the part of me that doesn’t believe there is a glass-ceiling for female characters, it’s also the part that is screaming a “You’re just setting yourself up to be flamed, baby!” warning in my ear. Experiences? Thoughts? Theories of your own?