There has been a general disposition in my life toward playing female characters when given the opportunity, though it wasn't one I had been exercising too frequently in the course of being in a relationship with Pie. Something about being in a male/female dynamic with her always seemed appealing and it was really fun to have that sort of mirror of our relationship in game as we played together. Over the course of the last 3 years or so though, I had started to lean back into predominantly playing female characters as playing guys became less and less appealing for a variety of reasons.

It's very interesting to take on the opposite gender as you can gain perspective and play around in the shift in social dynamics that come with it. Even when it is often assumed that female avatars are simply men, it is still rather likely that you can experience the nuanced differences in regard to how you are treated and perhaps how expressive you may be. It provides you a space to play around with your expression and see and think about how it feels in the opposite role; fertile ground for role playing spaces! I always believed that it helped me be more empathetic with women and think about some of the issues involving objectification, sexualization and stereotyping (among others) that can seem both puzzling and troubling.

Being a very social person by nature, playing female avatars lended itself well to my proclivity to develop social connections with my guildmates. Additionally, it provided a space where I could break from stereotypes of what I thought a man should be that I knew didn't resonate with me. I had found this perspective piece really interesting, and highly suggest you read it!