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From: erkyrath@netcom.com (Andrew Plotkin)
Subject: Re: Gender roles in IF (Was:Re: Is there a place for sex in IF?)
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Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 21:34:48 GMT
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Phyllis902 (phyllis902@aol.com) wrote:
> But since it is a part of this discussion now, I think the fact that
> people have spent so much time trying to figure out what sex the
> characters are just makes my point for me. People do want to know about
> the player character. And someone's sexuality is a big part of who he is.
> Don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying it is the MOST important part about
> him, but it is, nevertheless, very important.

Yes; but if I write a game which does not mention the player's gender, I 
am not necessarily saying that it is *un*important. In fact, even if I 
explicitly cloak the character's genders (which is what I felt Jigsaw 
did), I'm not necessarily saying that they are unimportant.

There are many reasons to do such a thing.

> After all, haven't homosexuals fought a long and humiliating battle to be
> able to "come out of the closet" and stop hiding "who they were?" Don't
> stories about people who must hide their gender to achieve some goal
> emphasise how dehumanizing it is when you can't allow other people to
> identify you by your gender?

People who must hide their gender? I didn't find this to be a theme in 
Jigsaw, or in any other IF game that comes to mind.

It may be helpful if I explain that, in the story of Jigsaw as I saw it, 
White and Black *did* have genders. But I do not know what they were.

> I think I have, but to elaborate further, I read a thread (this one, I
> think) about how all women are all helpless victims of a viciously sexist
> society, and about how there is really no way to write anything that isn't
> sexist. Apparently, the solution to this is to write about people who have
> no gender, no attitudes and no gender-based roles. 

You're looking way too narrowly. Not every ambiguous-gendered game is 
trying to solve *that problem* -- the very existence of that problem 
seems to be a minority opinion. Second, I don't think anyone's saying 
there is a single "*the* solution".

--Z

-- 

"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the
borogoves..."
