Sex in Games pt 1 (Culture)

[Zerlina]

Sex in Games pt 1
(Culture)

I’ve been working on my game non-stop for the last month or so. In The Story of Palis, one of the major themes is gender role- that is the role or characteristics dictated by one’s gender.

Too often in games –even with developed cultures- makers avoid the question of gender identity, either because they’ve forgotten all about it, or because they’re afraid to touch the subject due to political correctness. This is really too bad, because as humans (or in the case of your game, maybe aliens, elves or dwarves), our gender identity has a large impact on who we are, whether we admit it or not.

So in the cause of good character development, I’ve decided to write this tutorial series on sex (as in gender, pervs) and how it affects characters. Depending on your setting, sexual identity may have a large or small impact on your characters. Either way, it should not be overlooked.

Definition
First off, what is gender identity? Well, it’s not your sexual orientation, or your sexual identity. It’s your gender and how you define yourself by it.

Gender and your Character
When you created your game characters, gender was probably one of the first things you figured out about them. It stands to reason, then, that it’s an important aspect of your characters. I know, I know, some of you may have made your lead male or female only because you wish to appeal to a certain audience, but even if this is the case, when fleshing out a character, you should exploit every crevice of their being. Gender is something which you really shouldn’t overlook.

 Sex as Defined by Culture

Well, to start with, let’s get rid of that one big obstacle- political correctness.

It’s important to remember that a game is made up of characters from a particular time and culture. What may be politically incorrect to us, may be completely dandy in the world of your story.

Now, let’s start with the basics. I have two characters here, one male, and one female –a husband and wife- let’s call them Adam and Eve. Obviously there will be other aspects to their characters, but since this tutorial is about gender identity, I’m not going to focus on them.

First, society tends to dictate gender roles by the following criteria- dominance, usefulness (intelligence, strength), emotional characteristics, and purpose.

Let’s break this down.

Dominance-
Men are superior to women
Women are superior to men
Men and women are equal

Usefulness-
Men are more useful than women
Women are more useful than men
Men and women are equally useful

Dominance-
Men obey women
Women obey men
Gender does not define mastery

Emotional Characteristics-
Men are warriors, women are nurturers
Women are warriors, men are nurturers
Men and women can both be warriors or nurturers

In terms of emotional characteristics, there are more examples than the ‘warrior/nurturer’ applications.

When it comes to purpose, things get more complicated. A gender’s purpose is its role in society. For example, in Amazon society, the purpose of men was to reproduce. The women ran and defended society.

Now, let’s look at Adam and Eve’s culture. Because few games deal with this issue, I’m going to use Lithian (Palis) culture as an example since I’m familiar with it. To the Lithians, neither gender is superior . Each has their own role which aids humanity. Where things start to become rigid, however, is on the subject of dominance and emotional characterization. In Lithia, women must obey men. Furthermore, women and men have separate and clearly defined roles. That is, men are the protectors, defenders, decision-makers, and bearers of responsibility. The women are behind the scenes. They manage the household, and their children or siblings. A very important aspect of the culture (where gender is concerned) is that strength is seen as a primarily male quality. In men it is a virtue, in women, it is a flaw. Pressure is put on both genders to clearly adhere to the rules of their sexes.

So now that we know this, let’s look at Adam and Eve. If Adam is the ideal man (as defined by his society) he will be strong, responsible, courageous, and able to make good decisions. If Eve is a good woman, she’ll be content to stand in Adam’s shadow, and avoid trying to aid him in his decisions and responsibilities.

The “problem” with any social model –as you may have guessed- is that few people are ideal or perfectly virtuous.

So let’s start with Adam. He knows what he should be. Let’s look at what he is. Let’s give him two ideal characteristics- he’s responsible and courageous. But is he strong? Can he defend his family? If he is unable to fight well, or unable to be a good soldier does that make him a failure as a man? Or as a human being? Looking at this with our perspective, it may seem a foolish thought. But if Adam has been fed the image of the strong ideal since birth, he’ll probably believe it.  If he doesn’t, well, that’s cause for more conflict then, isn’t it?
Now, our friend Adam isn’t physically or offensively strong by any means. But what if he’s a particularly good healer? How will this sit with him? With those around him? Will he be ashamed of his talent? Try to hide it? Or will he flaunt it and exhibit his contempt for his society’s thinking?
His lack of strength (at least in the context of this society) can have a deep impact on his character, once the idea of gender roles is brought in.

Now, let’s look at Eve. Rather than Adam who lacks strength, she has it in spades. In a man, this would be celebrated. For Eve, it’s disastrous. The struggle here is similar to Adam’s: she has to hide her talent if she wishes to be virtuous (given her gender). She must suppress her strength, and always wait in the sidelines. Let’s say, however, she doesn’t care what society or what others think (at least outwardly) and she uses her strength to her advantage. Firstly, how will others react to this? How will Adam react to this? How will people treat her? Will this effect her?

Another problem may seem obvious. According to this society, Adam is Eve’s master. But if he is weaker than her, how can he be dominant? Will he then retain his dominance only because of what culture dictates? Or will this cause conflict amongst the two? Knowing Adam is a good decision maker, and is responsible, could he rightfully be the dominant one? Would Eve see it this way?

In ancient societies (and even some modern ones), gender –to a large extent- defined purpose. It told you who you were, and what you were meant to do. Women stayed in the home. Men were the breadwinners.

When developing your own culture’s view on gender, the important thing to remember is that –with a few exceptions- gender stereotypes emerged from the roots of human society. At the founding of our species, women were not able to hunt as much, because of pregnancy, or other maternal functions. Men –free from this- were the hunters and defenders.

Much of our modern day applications of the male role come from this beginning- aggression, competitiveness, courage etc. For the females, good nurturing skills were valued, because they meant that children were well-looked after, and more likely to survive. 

In many games, this kind of gender characterization is highly prevalent. For example, Zidane is the strong and capable, aggressive hero. Dagger is the healer- the nurturer- who is devoted to her children (her country). Aeris is kind-hearted, innocent, non-violent, and emotionally soothing (nurturing). Cloud is the one who goes after Sephiroth, and tries to set the world right.
 
Remember, when you define your culture, don’t forget gender. As we’ve seen here, it can have major impacts on your characters’ inner workings- consciously or (more likely) subconsciously.

Next Tutorial: Understand the Female Mind/ Creating Female Characters

[Moosetroop11]

Awesome. Nice one.

[X_marks_the_ed]

o.O

This really got me thinking about NFT. I've established that both Male and Females are free to control how they live their lives, but in society, a Female warrior is laughed upon, and a male ranger is considered foolish. But I think, after reading this, I could go much further into detail. Great guide.

[drenrin2120]

This was really insightful. You made a good point with:

At the founding of our species, women were not able to hunt as much, because of pregnancy, or other maternal functions. Men –free from this- were the hunters and defenders.

Thankfully, with my culture's history, I can avoid this.