I spoke to David, who is role-playing as a female. His character is a cadet at the local police
force in the virtual city of Los Santos. He has been playing for around two months. We spoke
about gender and identity.

He did not choose to be a female character for a specific reason. He fancied the change
since he has been a male character on other games for a long time. Females can do anything
and gender does not matter said David.

During his time as a female police cadet, he experienced gender stereotypes. Men said
things such as “ew, why is this female a cop? There shouldn’t be female cops”. This behavior
revealed a gender gap and showed some men were stereotyping females, thinking they can
only do 'feminime jobs’. David felt disgusted after this incident and stated it was “just stupid”.

Transcript

Disclaimer

The transcription of the interviews published on the analysis page are the exact words, tone and language used by the participants during the interview. It is posted as an aid to understanding the proceedings of the research, but should not be treated as an authoritative record. Their word choices and grammar are an exact extraction from the interview and not my own interpretation.

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Can you tell me a bit about your character?
Well, what's.. what's to say. She works hard for her money. She's not the wealthiest person on the planet. She loves her cars.

And you are police, officer?
I'm a cadet, but hopefully to become a police officer some day.

When did you arrive to the city (server, game)?
To the city? About 2 months ago.

And is there a particular reason you chose to be a female character?
No.. No, I just fancy the change.

So you have been a male for quite some time now?
Yes. On online games.

Do you have the impression that you can do things as a female which you can't do as a male?
I mean, females can do anything. This gender doesn't matter, does it?

Did you ever experience some hate or.. inappropriate reactions regarding your appearance?
Well... Regarding my appearance and gender who's being a police officer, yeah, yeah I have.

Can you share something about that?
I don't remember exactly what they said, but they said something along the lines of: "ew, why is this girl a cop?" There shouldn't be female cops. It's just stupid.

How does that feel for you?
Bit disgusted.

Maybe you experienced some advantages of it or maybe negative aspect of it?
There's noth.. there's nothing like, advantage or disadvantage of being a different gender. Do I want to be a female? No, I'm happier how I am at the minute.

It must be really weird to experience that people are, I don't know, judging you because of
your appearance?
Hmm. Well, in this city I do happen to have a boyfriend so that's quite weird.