Gender – male in life, male on forums, female in game.
Race – Russian Jew in life, Russian Jew on forums, Ranger–Mage in game.
Male in real life. I tend to play female characters in the MMO which I play, though I don’t try to pose as a female player – that is, anyone who gets to know me in game discovers pretty quickly that there’s a dude pulling the strings of that cute redhead. 
Need an option for “Male in life, but plays both sexes in games.” Lots and lots of characters, about 1/3 of them female.
(And a few aliens that don’t have human sexes at all.)
I voted female/female but most folks think I’m a guy in game.
Didn’t vote since I don’t play any games where I have a choice; computer gaming just isn’t my thing. In real life and the intertoobs I’m a male, old and cantankerous, and US born but of Siberian ancestry. Yakhirghiz if you’re really bored and interested.
Let’s try this in the Game Room.
Same as me.
Why do they think so?
Thanks for sharing – I am a Jew from St Petersburg, Russia.
In Runescape I am a level 99 Ranger and a Mage. I abandoned Tibia in 2007. I abandoned Battleon in 2008.
I’m surprised that there are more men playing as female characters than male characters (according to the poll results so far). What are the reasons for guys doing this?
Since one’s avatar is one’s representation of self in a game (and I’m a dude) I’ve never even considered choosing a female gender.
Male in life, both in games. Although I tend to model my first character after a favorite (female) Everquest character so my initial choice tends to be female and then male on the next play through. I games like City of Heroes (RIP) I was about evenly split between genders.
Do you have to download lots of stuff to play Everquest or City of Heros?
I tend to create a concept in my head and sometimes it’s male and sometimes it’s female. I don’t see my character as a projection or avatar of myself, I see them as a character with whom I’m creating a story independent of who I am in real life.
City of Heroes was shut down so it’s not an option. I don’t know what the total download for Everquest is now since it’s been collecting expansions since 1999. I believe it’s around 30-35ish gigs installed but I’m just spitballing based on the last time I played.
Male in life.
Play the green piece in games.
I play as all sorts of options in games, but in MMOs, I do my best to pick an avatar that will stand out. Since many games are heavy on male avatars, I often pick a female one.
Also, if I’m going to spend hours staring a character on-screen, they might as well be easy on the eyes. 
To the extent that the character matters at all, I’m like Jophiel. This isn’t me projecting myself into another setting, it’s me taking on a role of a fictional character with an identity separate from mine.
Male/Male, but if there’s a female option I always replay as a chickadee for the variety
Male in real life. I tend to play male about 2/3 of the games when there’s a gender option.
Then again, I don’t play in MMO’s, so it really doesn’t matter.
Male in real life, play as either. In games where there are mechanical differences between characters and each has pre-set gender, I play whichever has the mechanics I like (like, in Heroes of the Storm, my favorite hero is Sylvanas, who’s female). In games with a role-playing component, I come up with a character concept, and play whichever gender fits that concept better (more often male, but sometimes female). In games with neither of those, like Diablo 3, I play whichever looks cooler, which is sometimes the male one and sometimes the female one.
This, in large part. If I have to watch my character’s butt for hours on end, why not make it a butt I find cute?
Also, as Jophiel notes, some of my character concepts just work better as female characters.