Character Gender Ratios in Roleplays

[call me rae]

So I have seen this issue come up in virtually every roleplay I've ever had. The age old - we must have an equal number of girls and boys in our roleplay.


Now I'm not talking only in groups or roleplays specifically about pairings either - like arranged roleplays or whatever.


I mean in literally every roleplay where it is conceivably possible within the plot for their to be two genders they must always be even.


The only exceptions I've ever come across are like all girl roleplays or magical girl roleplays. Basically where the plot specifically calls for their being only one gender then it's a moot point but otherwise it always comes up.


And I just don't know why.


I mean sure if your playing a marriage game then obviously your going to want an equal number of ladies and gentlemen in order for everyone to hook up and have their happily ever afters.


But what about a fantasy epic where the central conflict is saving the world from like the magic apocalypse.


Or even a slice of life roleplay about life in some village or whatever.


I mean realistically in those type of senarios there is not going to necessarily always be an even number of men or women. Nor should their have to be.


Because if romance is not really a central part of a roleplay then what difference does it make?


I don't know maybe that's just be.


What do the rest of you think?


Does it bother you when people enforce arbitrary gender ratios?


Or do you not care?

 

[JayTee]

I have never seen this, ever. Where are you getting this?

 

[Atom]

I actually haven't ran into that issue. I don't ever enforce a gender ratio in my own games and haven't ran into it in anything I join.


'Course that's just me.


 
Actually it's not just me Hahah


Hi @JayTee

 

[call me rae]

I have never seen this, ever. Where are you getting this?

Maybe it's just in different sites then?


I know the ones I've been in previously ( chickensmoothie - gaia ) all heavily enforced their gender ratios.


Both in onexones and groups.

 

[JayTee]

Probably just different sites. While the GM has the right to set the rules of their game, I don't think I've seen anything that involved gender.


1x1s are, 80% of the time, unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Chordling]

I've run into the same theme here and there and I believe that it does have to do with romance. Even if the roleplay is not centered around romance, it's nice to keep the probability of romance alive and equal. Other times, it's just nice not to have a huge pool of pure testosterone or estrogen, unless that is what the roleplay calls for.


I personally could care less about gender ratios in roleplays. I haven't run into the issue that much with the roleplays that I have been interested in joining. If I am running a roleplay, I do care that there are a mix of males and females, but it doesn't necessarily have to be an even ratio.

 

[Muffinboi]

I see this a lot on one roleplay site I go to sometimes. I won't give out the name of said site unless people really want me to do it. Most of the roleplays on the site happen to have romance as the main plot or at least a major part of the plot, so it's not hard to see why they want even genders, sometimes the roleplays want you to have two characters, one male and one female, but not all of them make you do that.

 

[Chordling]

I won't give out the name of said site unless people really want me to do it.

To quote from the site's rules:


"Users are not allowed to advertise external websites or services with the intention of either personal gain or distracting from the community. This means: links that benefit the posting user, links that sell a product or service, or links that serve to gain a user-base on another website are considered advertising and will be removed."

 

[Pine]

I've seen a good amount of role plays that call for an even gender ratio, but I believe this is most common in realistic/modern role plays.


As for the reasoning of this?


It depends on the role play, but if it's irrelevant to the plot (marriage, roommates), there isn't really any part.


Sure, diversity is fine, but to keep a rigid ratio is a bit ridiculous.


And I would argue against it encouraging romance.


While I suppose the majority of characters ARE straight, I think we have a great diversity in sexualities with characters more often than not, which doesn't always entail MxF.


So, I suppose to some degree it could encourage romance, but I don't think that it's quiiiiiiiite as effective as it may seem.

 

[call me rae]

I've seen a good amount of role plays that call for an even gender ratio, but I believe this is most common in realistic/modern role plays.
As for the reasoning of this?


It depends on the role play, but if it's irrelevant to the plot (marriage, roommates), there isn't really any part.


Sure, diversity is fine, but to keep a rigid ratio is a bit ridiculous.


And I would argue against it encouraging romance.


While I suppose the majority of characters ARE straight, I think we have a great diversity in sexualities with characters more often than not, which doesn't always entail MxF.


So, I suppose to some degree it could encourage romance, but I don't think that it's quiiiiiiiite as effective as it may seem.

Exactly my thoughts. I mean in most of the plots where romance isn't a central plot most of the characters aren't even straight anyway. Granted usually several are but not everyone. In which case stressing about there being an equal number of boys and girls is silly.

 

[amdreams]

I sort of like a somewhat equal gender ratio, though I'm not going to get angry if it isn't. Though I am a tad wary of rps where one gender greatly outnumber the other even if the lot is not romance focused, especially girls. There's nothing wrong with that sort of situation. It's just that in the past, I've had rather . . . scary experiences in those situations, mainly other sites but I think there was one on this one as well, a long time ago.


Maybe they were just coincidences, but whenever I joined an rp where girls outnumbered guys like 3 to 1, the majority of the players wanted romance and they can get pretty aggressive about it. Now while entire walls of poorly written flash romances and drama can get pretty bad, but you can sort of ignore it to an extent. What's terrifying is if you happen to be playing one of the few guys in this situation. Girls throwing themselves at you. Everything you say somehow getting twisted into some form of flirting or romance no matter how much you try to say otherwise. You getting called various things because you don't return their feelings or advances quick enough or in a painfully obvious way. Long story short, it wasn't fun.


So it may be much for me to ask for an equal ratio, but when I make roleplays, I'd at least like it so that one gender doesn't outnumber the other so much that I need to worry about theses roleplay yanderes.

 

[call me rae]

I sort of like a somewhat equal gender ratio, though I'm not going to get angry if it isn't. Though I am a tad wary of rps where one gender greatly outnumber the other even if the lot is not romance focused, especially girls. There's nothing wrong with that sort of situation. It's just that in the past, I've had rather . . . scary experiences in those situations, mainly other sites but I think there was one on this one as well, a long time ago.
Maybe they were just coincidences, but whenever I joined an rp where girls outnumbered guys like 3 to 1, the majority of the players wanted romance and they can get pretty aggressive about it. Now while entire walls of poorly written flash romances and drama can get pretty bad, but you can sort of ignore it to an extent. What's terrifying is if you happen to be playing one of the few guys in this situation. Girls throwing themselves at you. Everything you say somehow getting twisted into some form of flirting or romance no matter how much you try to say otherwise. You getting called various things because you don't return their feelings or advances quick enough or in a painfully obvious way. Long story short, it wasn't fun.


So it may be much for me to ask for an equal ratio, but when I make roleplays, I'd at least like it so that one gender doesn't outnumber the other so much that I need to worry about theses roleplay yanderes.

Holy Jesus. I would be terrified too. Actually this also jives with what my friends have told me before like people just inserting romance into places where it doesn't belong.


Or at least getting so invested in their characters having a love life that they kind of put other people off searching for it.


Like a friend told me she was in a roleplay where like literally right after her character introduced themselves they had like half naked women throwing themselves at him.


I personally said depending on the severity I would be like yeah no I'm gone.


Especially because those are also usually the people who can't distinguish between their characters wants and feelings and their own. For that matter they can't distinguish between your characters wants and feelings and your own.


Like look it's not an attack on you if my character is freaked out by suddenly being in a harem situation.

 

[Jaye]

Gender ratios are generally there for diversity.


I mean, having all one gender doesn't technically effect anything but it is kinda... odd. To be fair, when I see gender ratios asked for they usually ask for other ratios to be approximately even too (ie. a Harry Potter RP might ask for even ratios between genders and between houses).


I think it invites more thought and more interesting characters when it's encoarged for the ratio between genders to be approximately equal.


I just wish people included nonbinary genders in these ratios more often ( )

 

[Kyubey]

So I have seen this issue come up in virtually every roleplay I've ever had. The age old - we must have an equal number of girls and boys in our roleplay.
Now I'm not talking only in groups or roleplays specifically about pairings either - like arranged roleplays or whatever.


I mean in literally every roleplay where it is conceivably possible within the plot for their to be two genders they must always be even.

Gender ratios exist to force what is presumed to be the ultimate secret point of roleplays: straight romance!


Diversity? Pssshhh. If people cared about diversity, they'd have racial ratios, not gender ones.

 

[Lil Shirou]

Honestly prefer more female roles to males. I often play a soft female role most time and to be honest I also play male roles as a protector type. Males often dont feel the same kind of way as do with other male as they do girls.

 

[Jaye]

Honestly prefer more female roles to males. I often play a soft female role most time to be honest I also play male roles as a protector type. Males often dont feel the same kind of way to other male roles as they do girls

???? /??? ?? /???? ????


I don't think I'm going to end up understanding but for the sake of attempting knowledge - is there a clearer way you could repeat what you just said?

 

[Lil Shirou]

???? /??? ?? /???? ????
I don't think I'm going to end up understanding but for the sake of attempting knowledge - is there a clearer way you could repeat what you just said?

No because since your so highly educated* rolls eyes* you can figure it out.

 

[Jaye]

No because since your so highly educated* rolls eyes* you can figure it out.

I- what?


Oh geez right no my previous post apparently lost it's meaning when it entered the web.


No I meant I probably won't be able to understand - because every time someone has tried to explain why they prefer playing one gender over any other I didn't understand. But your comment sounded like an interesting angle on the debate that I hadn't heard before. However, I could quite follow your sentence.


I really wasn't insulting you or trying to appear superior. I really do just like learning things.


Is there a chance you might rephrase it for me?

 

[Lil Shirou]

(It how you said it ).


I always been around girls in my life. I play male roles but it always as the protector. To me most characters follow under 5 stigmas. I am going to concentrate on one.


Protector: older brother that watchs siblings. Protects thoughs he feel needs it hero type.


The type is not always best in male on male roles. Cause males like to fight for themselves and earn that role for themselve. Girls typically have a bond I will prefer to do things together or with opposite sex often with males leading the way.


My female roles are normally of the soft hearted type. Highly emotional passionate care giver type aka the one that heals and cares for the other on a emotional.


Higher amount of girls in a rp makes the rp a more emotional and passionate rp. A more male dominate rp means more action and less emotional.


Just my opinion...

 

[call me rae]

Gender ratios exist to force what is presumed to be the ultimate secret point of roleplays: straight romance!
Diversity? Pssshhh. If people cared about diversity, they'd have racial ratios, not gender ones.

Lol. That reply made me giggle.


Also your probably right the gender ratios at least exist because everyone assumes ( either subconsciously or covertly ) that a main driving point in any roleplay is going to be romance. Ironically in all the roleplays where this comes up - you must have the same number of boys and girls - romance never actually does play a role.


Again unless it's an arranged marriage scenario.


So take that with a grain of salt.


- As to diversity - I do try to branch out when I can. Give different ethnicities to my characters. Sometimes it's even kind of fun. Other times I'm entering hour five of the search for my characters face claim and I'm like. Screw it they're going to be white and good lucking because if I have to put in ONE MORE google search my head is going to explode.

 

[Jaye]

(It how you said it ).
I always been around girls in my life. I play male roles but it always as the protector. To me most characters follow under 5 stigmas. I am going to concentrate on one.


Protector: older brother that watchs siblings. Protects thoughs he feel needs it hero type.


The type is not always best in male on male roles. Cause males like to fight for themselves and earn that role for themselve. Girls typically have a bond I will prefer to do things together or with opposite sex often with males leading the way.


My female roles are normally of the soft hearted type. Highly emotional passionate care giver type aka the one that heals and cares for the other on a emotional.


Higher amount of girls in a rp makes the rp a more emotional and passionate rp. A more male dominate rp means more action and less emotional.


Just my opinion...

Uh, I get your point now :3 I still don't understand but I expected that <_<

 

[Dragoneer Irako]

(It how you said it ).
I always been around girls in my life. I play male roles but it always as the protector. To me most characters follow under 5 stigmas. I am going to concentrate on one.


Protector: older brother that watchs siblings. Protects thoughs he feel needs it hero type.


The type is not always best in male on male roles. Cause males like to fight for themselves and earn that role for themselve. Girls typically have a bond I will prefer to do things together or with opposite sex often with males leading the way.


My female roles are normally of the soft hearted type. Highly emotional passionate care giver type aka the one that heals and cares for the other on a emotional.


Higher amount of girls in a rp makes the rp a more emotional and passionate rp. A more male dominate rp means more action and less emotional.


Just my opinion...

Boy, way to enforce gender roles and expectations. "Girls are emotional and less action-oriented! Boys don't have emotions and just like to do things!" Let me just go find an apron so I can go back to making sandwiches in the kitchen.


It's been a while since I ran into gender ratio requirements. There is a positive side in that they might encourage a roleplayer to attempt a different kind of role than they would normally choose and therefore grow as a writer; That's happened to me before and I built my first male character as a result. But otherwise, it's not something that really ought to be worried about by GMs. I like to play with other roleplayers who are actually good writers. If the particular group happens to have a lot of a particular gender, fine. If those players insist on romance, yay for not adhering to hetero norms!

 

[Ursus]

On Topic: I haven't seen this in a long time. Like, years. But I know its out there, generally in romance/marriage/school RPs, or RPs that claim to be something else but are really just a fancy disguise for one of those.

Gender ratios exist to force what is presumed to be the ultimate secret point of roleplays: straight romance!
Diversity? Pssshhh. If people cared about diversity, they'd have racial ratios, not gender ones.

Pretty much all RPs have an unwritten racial ratio. You just haven't been paying attention.


99% of all characters must be either 'White' or 'Japanese'. Bonus points for German, Russian, or any combination of anything I mentioned.

(It how you said it ).
I always been around girls in my life. I play male roles but it always as the protector. To me most characters follow under 5 stigmas. I am going to concentrate on one.


Protector: older brother that watchs siblings. Protects thoughs he feel needs it hero type.


The type is not always best in male on male roles. Cause males like to fight for themselves and earn that role for themselve. Girls typically have a bond I will prefer to do things together or with opposite sex often with males leading the way.

Haha wow. That's a real realistic worldview.

 

[Jaye]

Pretty much all RPs have an unwritten racial ratio. You just haven't been paying attention.
99% of all characters must be either 'White' or 'Japanese'. Bonus points for German, Russian, or any combination of anything I mentioned.

(I think they were referring to a 'Racial Ratio' as in an enforced or implied 50/50 thing like with gender ratios).


Off topic but I actually tend to try and enforce a racial ratio in my RPs. When I run an RP with humans, anyway. Encouraging people to play People of Colour is surprisingly difficult ( O.o )

 

[Lil Shirou]

[QUOTE="Dragoneer Irako]Boy, way to enforce gender roles and expectations. "Girls are emotional and less action-oriented! Boys don't have emotions and just like to do things!" Let me just go find an apron so I can go back to making sandwiches in the kitchen.
It's been a while since I ran into gender ratio requirements. There is a positive side in that they might encourage a roleplayer to attempt a different kind of role than they would normally choose and therefore grow as a writer; That's happened to me before and I built my first male character as a result. But otherwise, it's not something that really ought to be worried about by GMs. I like to play with other roleplayers who are actually good writers. If the particular group happens to have a lot of a particular gender, fine. If those players insist on romance, yay for not adhering to hetero norms!

[/QUOTE]
Geez how about it just how I play my characters. But hey sorry for now on I make murdering female characters to me abandoning what makes female characters great. It is just weird. your welcome to play female role without them though. There a huge list if characters through movies and anime that females are lead action role but still have feminine qualities.