Toad, Toadette, and Gender

[Chris2Balls [:B]]

Right, I think the news is not nearly as political as it was intended by blank. However, it is a starting point for a discussion on gender.
So how do videogames talk about gender, or at least how is it used in videogames?
For my part this makes me think of the way Osamu Tezuka had a set of characters, which he could star in his works - it was his star system, exactly like a star system for real actors. Some characters, like Uran, are androgynous, and she has a tomboyish attitude - marking her out from the "norm."
Anyway, my point is that Nintendo probably work the same way with their characters, which in each game act another character. Prior to the 18th century, men played women in plays (because female actresses were considered prostitutes at the time, and so racked up a pretty bad reputation). More interestingly, the Takarazuka Revue, a Japanese all-female theatre troupe in which women also played male roles as well as female roles, left a strong impression on Tezuka, who was interested in hybrids of all kinds.