The hilarious front line in the tragic war against ridiculous female armor
Today’s throwback: the Fighting Girl Clothes video which I reblogged from eschergirls at the very beginning of BABD.
A repost instead of a reblog, because the old post hosted its media on (now dead) Blip.
It’s Rooster Teeth’s attempt to do a mock fight in Soul Calibur female character costumes (particularly Ivy and Sophita). The results, of course, are as hilarious as predictable. And censored accordingly.
~Ozzie
Topless dueling?
I know it’s a long text but it’s worth the read!
“The most intriguing duel fought between women, and the sole one that featured exposed breasts, took place in August 1892 in Verduz, the capitol of Liechtenstein, between Princess Pauline Metternich and the Countess Kielmannsegg. It has gone down in history as the first “emancipated duel” because all parties involved, including the principals and their seconds were female… Before the proceedings began, the baroness pointed out that many insignificant injuries in duels often became septic due to strips of clothing being driven into the wound by the point of a sword. To counter this danger she prudently suggested that both parties should fight stripped of any garments above the waist. Certainly, Baroness Lubinska was ahead of her time, taking an even more radical take on the (at the time) widely dismissed theories of British surgeon Joseph Lister, who in 1870 revolutionized surgical procedures with the introduction of antiseptic.
With the precautions Baroness Lubinska recommended, the topless women duelists were less likely to suffer from an infection; indeed, it was a smart idea to fight semiclad. Given the practicality of the baroness’ suggestion and the “emancipated” nature of the duel, it was agreed that the women would disrobe—after all, there would be no men present to ogle them. For the women, the decision to unbutton the tops of their dresses was not sexual; it was simply a way of preventing a duel of first blood from becoming a duel to the death.
…
It is humorous that most recounts of this historic event fail to mention two important things: the winner of the duel (Princess Metternich) and the reason why the women came to arms in the first place—they disagreed over the floral arrangements for an upcoming musical exhibition.”
^ best part of the entire article.
Emphasis mine.
BABD blog usually advocates for covering female warriors as a protective measure, but here’s a proof that taking everything off is not a bad idea either.
Anything, be it full plate armor or full frontal nudity, makes more sense than chafing, pinching, improbably skin-tight METAL BIKINI (or anything of that sort).
I got reminded of this thanks to reader Kanonite, whose comment brought up a helpful quote from TV Tropes page on Full Frontal Assault trope:
Oddly enough there was a good REASON to fight in the nude… Before modern medicine, a majority of deaths from combat were caused by cuts and stab wounds getting infected. Often this was because the weapon forced a scrap of clothing into the wound, where it would fester… If you aren’t wearing any clothing, this can’t happen!
This week’s throwback, one of my favorite and most informative reblogs on BABD: historical evidence that fighting topless against melee weapons is a much better and (relatively speaking) safer idea than insisting on “modest” wear that’s there basically to just cover the nipples.
Can we have our historically accurate bare-chested barbarian ladies already, please?
~Ozzie
Topless dueling?
I know it’s a long text but it’s worth the read!
“The most intriguing duel fought between women, and the sole one that featured exposed breasts, took place in August 1892 in Verduz, the capitol of Liechtenstein, between Princess Pauline Metternich and the Countess Kielmannsegg. It has gone down in history as the first “emancipated duel” because all parties involved, including the principals and their seconds were female… Before the proceedings began, the baroness pointed out that many insignificant injuries in duels often became septic due to strips of clothing being driven into the wound by the point of a sword. To counter this danger she prudently suggested that both parties should fight stripped of any garments above the waist. Certainly, Baroness Lubinska was ahead of her time, taking an even more radical take on the (at the time) widely dismissed theories of British surgeon Joseph Lister, who in 1870 revolutionized surgical procedures with the introduction of antiseptic.
With the precautions Baroness Lubinska recommended, the topless women duelists were less likely to suffer from an infection; indeed, it was a smart idea to fight semiclad. Given the practicality of the baroness’ suggestion and the “emancipated” nature of the duel, it was agreed that the women would disrobe—after all, there would be no men present to ogle them. For the women, the decision to unbutton the tops of their dresses was not sexual; it was simply a way of preventing a duel of first blood from becoming a duel to the death.
…
It is humorous that most recounts of this historic event fail to mention two important things: the winner of the duel (Princess Metternich) and the reason why the women came to arms in the first place—they disagreed over the floral arrangements for an upcoming musical exhibition.”
^ best part of the entire article.
Emphasis mine.
BABD blog usually advocates for covering female warriors as a protective measure, but here’s a proof that taking everything off is not a bad idea either.
Anything, be it full plate armor or full frontal nudity, makes more sense than chafing, pinching, improbably skin-tight METAL BIKINI (or anything of that sort).
I got reminded of this thanks to reader Kanonite, whose comment brought up a helpful quote from TV Tropes page on Full Frontal Assault trope:
Oddly enough there was a good REASON to fight in the nude… Before modern medicine, a majority of deaths from combat were caused by cuts and stab wounds getting infected. Often this was because the weapon forced a scrap of clothing into the wound, where it would fester… If you aren’t wearing any clothing, this can’t happen!
This week’s throwback, one of my favorite and most informative reblogs on BABD: historical evidence that fighting topless against melee weapons is a much better and (relatively speaking) safer idea than insisting on “modest” wear that’s there basically to just cover the nipples.
Can we have our historically accurate bare-chested barbarian ladies already, please?
~Ozzie
replied to your photo
“Wait.. this is from the same game as this!? Dammit creepy marketing…”
I’m confused.. what is bad about this?
And in your other post about this you seemingly mock women/men who do work in Cabaret “I’m sure it’s just a co-incidence that all the others got actual occupations” like what.. are you even saying here.
Femme fatale != cabaret performer. Femme fatale is not an occupation. Femme fatale is a trope based in the fear that every beautiful and flirtatious woman is secretly planning to seduce you so that she can destroy you and take your stuff. It is insulting to cabaret performers and female performers in general to reduce them all down to such a thing.
Cabaret Hostess, Showgirl, Cigarette Girl, Barmaid, Musician, Can-Can Dancer, Stand Up Comedian, Waitress, Lounge Singer, Magician’s Assistant, Stage Kitten, – these are all jobs linked to cabaret that a woman might have. Standing on stage in a sexy outfit while one guy looks on is not any of these jobs or any other job.
Imagine they introduce the quartet like this:
“A beefcake bad boy, smouldering loner, charming show off and a cabaret hostess.”
Also imagine she’s dressed in similarly practical clothes instead of a fragile costume with high heels (x)
Now ask yourself: Why did she have to have a “sexy” job in the first place? Seriously, why can’t she be say? A mechanic like Grace Wagner was?
From the start of the 1920s to the end of the 1940s (The Golden Age of Burlesque) was a really interesting time for changes in roles for women in America and many other nations? Why would you want to only (badly) remember (and misrepresent) the showgirls?
I mean, look at the line up from the franchise that started the four survivors vs zombies games. Look at Zoey (college student and horror movie junkie) and Rochelle (assistant tv producer and Depeche Mode fan):
Video games and media in general need to get out of this habit of making sure they put in at least one “every man” character, then some additional options for men and limit the inclusion of women to “the sexy lady” with no further consideration. There is nothing wrong with sexy ladies or ladies who make a profession out of being sexy – there is a huge problem with creators choosing to represent women only as such regardless of suitability.
– wincenworks