No, but guys, picture this:
A retelling of Wonder Woman’s origin story…
…Where the reason she’s got the Bikini of Power is that the Amazons sent her out into the modern day to ‘fit in’, but they looked at pop culture and our media first and just assumed ‘really unrealistic bikini armours’ are just how our female soldiers dress.
And when Wonder Woman finds out it’s not, she goes and finds herself some pants.
…I think I’m going to write this at some point.
Now THAT is a sensible excuse to have Wonder Woman wear something as ridiculous as she usually does! Also it reminds me of her old origin story where basically it was decided she’d wear USA’s colors, so that she’ll be a better ambassador to the outside world.
I’d totally read that take on the character.
~Ozzie
No, but guys, picture this:
A retelling of Wonder Woman’s origin story…
…Where the reason she’s got the Bikini of Power is that the Amazons sent her out into the modern day to ‘fit in’, but they looked at pop culture and our media first and just assumed ‘really unrealistic bikini armours’ are just how our female soldiers dress.
And when Wonder Woman finds out it’s not, she goes and finds herself some pants.
…I think I’m going to write this at some point.
Now THAT is a sensible excuse to have Wonder Woman wear something as ridiculous as she usually does! Also it reminds me of her old origin story where basically it was decided she’d wear USA’s colors, so that she’ll be a better ambassador to the outside world.
I’d totally read that take on the character.
~Ozzie
Am I the only one who’s getting sick of the excuse of “That’s how the artists want to draw, so stop telling them what to do!” excuse when it comes to terrible bikini battle armour? It’s like these people expect all designs to be nothing down to personal preference, and yet never think about the bigger picture of just how many male artists are part of our culture that influence these decisions? Seriously, it’s a poor execuse and I’m sick of hearing ut.
We’re definitely with you there, friend! That’s why there’s the “art shouldn’t be censored!” rhetoric bingo square: cause “creative freedom” should not be a Get Out of Jail Free card of character design.
As femfreq puts it:
Yup, it’s all about the big picture of our media, not individual examples. Crying “artistic freedom” (or “stylization”, for that matter) to justify questionable design ignores seeking for the reason artist decided to make such choices.
Publishing this ask cause those points need to be iterated more.
~Ozzie
The other important thing that people should remember is that commercial art (such as covers, character designs, 3d models in games, etc) is not intended to be a purely artistic experience – it’s a product for consumption.
Artists will have to follow briefs that tell them kind of mood to give the work, what characters to put in it, what themes to put in – unlikely that an art director adding “Don’t put the female characters in ridiculous and hyper-sexualized costumes” would somehow break a professional artist’s will to create.
– wincenworks
Bringing this back as a reminder that people behind commercial art and design do not create in a vacuum, or due to personal, purely artistic, reasons, but for business.
And they should be held accountable for how their artwork, meant for a broad consumer base, contributes to the culture as a whole. What messages, intentionally or not, are sent along with it.
Especially if it regurgitates horrible attitudes like “sex sells”, double standards, or racial and/or cultural insensitivity.
~Ozzie
Am I the only one who’s getting sick of the excuse of “That’s how the artists want to draw, so stop telling them what to do!” excuse when it comes to terrible bikini battle armour? It’s like these people expect all designs to be nothing down to personal preference, and yet never think about the bigger picture of just how many male artists are part of our culture that influence these decisions? Seriously, it’s a poor execuse and I’m sick of hearing ut.
We’re definitely with you there, friend! That’s why there’s the “art shouldn’t be censored!” rhetoric bingo square: cause “creative freedom” should not be a Get Out of Jail Free card of character design.
As femfreq puts it:
Yup, it’s all about the big picture of our media, not individual examples. Crying “artistic freedom” (or “stylization”, for that matter) to justify questionable design ignores seeking for the reason artist decided to make such choices.
Publishing this ask cause those points need to be iterated more.
~Ozzie
The other important thing that people should remember is that commercial art (such as covers, character designs, 3d models in games, etc) is not intended to be a purely artistic experience – it’s a product for consumption.
Artists will have to follow briefs that tell them kind of mood to give the work, what characters to put in it, what themes to put in – unlikely that an art director adding “Don’t put the female characters in ridiculous and hyper-sexualized costumes” would somehow break a professional artist’s will to create.
– wincenworks
Bringing this back as a reminder that people behind commercial art and design do not create in a vacuum, or due to personal, purely artistic, reasons, but for business.
And they should be held accountable for how their artwork, meant for a broad consumer base, contributes to the culture as a whole. What messages, intentionally or not, are sent along with it.
Especially if it regurgitates horrible attitudes like “sex sells”, double standards, or racial and/or cultural insensitivity.
~Ozzie
Trends that should stop: having “evil” versions of female characters wear more revealing clothes and act more sexually aggressive than the “good” version, because that demonizes women’s sexuality and ties it to having lower morals and it’s just generally a shitty gross trope
Agreed so much!
The “evil is sexy” trope is as bad, if not worse, excuse for sexualization of female characters in media as any other rhetoric we address regularly. It (sometimes literally) demonizes female sexuality, on top of objectification that is already there. Sending the gross message that women can look and act sexual on their own accord, but they’re far likelier to do that if they’re wicked.
Which, of course, is most obvious either when a good character becomes corrupted and gains more seductive attitude while her outfit all of sudden looses a couple square feet of fabric…
…or when there’s an evil equivalent to a good character/class/race, and that equivalent is designed as significantly more sexualized. [x]
~Ozzie
see also: “Sex-positive” women in gaming (or lack thereof) | Cia | Regime Wonder Woman | Bladestorm’s Joan of Arc | evil Sue Storm (Malice)
edit: My apologies for not also highlighting the even more reprehensible trend of using darker skin to signal evil – because there’s apparently still not quite enough racism in the world.
Trends that should stop: having “evil” versions of female characters wear more revealing clothes and act more sexually aggressive than the “good” version, because that demonizes women’s sexuality and ties it to having lower morals and it’s just generally a shitty gross trope
Agreed so much!
The “evil is sexy” trope is as bad, if not worse, excuse for sexualization of female characters in media as any other rhetoric we address regularly. It (sometimes literally) demonizes female sexuality, on top of objectification that is already there. Sending the gross message that women can look and act sexual on their own accord, but they’re far likelier to do that if they’re wicked.
Which, of course, is most obvious either when a good character becomes corrupted and gains more seductive attitude while her outfit all of sudden looses a couple square feet of fabric…
…or when there’s an evil equivalent to a good character/class/race, and that equivalent is designed as significantly more sexualized. [x]
~Ozzie
see also: “Sex-positive” women in gaming (or lack thereof) | Cia | Regime Wonder Woman | Bladestorm’s Joan of Arc | evil Sue Storm (Malice)
edit: My apologies for not also highlighting the even more reprehensible trend of using darker skin to signal evil – because there’s apparently still not quite enough racism in the world.
@lilianhalcombe submitted:
Commentary on female boobplate from Australian TV Show “The Feed”
A fantastic summary that makes me proud to be an Aussie.
Though I disagree with their conclusion on where all the ridiculous female armor needs to go – that’s pollution and I’m terrified of the prospect of video games where the enemies are sharks and squids with boobplates.
– wincenworks
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)