Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Dude Looks like a Lady: Gender Swapping in an Online Game

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Online Worlds: Convergence of the Real and the Virtual

Part of the book series: Human-Computer Interaction Series ((HCIS))

Abstract

After reviewing the literature on online identity construction and developing a set of theory-based hypotheses, this chapter employs a novel combination of survey data and game-generated behavioral logs to examine gender swapping in EverQuest II. Gender swapping is defined as a difference between the gender reported by the player in the survey from the gender of the player’s main character in the game. Motivations for play were measured using Yee’s condensed MMO motivations scale, and behavioral logs supplied four main measures of gender-stereotypical in-game behaviors. Contrary to expectations, gender swapping was less common among female players, and swapping was rather rare in general. Homosexual players were more likely to change their online gender than straight players. Performance and socialization motivations for play did not differ significantly between swappers and nonswappers. Men who play female characters were not more likely to engage in stereotypically female acts than men who play male characters; however, women who played male characters did display a degree of hyper-masculine behavior. Some of these findings suggest that there may be less of the identity exploration or challenging of gender norms than some had expected, but the female population of players may be bimodal, composed of stereotypically female and male-leaning subgroups.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson, W. & Buzzanell, P. (2007). Outcast among outcasts: Gender and leadership in a Mac users group. Women and Language, 30, 32-45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Athenstaedt, U., Haas, E., & Schwab, S. (2004). Gender role self-concept and gender-typed communication behavior in mixed-sex and same-sex dyads. Sex Roles, 50, 37-52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baber, K. M. & Tucker, C. J. (2006). The social roles questionnaire: A new approach to measuring attitudes toward gender. Sex Roles, 54, 459-467.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartini, M. (2006). Gender role flexibility in early adolescence: Developmental change in attitudes, self-perceptions, and behaviors. Sex Roles, 55, 233-245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497-529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bem, S. L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 41, 856-865.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bem, S. L. (1981). Gender Schema Theory: A cognitive account of sex typing. Psychological Review, 88, 354-364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bessiere, K., Seay, A. F., & Kiesler, S. (2007). The ideal Elf: Identity exploration in World of Warcraft. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 10, 530-535.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bohan, J. S. (2002). Sex differences and/in the self: Classic themes, feminist variations, postmodern challenges. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 26, 74-88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosson, J. K., Prewitt-Freilino, J. L., & Taylor, J. N. (2005). Role rigidity: A problem of identity misclassification? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 552-565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosson, J. K., Taylor, J. N., & Prewitt-Freilino, J. L. (2006). Gender role violations and identity misclassification: The roles of audience and actor variables. Sex Roles, 55, 13-24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruckman, A. S. (1993). Gender swapping on the internet. Retrieved October 22, 2008, from http://www.cc.gatech.edu/elc/papers/bruckman/gender-swapping-bruckman.pdf

  • Castells, M. (2004). The power of identity. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook, E. P. (1985). Psychological androgyny. New York: Pergamon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook, E. P. (1990). Gender and psychological distress. Journal of Counseling and Development, 68, 371-375.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deaux, K. (1984). From individual differences to social categories: Analysis of a decade. American Psychologist, 39, 105-116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DiGiuseppe, N. & Nardi, B. A. (2008). Real genders choose fantasy characters: Class choice in World of Warcraft. First Monday 12(5-7), from http://www.firstmonday.org/issue/issue12_5/diguiseppe/index.html

  • Dill, K. E. & Thill, K. P. (2007). Video game characters and the socialization of gender roles: Young people’s perceptions mirror sexist media depictions. Sex Roles, 57, 851-864.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donath, J. (1999). Identity and deception in the virtual community. In M.A. Smith & P. Kollock (Eds.), Communities in cyberspace (pp. 29-59). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donath, J. & Boyd, D. (2004). Public displays of connection. BT Technology Journal, 22, 71-82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eagly, A. H. & Karau, S. J. (1991). Gender and the emergence of leaders: A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality, 60, 685-710.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geis, F. L. (1993). Self-fulfilling prophecies: A social psychological view of gender. In A.E. Beall & R.J. Sternberg (Eds.), The psychology of gender (pp. 9-54). New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gergen, K. J. (1991). The saturated self: Dilemmas of identity in contemporary life. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, J. A. & Briton, N. J. (1993). Gender, nonverbal behavior, and expectations. In P. D. Blanck (Ed.), Interpersonal expectations: Theory, research, and applications (pp. 276-295). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haraway, D. J. (1991). Simians, Cyborgs, and women: The re-invention of nature. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, L. A. & Lynch, A. B. (2005). Social role theory and the perceived gender role orientation of athletes. Sex Roles, 52, 227-236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartmann, T. & Klimmt, C. (2006). Gender and computer games: Exploring females’ dislike. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11, 910-931.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herring, S. C. (1995). Men’s language on the internet. In I. Brock, T. Bull & T. Swann (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2nd Nordic Language and Gender Conference (Nordlyd) (pp. 1-20). Tromso, Norway: University of Tromso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herring, S. C. (2003). Gender and power in on-line communication. In J. Holmes & M. Meyerhoff (Eds.), The handbook of language and gender (pp. 202-228). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hussain, Z. & Griffiths, M. D. (2008). Gender swapping and socializing in cyberspace: An exploratory study. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 11, 47-53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kendall, L. (1998). Meaning and identity in cyberspace: The performance of gender, class, and race online. Symbolic Interaction, 21, 129-153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kendall, L. (2002). Hanging out in the virtual pub: Masculinities and relationships online. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimmel, M. S. (2000). The gendered society. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Korabik, K. & McCreary, D. R. (2000). Testing a model of socially desirable and undesirable gender-role attributes. Sex Roles, 43, 665-685.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, T. (2006). A ‘Demented Work Ethic’ and a ‘Lifestyle Firm’: Discourse, identity, and workplace time commitments. Organization Studies, 27, 1339-1358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, E.-J. (2007). Effects of gendered language on gender stereotyping in computer-mediated communication: The moderating role of depersonalization and gender-role orientation. Human Communication Research, 33, 515-535.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, K. & Sherry, J. L. (2004). Sex differences in video game play: A communication-based explanation. Communication Research, 31, 499-523.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahalik, J. R. (2000). Men’s gender role conflict as predictors of self-ratings on the interpersonal circle. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19, 276-292.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCreary, D. R. (1994). The male role and avoiding femininity. Sex Roles, 31, 517-531.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McQuivey, J. (2001). The digital locker room: The young, white male as center of the video gaming universe. In E.T.L. Aldoory (Ed.), The gender challenge to media: Diverse voices from the field (pp. 183-214). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mintz, L. B. & O’Neil, J. M. (1990). Gender roles, sex, and the process of psychotherapy: Many questions and few answers. Journal of Counseling and Development, 68, 381-387.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, P. (1994). Gender differences in pupils’ reactions to practical work. In R. Levinson (Ed.), Teaching science. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nakamura, L. (2001). Race in/for cyberspace: Identity tourism and racial passing on the internet. In D. Trend (Ed.), Reading digital culture (pp. 226-235). Malden, MA: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Neil, J. M. (1981). Patterns of gender role conflict and strain: Sexism and fear of femininity in men’s lives. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 60, 203-210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perry, R. & Greber, L. (1990). Women and computers: An introduction. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 16, 74-101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plant, S. (2000). On the matrix: Cyberfeminist simulations. In G. Kirkup, L. Janes, K. Woodward, & F. Hovenden (Eds.), The gendered cyborg: A reader (pp. 265-275). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reinecke, L., Trepte, S., & Behr, K.-M. (2007). Why girls play: Results of a qualitative interview study with female video game players. Hamburger Forschungsberichte zur Sozialpsychologie 77 [Hamburg Research Reports on Social Psychology No. 77]. Hamburg, Germany: University of Hamburg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rheingold, H. (2000). The virtual community. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, L. D. & Parks, M. R. (1999). The social geography of gender-switching in virtual environments on the internet. Information, Communication and Society, 2, 521-540.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rojahn, K. & Willemsen, T. M. (1994). The evaluation of effectiveness and likability of gender-role congruent and gender-role incongruent leaders. Sex Roles, 30, 109-119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruble, D. N. & Martin, C. L. (1998). Gender development. In W. Damon (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology (pp. 933-1016). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scharrer, E. (2004). Virtual violence: Gender and aggression in video game advertisements. Mass Communication and Society, 7, 393-412.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shade, L. R. (2003). Review essay: Gender and the internet. Canadian Journal of Communication, 28, 359-364.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sirin, S. R., McCreary, D. R., & Mahalik, J. R. (2004). Differential reactions to men and women’s gender role transgressions: Perceptions of social status, sexual orientation, and value dissimilarity. Journal of Men’s Studies, 12, 119-132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skitka, L. J. & Maslach, C. (1996). Gender as schematic category: A role construct approach. Social Behavior and Personality, 24, 53-74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slouka, M. (1995). War of the worlds: Cyberspace and the high-tech assault on reality. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spence, J. T. & Helmreich, R. L. (1978). Masculinity & femininity: Their psychological dimensions, correlates, and antecedents. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stone, A. R. (1995). The war of desire and technology at the close of the Mechanical Age. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turkle, S. (1995). Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the internet. New York: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, R. H. (1990). Role change. Annual Review of Sociology, 16, 87-110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valkenburg, P. & Peter, J. (2008). Adolescents’ identity experiments on the internet. Communication Research, 35, 208-231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Gelder, L. (1991). The strange case of the electronic lover. In C. Dunlop & R. Kling (Eds.), Computerization and controversy: Value conflicts and social choices (pp. 364-375). Boston, MA: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walther, J. B. (1996). Computer-mediated communication: Impersonal, interpersonal, and hyperpersonal interaction. Communication Research, 23, 1-43.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Walther, J. B., Loh, T., & Granka, L. (2005). Let me count the ways: The interchange of verbal and nonverbal cues in computer-mediated and face-to-face affinity. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 24, 36-65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, P. (2008). MMOGData: Charts, from (http://mmogdata.voig.com/).

  • Williams, D., Yee, N., & Caplan, S. (2008). Who plays, how much, and why? A behavioral player census of a virtual world. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 13, 993-1018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, D., Consalvo, M., Caplan, S., & Yee, N. (in press). Looking for Gender (LFG): Gender roles and behaviors among online gamers. Journal of Communication 733-758.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, W. & Eagly, A. H. (2002). A cross-cultural analysis of the behavior of women and men: Implications for the origins of sex differences. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 699-727.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yee, N. (2007). Motivations of play in online games. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 9, 772-775.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zinman, A. & Donath, J. (2007). Is Britney Spears spam? In CEAS 2007 - Fourth Conference on email and anti-spam (vol. 7), Mountain View, CA.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (Grant #IIS 07-29505) and the Army Research Institute (Grant #PROJ0001029).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication, 734 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA

    Searle Huh & Dmitri Williams

Authors
  1. Searle Huh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dmitri Williams
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Searle Huh .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Div. Information & Intelligent, National Science Foundation, Wilson Blvd. 4201, Arlington, 22230, U.S.A.

    William Sims Bainbridge

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2010 Springer-Verlag London Limited

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Huh, S., Williams, D. (2010). Dude Looks like a Lady: Gender Swapping in an Online Game. In: Bainbridge, W. (eds) Online Worlds: Convergence of the Real and the Virtual. Human-Computer Interaction Series. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-825-4_13

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-825-4_13

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-84882-824-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-84882-825-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics