kitcomet: Well, I often play as argonian. And that is not because I am cold-blooded. Or lizard. Or secretly want to.
I am escapist. I need to have enough free "will" in games to realize my character. Although my character is not I but some subset of I. Some realization of I with some changes in personality.
But I can't play Witcher. Witcher is preset character with preset personality. I can't roleplay it. If I play Witcher, Geralt is not my character. Geralt is someone other character. I can't act as I, I have to act as Geralt.
So, although I can probably understood why you feel unsettling by not playing as full yourself, as it is thing of feelings and not rationale, I would never truly understood as you feel. Thats why people have to talk, screw political correctness! We need foremost communicate ideas, feelings and so to understand each other.
Gosh, those people. [/rant]
sorry for short rant... So yeah, these are my feelings. However, from what transgender people said, they said exactly what I said. I have it from them. "Male trapped inside female body" or reversed (although there is somehow similar condition when you feel that arm, leg or so isn't really yours, body dissociation... just poke, for fascist there, THIS DOESN'T MEAN THAT I THINK THAT TRANSGENDER ISSUE IS BODY DISSOCIATION (per se) AND THAT IS SHOULD BE TREATED THE SAME WAY AS BODY DISSOCIATION IS TREATED OR THAT IT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED DISEASE AT ALL -- Iam just poking that there is something that appears similar). So please, don't bash me for that.
On the third gender, I am fully aware and I did not put every realization of third gender under same roof. It is merely counting... one, two, third... However, it is true that many realization of third gender in many societies as representation of connection of male and female aspect and that many (in fact, all of them I heard about) were males. In fact, in some societies, this third gender were eunuchs (that were castrated in young age, before puberty, and thus kept some feminine traits).
Ad popular games: The funny thing is that due to Olympic games, some females were discovered to being males:D (XX vs XY) Anyway, It doesn't affect me what you feel you are. It is your thing. On skyrim, it doesn't affect me.
Promoting: It may affect me. I have the same argument as with Gay Parade. When you don't shove it to others, I don't care. It is your thing and if you are my friend, this thing is not important for friendship. If I am not your friend, that it doesn't matter what I think about you and so it shouldn't matter to you, what I think about you. With Gay parades, I just don't see reason.
But again, I have the same opinion about "Promoting females in ..." whatever. Because I just didn't ... I just wasn't in environment or situation where someone would behave to females... not differently (females are those nice flowers of humanity), but derogatory (for the sake of gender alone, not personality). And when my supervisor (female) said about situation where it did happen, I just couldn't understand why someone did act like that. My coworkers and a most of my colleagues in University were females (we were like 4 boys and 20 girls in class and many other classes were biology classes with a LOT of girls), and I didn't felt that they were treated differently then me (worse then me, better? Yeah, everyone should treat girl like that, hold doors and so...). And I felt comfortable in their presence. So my relationship to that is just I never came to situation where it posed a problem. So I don't see it as a problem.
I wrote too much...