Horsley: ‘’It could be argued that simple binary gender gender-switching actually further entrenches traditionally held ideas, by suggesting that conventional roles are so firmly established that a person must simply pick one or the other, based on the package of qualities it comes with, and how appropriate these are for the situation at hand” (77).
When I created my avatar, I chose a female because I didn’t have any desire to explore what it would be like to play a man. Horsley says that gender-switching exacerbates traditional roles, which I agree with to an extent. However, though the avatar is female, I chose clothing and accessories that project a more capable, masculine inner self. When in a situation where you must choose a gender, it is almost impossible to avoid emulating stereotypical roles. My avatar’s body is very feminine; her body would be considered attractive, her hair is longer, etc. It would have been entirely possible for me to create a manly woman, with minimal female body characteristics (muscular, small breasts, short hair, no jewelry, etc.), but I didn’t. Though physically, she is very feminine, internally, she turned out kind of masculine in her projected attitude and manner. She seems tough and powerful, which are generally masculine characteristics but also are qualities that I aspire to have. I chose her accessories to be more gender-neutral/masculine with plain jeans, a T-shirt and combat boots.
jjasken said
I think it’s interesting that most of the default avatars on the female side tend to have a tougher, more stereotypically masculine feel too them. They’re still gendered feminine, but not in the traditional genteel sort of way.
daniellesirk said
I chose to create a female avatar for the same reason. I think it’s interesting that you still found a way to explore the more masculine side of things with your avatar’s personality/dress.
lauradav said
I think the point that we must in some ways emulate stereotypes when creating an avatar is well-taken. In many ways, we can use avatars to create a sort of “ideal” persona that most of us probably don’t have in real life, so it is logical that we would want to create an avatar that seems attractive. Cultural ideas of gender are a large part of what informs our consideration of what is attractive, and a female having minimal female body characteristics, as Michelle points out is possible, is not generally at the top of the list.
However, I also agree with the point that there are other ways that one can assert masculinity or femininity through their avatar. Though biological gender is a binary, cultural gender ideas are not. Adding small touches of masculinity are a believable way to create an avatar identity that is somewhere along that spectrum.
lauradav said
Sorry I wrote Michelle instead of Maegan – I just came from her blog before yours.