In recent years, gender evolved in RPGs from a simple boolean choice of male or female to a plain text field with no limits. Roll20 now directly defines this concept as direction for its community character sheet builders. D&D 5e contains a direct discussion of this concept. These two examples are just the tip of the iceberg on releasing old stereotypes on gender in gaming. No longer is gender the defacto descriptor of every character.
Why is this important? The interesting feature of gender in society is that it has become layer upon layers of meaning and stereotype. The traditional definition of "being a man" contains multiple levels of meaning. There is a invisible genetic layer. There are the physical attributes, both sexual and non-sexual. Even the definition of being physically attractive is different for a man. "Being a man" traditionally defines what you like, how you relate to people, what behavior is acceptable, what jobs you do, what career you have. Traditionally men communicate and relate differently to other men than they do women. All of this baggage has left some people feeling boxed in. Our society is slowly accepting people who not only break these stereotypes with men that like pink, play with dolls as children, and become nurses, but also people who reject these titles completely in favor of their own gender identities. Gender identity and everything that goes with it is quickly becoming a choice.
Why is this important? The interesting feature of gender in society is that it has become layer upon layers of meaning and stereotype. The traditional definition of "being a man" contains multiple levels of meaning. There is a invisible genetic layer. There are the physical attributes, both sexual and non-sexual. Even the definition of being physically attractive is different for a man. "Being a man" traditionally defines what you like, how you relate to people, what behavior is acceptable, what jobs you do, what career you have. Traditionally men communicate and relate differently to other men than they do women. All of this baggage has left some people feeling boxed in. Our society is slowly accepting people who not only break these stereotypes with men that like pink, play with dolls as children, and become nurses, but also people who reject these titles completely in favor of their own gender identities. Gender identity and everything that goes with it is quickly becoming a choice.
As a student of Asimov, Stephenson, Orwell, Huxley, and Clarke, looking into the evolution of gender is intriguing to me. I've read Le Guin's "Left Hand of Darkness" (a masterpiece exploring an alien genderless society) but I want to take it farther, in a more traditional setting. What could it mean to all forms of interaction if gender were eliminated as a simple recordable and defining fact for every individual? Like those before me, I could passively explore this concept in a narrative, but we have much greater tools at our disposal. We can run a game to find out what this genderless society might be.
So here are my proposed rules for running a genderless society game, as a point of exploration, in whatever system you choose.
- All identifiers of specific gender are eliminated from the language and are not allowed in the description of any character. (No male, female)
- The pronouns he / him / his are eliminated. She / her are used for all characters without reflecting gender. Preferred form is to use the person's name, rather than a pronoun.
- No gender specific titles (Mr., Mrs., Ms.) are allowed.
- All gender specific nouns revert either to a gender neutral form (mail carrier, not mailman), or where such is lacking, the shortest form is used (monarch preferred, but otherwise king rather than queen; hunter over huntress; prince over princess, etc).
- No gender specific stereotypes are associated with gender; i.e. anyone can wear a dress, ear rings, etc.
- Gender is no longer a defining characteristic in matters of love, emotional or physical.
Why should we play this game? Just like Kagematsu allows an exploration of story from points of view of different genders, I believe a genderless game will allow us to explore aspects of society and interaction unbound by gender stereotypes that pervade most current human societies. In this exploration, perhaps we can learn more about ourselves and what it might mean to really put gender behind us as the defining characteristic of a person. Conclusion to be drawn are left as an exercise to the player.
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Updated: The overwhelming response to the article is "I don't get it." A lot of people don't understand why gender identity as traditional male and female is changing. I, myself, was in that same situation not too long ago, so I added a bit of explanation about one aspect of the drive behind changes in how we look at gender. I am by no means an expert in this subject, but perhaps this brief introduction can give people a bit more interest in exploring further, rather than just simply professing their ignorance and moving on.
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Updated: The overwhelming response to the article is "I don't get it." A lot of people don't understand why gender identity as traditional male and female is changing. I, myself, was in that same situation not too long ago, so I added a bit of explanation about one aspect of the drive behind changes in how we look at gender. I am by no means an expert in this subject, but perhaps this brief introduction can give people a bit more interest in exploring further, rather than just simply professing their ignorance and moving on.
I honestly think this is more confusing than it is worth.
ReplyDeleteLong story short people classify things.
I also only see thing causing confusion as I fail to understand the whole gender things right now.
Your confusion and lack of exposure to this aspect of society is not uncommon. I, myself, was in the exact same place that your were not so long ago. As a response to this, I have updated the article to explain why gender identity is evolving beyond simple classification by genetic code. I hope you find this helpful.
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