Gender bending in MMORPGS

Most of the MMORPGs like Maple Story, RF Online and many others allow players to experience a fantasy world full of orcs, elves, dwarves and many other exotic races. These games also allow players to choose which gender their avatars will assume. While playing as non-human races is considered normal, playing as the opposite gender (referred to as gender bending) has always been a divisive issue. Current surveys show that 85% of MMORPG players are male and that males are up to 5 times more likely to change gender than females. This means that, on average, at least half of all female avatars in a virtual world are played by men.

There are some very practical reasons why a man would prefer to play a female character online. For example, it is widely known that other players are much more generous with items and the game’s orientation towards female characters. Women playing a male character forgo this gender-specific advantage, which probably explains the much lower trend of female gender bending. It has also been noted that in third-person MMORPGs, many men prefer to spend their gaming hours looking at the back of a slim female body rather than a bulky man. Many do not accept these utilitarian reasons alone as the explanation for gender bending. Some suspect that there are darker, more psychological reasons why a man would dress in women’s clothing, virtually speaking.

That a man wants to play a female character is often enough evidence for many in the online community to label someone as gay. But surprisingly, feminist organizations see gender bending as another sign of female oppression. In most virtual worlds, female characters are barely clothed and blessed with what we’ll call “abundant goods.” It is sexism on the part of men to want to control these polished pleasure robots, or so the feminist argument goes. Certainly, there is a small minority of men who use female personas to approach other men online, but doesn’t the ultimate responsibility lie with the individual in defending against unsolicited advances online?

The problem has gotten so out of hand in some places that game publishers and governments decided they needed to step in. Recently in China, Shanda Entertainment, a major developer of virtual worlds, issued a new rule that anyone who wants to create a female avatar must first prove their gender to the company via webcam. Interestingly, women who wish to play a male character would not have to go through this procedure. Many players faced character removal if their female avatars did not have a female face to defend them on webcam. Not surprisingly, players wore wigs and makeup to trick developers into letting them keep their avatars. Shanda may have found the perfect way to reverse gender shift trends between the sexes, putting additional barriers against male gender shifts and encouraging female gender shift. (Forcing women to “taste” their sex) Soon China will have the first virtual world where half of the men are women!