Tag: agency

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Rule: When analyzing or critiquing media, you can not defend a problematic aspect of media by saying that a character CHOSE to do it, and that people are allowed to CHOSE to do things.

fandomsandfeminism:

Because fictional characters do not have the capacity to make choices. Because they are not REAL people. 

Power Girl and Starfire did not CHOOSE to fight evil in skimpy, revealing outfits. It is not their PERSONAL CHOICE to wear those clothes. They are fictional characters and their wardrobes are under the control of the author and artist.

Dumbledore did not CHOOSE to stay in the closet as a personal and professional choice because that was his right as a person. He is a fictional character. The fact that his sexuality was left at only vague subtext and only revealed through word of god was a deliberate decision made by the author.

Fictional characters are fictional characters. They do not make their own choices.

Addendum to the rule: for the same reasons, you can not argue that criticism “shames” a character for their appearance or behavior.

And just for the record, seeing what kind of responses this post received before we got to reblog it: NO, the fact that fictional characters tend to grow and take a life of their own still does not mean they have agency.

No matter how developed a fictional person is, they’re still written by a real person (or people) who have their own biases and rationalizations. Just because some “choices” feel natural to the author doesn’t mean they’re objectively plausible “choices” for a character to make within the given narrative.

Sometimes the choice, like (in case of what our blog critiques) decision to wear a sexualized costume to battle, can be explained by specific circumstances. But in most circumstances or with other explanations, the same choice can be plain silly and inconsistent with the rest of established story/worldbuilding.

~Ozzie

more about character agency on BABD

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So if you want to wear some sculpted armor to the Ren Faire because you feel fabulous-looking in it, go forth and have fun! But if you’re drawing lady soldiers, or creating female characters who are depicted as actual warriors, please err on the side of reality when designing their armor. Science says your boob plates are killing the women you hoped they would protect. And none of us want that.

It’s Time to Retire “Boob Plate” Armor. Because It Would Kill You. (via bikiniarmorbattledamage)

I dedicate this quote to everyone who wants to put cosplayers (and/or LARPers) under our scrutiny, as if real people could be judged in the same way as fictional characters are.

~Ozzie

more cosplay on BABD | more about agency on BABD

Posted on

So if you want to wear some sculpted armor to the Ren Faire because you feel fabulous-looking in it, go forth and have fun! But if you’re drawing lady soldiers, or creating female characters who are depicted as actual warriors, please err on the side of reality when designing their armor. Science says your boob plates are killing the women you hoped they would protect. And none of us want that.

It’s Time to Retire “Boob Plate” Armor. Because It Would Kill You. (via bikiniarmorbattledamage)

I dedicate this quote to everyone who wants to put cosplayers (and/or LARPers) under our scrutiny, as if real people could be judged in the same way as fictional characters are.

~Ozzie

more cosplay on BABD | more about agency on BABD

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Mortal Kombat is renown for it’s gorey fatalities and also for the snarky responses to criticisms of said fatalities:

image

However I can’t help but notice they can’t find but the standard issue rhetoric and cop outs to address criticisms of their female character costumes.

(Unsurprisingly, the source trailer is full of violence, gore, cruelty and all the other hallmarks of the franchise, view discretion advised).

– wincenworks

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jerving-deactivated20181204:

Just out of curiosity, what is your opinion of female cosplayers that perpetuate the horribly designed costumes prevalent in comic books and video games? Now that I’ve been enlightened by your blog (thank you, btw), I cringe any time I see cosplayers that wear costumes that display the problems you discuss. I can appreciate the effort and craftsmanship that goes into their costumes, but I wonder if they think about the bigger issue.

Our opinion is that cosplayers are people with their own agency, acting on their initiative and (hopefully) not putting themselves hence they’re entitled to dress as sexy as they like.

If the choices of cosplayers heavily influenced studios then Harley Quinn would still wear her full body outfit and mainstream media would have a lot greater diversity in character race (eg cosplayingwhileblack ), body types (eg chubby-cosplay ) and gender expression.

Women who cosplay already have to deal with the Fake Geek Girl Myth, explain that Cosplay is NOT Consent and receive unsolicited criticism for not meeting society’s unrealistic beauty standards (even the ones who are also professional models).  Women who cosplay in some outfits display superhuman costume construction skills and spectacular personal confidence. We nothing but sincere respect for the effort and courage it takes to wear many a bingo breaking costume to a convention.

Women in sexy cosplay don’t decide that the media will focus almost exclusively on conventionally attractive women when talking about cosplay. Women in sexy cosplay don’t sit in on design meetings and write notes on concept art with a red marker. Researchers don’t create focus groups of sexy cosplayers to test marketing ideas. Having sexy cosplayer booth babes doesn’t guarantee sales or even a memorable product.

The problem isn’t even that sexy female characters exist (let alone that some people want to cosplay them). There actually are potentially good reasons for the sexy outfits.  The problem is that modern media has standardized making female characters sexy to the extent it’s assumed to be a top priority.

More important than telling the story.  More important than making the character interesting and unique.  More important than expanding your audience outside of straight white cis men. More important than making the character human or relate-able.

This mentality is upheld by myths such as sex sells, only boys play video games and that focus groups of straight white men can reflect everyone’s opinions.

The decisions are made by executives, marketers, creative directors and occasional auteurs who make these decisions on behalf of businesses that need to sell millions of units to stay in business.  They’re re-enforced by media about fantasy art and loud groups who are dedicated to halting all progress.  

Sexy cosplay ladies are not a big enough demographic to keep a AAA title in business and they’re generally not respected by society – they have no more say in what goes in mainstream media than slash fiction writers, furries, let’s players or anyone else who has a hobby related to popular culture.

– wincenworks 

more about cosplay on BABD