Why is real word CD'ing shunned but choosing female characters in games so common?

[Andrea J]

Hi all,

So I have been watching videos of people in VRchat. (For people that don't know its a virtual reality chat world where you can hear each other talking.) And I noticed that a lots of men are happily choosing to look female. You can tell when they start talking. I don't know how many but I wouldn't be surprised if a third of the male players were doing it. And everyone seems to just accept it without batting an eyelid. (I've also heard people say that in online games in general, when you meet female characters they usually are male players.)

Anyone understand this? In the real world, CD'ing is shunned and men usually run a mile from anything that makes them visually appear even remotely feminine. But in virtual worlds it seems accepted that a high percentage of men want to be women with makeup, long flowing locks and a pretty dress. (Of course I'm not against it or anything, just surprised at the difference in attitudes.)

[Julia1984]

Hi.
I'm not a gamer but I'm not remotely surprised by thos. Just look at the extent to which people feel free to act in a way thats completely uninhibited when anonymously online (trolling, "hate speech", death threats made to those whose views aren't shared etc).
Maybe the traditional 1% to 2% participation rate needs reviewing!
J

[Stacy Darling]

Whilst I'm not an online gamer, my characters whilst playing in house are as close to the real Stacy as I can get. I play the games as virtual Me! To me this is fine as I'm not faking it. BUT, when family and some friends have seen my character whilst here there has been a lot of weird disapproval (I'm not out to them), and they are online gamers/chatters! So, I'm viewed as being a bit weird by my peers and that's fine, I am.

I don't understand this either and believe that those who are feminine should go for it and appear femme however they wish. But, the others should not falsely appear Femme.

I wouldn't chat or play with a guy which appeared as a gal! unless he wasn't straight of course! Grrrrrr!

Stacy!

[Sabrina.K]

I've been online gaming since the 90's. It's kind of always been like this.

It's like the old saying goes. "The internet, where men are men, and women are men".

I've always just assumed that most guys secretly want to appear feminine now and then, and this is a way to do it without being ridiculed in person.

[Beverley Sims]

Mmmm!

One is imaginary, the other is real.

Some men don't like realism. :-)

[Monique65]

I agree with Julia, maybe the 1 - 2% needs revision.

[Ariana225]

When I used to game. Half of my world of Warcraft characters were female ones. It was very common for men to pick female characters. I think I picked them for different reasons though lol

[Robertacd]

Well for one it's easy to do because unless you are using some voice chat application without a voice changer nobody knows

Also it's fun to see other gamers get "beat by a girl".

[Alice_2014_B]

I do the same thing when I play online poker, which is the only video game I play that utilizes various avatars, you can even change your name. .

:)

[Pat]

A few years ago I asked my son about that and he said, "I'm going to be playing this game for hours. Why would I want to look at a dude all that time?" So, I don't know that it's a case of guys acting out fantasies of being women I think it's acting out the classic male fantasy of controlling women.

[Andrea J]

I don't understand this either and believe that those who are feminine should go for it and appear femme however they wish. But, the others should not falsely appear Femme.

I wouldn't chat or play with a guy which appeared as a gal! unless he wasn't straight of course! Grrrrrr!

Stacy!

I wouldn't want to push someone to appear masculine if they want to appear feminine though. I try not to enforce gender roles.


A few years ago I asked my son about that and he said, "I'm going to be playing this game for hours. Why would I want to look at a dude all that time?" So, I don't know that it's a case of guys acting out fantasies of being women I think it's acting out the classic male fantasy of controlling women.

The interesting thing is that it seems to happen even when the player can't see their own character. (I think VRchat is like that.)


Whilst I'm not an online gamer, my characters whilst playing in house are as close to the real Stacy as I can get. I play the games as virtual Me! To me this is fine as I'm not faking it. BUT, when family and some friends have seen my character whilst here there has been a lot of weird disapproval (I'm not out to them), and they are online gamers/chatters! So, I'm viewed as being a bit weird by my peers and that's fine, I am.

Maybe that's it. It's just that they can get away with it.

[Krea]

I used to prefer playing female characters in computer games long before i started crossdressing. Not sure if there is a link between the two things tho. :confused:

[tbryant2k16]

I tend to do that when playing Sims 4. And you can dress in a wide variety of clothes, different hair styles and so on.

[~Joanne~]

A few years ago I asked my son about that and he said, "I'm going to be playing this game for hours. Why would I want to look at a dude all that time?" So, I don't know that it's a case of guys acting out fantasies of being women I think it's acting out the classic male fantasy of controlling women.

I would say this IS the case 90% of the time. If your playing a game, especially a 3 rd person anything, the last thing you want to do is watch a guy's butt for hours on end. I don't think it has anything to do with "controlling women". not a thing.

One off My favorite games is Saints Row IV re-elected. The lead female characters wear a purple business dress, really shiny, dark pantyhose and purple open toed heels. Seeing her run around doing super feats dressed like that is funny but more appealing than the guy wearing tight purple spandex.

[Gillian Gigs]

Nobody knows what goes on behind closed curtains, and nobody knows who that character is in virtual reality. This is just the way some people like it!

[Melanie Moxon]

A few years ago I asked my son about that and he said, "I'm going to be playing this game for hours. Why would I want to look at a dude all that time?" So, I don't know that it's a case of guys acting out fantasies of being women I think it's acting out the classic male fantasy of controlling women.

Very much the case in most cases I would imagine, though more than the controlling part it's perhaps creating their fantasy girlfriend as it where.

[Asew]

If there was an option to play as a female I would always pick it (and name her Asew). If asked why I picked a girl I would always say it was so I would be staring at a girl instead of guy while playing the game. And while that is only half true for me, I think that is the main reason for most guys who play girls in games.

My all time favorite game that I used to play was Gekkeiju Online (similar to World of Warcraft but really small player base) One of the biggest draws for me was you could have a costume set (that included dresses, skirts, bows, etc) that you would always see which was different from your armor set (which is these type of games usually is ugly). It was weird though that the clan I joined was almost all "real" girls since the fashion part was also a big draw for them. I think as a crossdresser that picking a girl character is more fun especially when you can customize the character's look where as a non-crossdresser is just happy to pick a girl character so that don't have to stare at a guy butt for hours.

[RainbowDash]

Just like most boys, I mostly chose male characters, figuring "Girls are weak, they won't last in a fight. They'll get their butts kicked." But out of curiosity one day I tried it out with Chun Li from Street Fighter, and I was kicking butt with her. As I played more fighting games, I played as the female characters. Lo and behold, I was actually better fighting as them than I was as male characters. Then I realized why they were so good.... Because although girls weren't very strong, they were fast, quick, and agile. And I began to really root for them in fights as well. There's something about a girl kicking a guy's butt that really makes me feel proud for them, and almost makes me wish I were that character. Many times I envisioned myself wearing what they were wearing.
I used to not think very much about Princess Peach, but when I saw her kick butt in the games and in Super Smash Brothers as well, I began to think about her more and more, practically wanting to be her. I bought 2 different Princess Peach cosplay outfits, and this is most likely where I began my crossdressing journey, although I didn't think of myself as a crossdresser, I just figured I liked to dress up as Peach and pretend to be her. But she is ultimately responsible for me becoming a crossdresser. I owe Peach an awful lot!

[VeronicaMoonlit]

Hi all,
And I noticed that a lots of men are happily choosing to look female.

Anyone understand this? (Of course I'm not against it or anything, just surprised at the difference in attitudes.)

Because the guys doing it don't see it as crossdressing or transgender behavior. They're just choosing a cute butt or nice boobs to look at or have a fantasy of controlling a "hot" woman. They don't identify "with" the character in the way that one of us transfolks might.

Veronica

[Thumbelina]

I have played a lot of MMORPGs (Massively mutiplayer online roleplaying games.) and have always played as a female character. Yes, I used the "I'd rather watch Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft rather than Arnie Schwarzenegger as Conan the Barbarian hour after hour," as justification but, it should come as no surprise, the reality is more complex than that. The simplest explanation is that, in game, I can convincingly express a feminine persona though a beautiful female character. Something I could never do in real life. This bit from my journal may shed some light:

[In game] Eva is me. She is that feminine part of myself... that happy, friendly, carefree, innocent expression of myself that I keep so effectively bottled up inside. ...she is popular, well liked, makes friends easily, is sought after, people love being around her. She is, in many ways, all the things I am not; and yet she is me, or rather, comes from within me. Is it any wonder I want to spend my time being her?

[Jaylyn]

I don't play any of the games but I would think that what's been said sounds very logical to me about playing as a good looking girl I far superior to a hulk of a guy. About the only games I ever played on line was solitaire and on the tv we once had a pong game so I proved that makes were superior at least in my family.
This is a very good question and have read every response very interesting.

[Laurana]

I did it in one game purely to con people into giving me gifts and money. I would then transfer it to my male character.

[Kayliedaskope]

This is one of the many hundreds of looks I have on IMVU. If I can't play dress up at home, I can do it on the computer.


<===


I know it's not the same, but yes, I do like looking at a pretty female character rather than a male character ... plus there are so many dresses and hairstyles and makeup and lingerie !!! :)

[MarinaTwelve200]

I have done it out of curiosity-----There was a GOOD article on it in the "Women Gamers" site. I read it while doing research for my Sci Fi book where the protag becomes a woman. Of course there is a CD element, but most often, there are other motives. Curiosity and discovery is a big motivation, initially. Where certain DISCOVERIES are made where the gamer sees some distinct advantages and uses them to get an edge in the game. Many men will NOT shoot a woman, those who do will always "hesitate" momentarily giving the woman a bit more time to beat him to the draw. Sometimes a male will "protect" a female character and another big thing is "gifts"---women characters are often given free stuff by male characters. -----Yes, the woman character cannot carry as much weight in weapons, etc, which is a disadvantage, but they are a smaller target and usually faster.----A male player , who knows how properly use a Female Avatar can use it as a legit strategy to win games.------------------Of course One of the PRIMARY reasons, however, is simply LOOKING at the attractive, "kick ass" female avatar for hours instead of a MALE one. "the Laura Croft effect".

[ellbee]

A few years ago I asked my son about that and he said, "I'm going to be playing this game for hours. Why would I want to look at a dude all that time?" So, I don't know that it's a case of guys acting out fantasies of being women I think it's acting out the classic male fantasy of controlling women.

Yes, because I'm sure it has absolutely nothing to do with a young, healthy, hormonally-raging heterosexual male instinctually wanting to look at a hot (albeit cartoon/animated) female. :brolleyes:




There's something about a girl kicking a guy's butt that really makes me feel proud for them, and almost makes me wish I were that character.

Now just imagine the histrionic, virtue-signaling public uproar if one were to switch the genders in that sentence... :thinking:

[Alice_2014_B]

Here is myself at World Series of Poker.

:)

[Karmen]

A few years ago I asked my son about that and he said, "I'm going to be playing this game for hours. Why would I want to look at a dude all that time?" So, I don't know that it's a case of guys acting out fantasies of being women I think it's acting out the classic male fantasy of controlling women.

I'm a gamer and I also play female character whenever is possible. It's not because I'm a crossdresser and I don't look at this character as me. I just prefer looking at a good looking girl in the game while playing.

[Stephanie47]

I'm not a gamer either. However, in the past I always bought my son Marvel action figures. I don't know if girls/women were into collecting them too. All I know is the female Marvel action figures were always the most difficult to find in the store. On eBay or in a comic shop the female figures were always the most expensive. My granddaughter also liked the female action figures. Probably because her daddy liked them too. When I would pick her up after elementary school I'd always find her among a group of boys who were all playing with her action figures. Heck of a way to be popular with the boys!

Maybe some guys really love dominant women who subjugated men to serve them??? :)

[Cherylgyno]

Alice you need a better kicker.

[Heather J]

My Avatar is one of the main characters I played from Sims3

[ShyLibrarian]

I'm guessing because it's more or less risk free - they are in a fantasy world and no one is judging other than their prowess at the game. It's a little like costume parties. If any one saw WHITE MISCHIEF, a movie about the wind-down of British colonialism in Kenya post-war there's a party there in which one of the main characters - famous actor - dresses totally as a woman without raising an eyebrow. However, the Brits are different. One can get away with a lot more camp over there

[Christie Camelle]

This is me in Second Life... 288856

[suzanne]

Doesn't your question aswer itself? If a man has some sort of feminine quality but feels repressed by his surroundings, it WILL come out if given an outlet that provides the safety of anonymity.

[Dana44]

On my online games girls can do as well as guys. It is great to be a girl trashing monsters. Yet I am a girl half the time. I have two males, a storm male and a balance male. all other are woman