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From: mkinyon@peabody.iusb.indiana.edu (Michael Kinyon)
Subject: Re: Black's gender
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References: <67910.mamster@pomona.edu> <477mqb$3r5@joker.rz.hu-berlin.de> <DHDMKA.LJJ@sun2.iusb.indiana.edu> <47a31m$4ve@joker.rz.hu-berlin.de>
Date: Thu, 2 Nov 1995 13:48:30 GMT
Lines: 37

[Did you just barely start playing Jigsaw?  If so, then go away.]

In article <47a31m$4ve@joker.rz.hu-berlin.de>,
Paul David Doherty <h0142kdd@joker.rz.hu-berlin.de> wrote:

>What I was trying to say was that all the common methods to find out 
>my character's gender ...
>didn't give enough indication what my character's gender was supposed to
>be.

Fair enough.  It is a pity that the pronoun bug that everyone else seems
to have latched onto allows some interpretation.  Hopefully that will get
fixed in a future release.

>>"We are equal in this Glorious Worker's Paradise, comrade."
>
>That was 6 months later. We're talking about April, 1917 here.

Oops.  Good point.  Well, then, you make a pretty convincing man in that
army officer's uniform.  See Gareth's discussion elsewhere in this thread.

>(But back to the main issue. Am I really the only one who thinks that
>gender neutrality is unnecessary, and as undesirable in IF as it is
>in other forms of fiction?)

Well, phrases such as "Am I really the only one..." always invite the answer
no, but to answer what your question really was: no, it isn't necessary
(people have brought up _Christminster_ as an example, but _Plundered Hearts_
also comes to mind), but also, no, it isn't undesirable.  Gender neutrality
can be quite effective.  It is very effective in _Jigsaw_.  There are
apparently those who think having a gender is important in a work of 
interactive fiction, but I find such an attitude very disturbing.
-- 
Michael Kinyon                  | email: mkinyon@peabody.iusb.edu
Dept of Mathematics & Comp. Sci.| http://sun1.iusb.edu/faculty/mkinyon/
Indiana University South Bend   | phone: (219)-237-4240
South Bend, IN 46634 USA        | fax:   (219)-237-4538
