Excuse Me While I Kiss This Guy

"No way. You're really a girl?"

Yeah that's right. I've heard it before. Many times, in fact. What is it that causes the average male gamer to assume everyone around them is also a male until proven otherwise?

I realize the odds are overwhelmingly in favor of my having bait and tackle, but still... call it naive, call it whatever. I usually assume that if the toon on my screen has boobs, it's being played by a girl. I know, silly of me!

That said, it seems to be a subject of interest when I join a group or raid and get asked if I'm really a girl. Assuming I'm in a truth-telling mood, that is. Someone's always surprised I'm playing a toon of a matching sex. Let's not bring gender into this just yet.

Ok, let's bring gender into this. For those who aren't anthropologically-minded, let me briefly explain the difference between sex and gender. Sex is a biologically-pre-ordained state which determines, basically, whether you have an innie or an outie. Gender, however, is a far more "shades of grey" category which is the role in which you feel you fit ino and/or fulfill in a society. In other words, female is your sex. But 'homosexual' is your gender. This is in its simplest terms, of course, because there are some exceptions to pretty much every rule. Like hermaphrodites. Too much though - we want to keep this basic!

So, why is it that men (and, in a lesser sense, women) enjoy playing a toon of the opposite sex? I've asked this question of a few people over the years with differing answers. One or two men freely admitted to me that they were homosexual and preferred the female identity. One or two guys told me if they had to stare at a toon's ass all afternoon, they'd rather it be female. They might be repressing, though. Who knows. A few male gamers told me they'd never play a female toon. A few female gamers told me they love playing male toons.

We might have to do a survey.

For now, what I really want to know is this: If you didn't actually believe I was a girl before you asked, why were you still hitting on me?!