Author: Graham Wills (---.covad.net)
Date: 08-23-2004 18:49
<quote>The "Straight" camp generally holds that men can't really understand how to play women, and vice-versa. Then they look rather uncomfortable when someone asks them how much insight they have into the minds of nigh-immortal Elves or whatever.</quote>
If someone plays a character of a different gender, than I can compare them to the several thousand women I have known, and if they aren't realistic, it's immediately apparent. If they play a generic fantasy elf, I have no comparisons to make -- at best I can compare them to other impersonations -- and the bar is much easier to clear.
Now if they were trying to play a *Tolkien* elf, I have a few good examples, and they may get more criticism, but the bottom line is that it's way easier to impersonate a mythical character than a real character. The closer to home it is, the harder it is. As I like to tell people about acting: Try a southern accent in the south, and you'll be laughed at, try it in the north and you'll be tolerated, try it in Europe and you'll be praised.
Look at the oscars -- to get one for best leading man, play a mental disfunctional person. It looks cool and most people have no experience of one, so they cannot tell how good it is (or isn't). The people who *deserve* oscars are those who play an absolutely normal person well.
I wouldn't go so far as to disallow cross-genders in a game, but I don't encourage it. At its best, a character's gender is not an issue (in which case why not play your own? it's easier on everyone) and if gender does become an issue in a game, your inabilities will be immediately obvious.
CAVEATS: May genres require cross-gendering. No female samurai, for example. In these cases, it is wise for the GM not to stress gender issues.
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