history & role-playing (was: RE: dark family secret)
Jeannie Whited
Speaking as a woman and a history major.....
First, when running an historical game (as opposed to an alternate reality
"historical" like Terror was), you need to do your research to see what
women REALLY did at the time. To use my own field as an example, most
people's notions of medieval women come from the tradition of courtly
love. Not only did this ideal not develop until the 14th century, it was
just that- an ideal. Even the richest women did not sit about embroidering
all day; they had manors to run, accounts to settle, books to balance,
etc. They were actively involved with the daily running of whatever
situation they happened to be in.
Of course, this does not mean that discriminatory attitudes or ideas about
a "woman's place" (the ideal) did not exist.
So, say you've done your research and discovered what women were really up
to. You should also think about how much your game is about extraordinary
people- the ones who make the decisions that set history. Just as every
male character is important for some reason (station, personality,
wealth), so should each female character. Women always could, did, and
will hold very powerful positions on their own. Overtly powerful women are
extraordinary, indeed. And extraordinary fits into games well.
Not that every woman needs to be overtly extraordinary. A strong
personality goes a long way behind the scenes. And many people find those
"power behind the throne" characters more fun to play than the overtly
powerful.
I must agree that Musketeers did an excellent job of having interesting
yet fairly historical female characters. We had a wonderful time sending
men running about doing our dirty work for us, all the while pretending to
be wonderful and angelic. Not to say we were immune; no, we could take
each other down at the bat of an eye. And you thought the royal politics
were brutal! The special abilities and romance system made up for
perceived inferiorities of a female character.
And female players still have the option of playing a male character.
Speaking from experience, other players are a bit confused by this, but
figure it out and react accordingly quickly enough. And men can play
female characters as well.
Now then, as a player, I must confess I am disappointed in most male
players to play out anything resembling male chauvinism. I've had
characters whose major driving force was to "prove herself to pigheaded
men," only to find the players accepting me as a equal. End of conflict.
I, for one, get psyched up to prove I am smarter, faster, better than men.
Then I never get the chance. Geez, even the misyoginist Mycroft Holmes
accepted me as an equal!
So, are GMs afraid to write misoyginistic characters?
Are players afraid to play them?
Are we afarid someone will forget this is a GAME?
So, to end this rambling, let me sum up. If your game is historical, there
will probably be restrictions on women's behavior. These are often on the
ideal behavior, however, not reflections on what women actually did.
Discriminatory attitudes can drive some intresting conflict ("outdone by a
woman? NEVER!"), providing players choose to overcome their fears and deal
with it.
I will never be personally offended by someone's in-character behavior. I
trust they take no offense at mine.
Jeannie
jwh...@gwis.circ.gwu.edu
--
Brian Bankler
Jeannie asked will anyone write mysogynistic characters?
I did. I wrote racists and mysogynists and mysanthropes for
Machina Ex Deo and had an amazing outcry against them. Like Jonah
pointed out, people were happy to play murderers, but not un PC
things like racists.
I'm becoming very tempted to write a game whose sole plot
is that every character is disturbing. But I think I'll get
my master's degree first....
Brian
Jim Edwards-Hewitt
> Jeannie asked will anyone write mysogynistic characters?
>
> I did. I wrote racists and mysogynists and mysanthropes for
>Machina Ex Deo and had an amazing outcry against them.
You did!? Makes me even more disappointed that I wasn't well enough to
play. I would have shown those wimps how to play a racist! (I was playing
an elf who believed that, while the few humans he knew personally were
okay, as a species, they were fit only to serve us. Unfortuately, I became
ill and was not up to playing much. Great character, though!)
-- Jim
Jim.Edwar...@cathouse_ppp.clark.net
From: j...@esprit.visix.com (Jim Edwards-Hewitt)
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Ambus...@cathouse_ppp.clark.net
S> Hear, hear.
S> We have been tossing around the idea of a "racial
S> tension" plot here at Smalltown Central. It's not easy -
S> not because we're unable to write racist characters
S> (Good gosh no - you should read some of these
S> monstrosities!) but because to move such a plot there
S> need to be at least two groups agreed on their racial
S> opinions. When you tend to write characters as
S> individually self-centered as these, it's hard to get a consensus.
S> Opinions? Helpful advice?
Easy. Have the groups agree that something is bad, in general, but give
them individual reasons for hating them.
"Left Headed Bazingas have been taking our jobs," says the newly unemplyed
character.
"Left Headed Bazingas are stealing our women..."
"Left Headed Bazingas have performed bizarre medical experiments on our
beloved family pet."
That sort of thing.
AB
--- Maximus 2.00
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Brandon Brylawski
> > Jeannie asked will anyone write mysogynistic characters?
> >
> > I did. I wrote racists and mysogynists and mysanthropes for
> >Machina Ex Deo and had an amazing outcry against them.
Wimps. Unpleasant people are a part of life and a part of good stories. If
the boss whom you are forced to deal with is a nice guy, there is no tension
involved; if he's a sexist, power-mad bastard but has something that you need,
then there is the potential for good dynamics. It is important to avoid
writing characters that are so obnoxious that others will not interact with
them; if this is avoided, irritating characters are often very genre-
appropriate and should not be omitted.
Brandon