One of the biggest things I love about Skyrim is the gender equality. You can marry whoever you want and no one gives a flying mammoth. Women can be strong, capable warriors just as much as then men can be.
But in saying that... I have never ever played a female character, except for that one Breton on my Xbox who soon got deleted. I have tried and failed but I don't like the looks of females in Skyrim and I hate thinking up names... I can just do blokes so much better! Which is sad because I'm a girl ._.
So here's the topic for discussion - What do you normally play as? Is it the same as your gender or the opposite? Does gender matter in the end anyway? Thoughts?
I enjoy playing all types of characters and have played all types of characters. I did a lot of acting in high-school and even a little more recently for community theater so I really get into Role Playing a character, and I just love getting into that character's skin and living a different life through their eyes.
I tend to enjoy male characters more in Skyrim simply because I feel like it's a waste to not use one of the awesome beards (if you played Oblivion you know why beards are such an important thing). However, one of my favorite characters is a female Argonian werewolf so *shrug*.
It doesn't matter to me. I can make both perfectly fine. It only matters if the character is found righteous enough by Alduin to undertake the quest to defeat him. You know when the game glitches at the beginning of the game where Alduin flies around just roaring. To me and my friend if Alduin doesn't land, you are not worthy to vanquish him. If he does, then that character has to finish the game.
I'm not sure. The Dunmers are my favorite race, so that may be one of the reasons... And I can just get involved with a female character when it's a Dunmer. Why? Who knows...
[EDIT] It may be worth mentioning that if I had to play as a female, and couldn't choose a Dunmer, I'd pick an Orc.
I occasionally play females for mages or assassins, not generally warriors, and the majority of my characters are at least part warrior, just for a bit of realism. I don't have anything really against female characters, I just generally think of my character as male. Males are just biologically built stronger. Though I did once play a female knight named Brienne of Tarth.
I almost always play a female character. I find it a lot easier to relate to the character if the character is female. I find I have more emotional freedom if I'm playing a female character, whereas all my male characters tend to act exactly the same way. Playing as a male just never feels right to me, which is odd, because I am a guy.
I have the same problems that you do as well. I don't like the looks of the guys in Skyrim, and I'm terrible at coming up with male names.
I also find that female characters generally have more cosmetic options that feel right. You can make a beautiful warrior, a hard-ass macho warrior, a sexy seductress, an agile thief, an enigmatic sorceress. I find with male characters, I end up falling into either big macho dude, or elderly scholar, and nothing else feels right. Females also have better hairstyles available, and more useful makeup options. Guys get beards, but that's about it. I also like how most of the armor sets look on female characters better, with a few execptions (Ebony Armor and Telvanni Robes, I'm looking at you...)
My wife always tells me I just didn't play with enough Barbies when I was a kid.