Well, as a guy, I’ve been asked multiple times why I systematically play games female characters in video games, to the point of skipping a game if I’m forced to pay a male one, with a few exceptions (I really liked Albus from Troubleshooters for example). Whenever there’s romance in a game, I’ll also take the F/F route. Yet, I don’t think I fetishize those in general. There’s a thing about not liking most M characters in games, but also something about playing someone really different from who I am. We’ve had an interesting conversation about this with my gf who always plays F characters and woyd never play M.
Although I’m a straight guy, I’ve always more identified to female friends and characters, although I have a few male friends too. So I’m wondering who else does that (playing a character not matching your gender), and if you found your own explanation.
Edit : It’s not really an oversexualization drive for me, I try to play a female character that looks like me, even though I’ve never thought about actually becoming a woman.
Edit 2 : So far, I think we have, hmm…
- Playing someone that differs from one’s irl identity
- Physical Attractivity
- Male character writing and design
- Lara Croft effect
- Lady Dwarf
I’m male. If the game has much of a fashion/customization aspect to it I tend to play female characters, since I guess I’m more interested in how female characters look than male ones. I think a lot of this has to do with whether you view your in-game avatar as an extension of “you” or not - personally, I do not identify much with my avatars regardless of their gender.