I dedicate this reblog to anyone who thinks that we object to women showing some skin by principle… No, wedon’t. Just as we do not think covering everything up is a universal solution to the problem sexist costume designs.
The way a character is framed (visually and story-wise) makes a world of difference between just having a questionable costume and being outright objectified.
And as much as bikinis, bathing suits, cheerleader outfits etc. remain a silly wardrobe choice for an on-duty warrior/crimefighter, above here we have small sample of evidence that pants or full-body suits can actually lookworse.
Putting a female hero in pants does not mean she is somehow protected from an artist positioning her primarily for the male gaze. For example, Marvel Comics recently began a new ongoing called Fearless Defenders which stars Valkyrie and Misty Knight. Both of these characters wear pants and, yet, I lost count by about page five of how many times Misty’s ass took center stage in any given panel. Basically, where there’s a male gaze will, there’s a male gaze way — pants or no pants, tights or bared legs.
speaking of tharja/rhajat and how they’re being handled in fe:h?? uh…
i’ll leave it to you guys
Thank you, I think. I don’t know what I was expecting from Fire Emblem Heroes, but it was a little better than… whatever this is. I mean, Christmas is the perfect time to wear your fur-lined bikini! A person who grew up in a desert country will totally not freeze her butt off in that!
I don’t know about you guys, but I prefer characters to stay in-character even through holiday events. Especially with a grouchy, anti-social character like Tharja, there’s so much comedy potential! Like, if she was instead forced into a cheap reindeer onesie, so she would just be sulking, trying to hide her shame in the hoodie.
[Pictured: Tharja regretting some life choices]
But of course, that would require that they don’t just use her as a pinup, and we can’t have that.
She doesnt really wear armor, but i wanted to show this to you anyway: Final Fantasy’s embodiment of entropy, the Cloud of Darkness. She’s supposed to be a god-level creature of destruction, who for no reason looks like a human being.
For no reason indeed! Yikesaroonie. From the wiki:
Though the Cloud of Darkness universally takes on a feminine form, it is officially considered a genderless being that merely chooses to appear as such.
(And yes, the entire wiki page uses “it” to refer to this being.) I guess an almost-naked woman dressed in unexplainable blobs of coverings is scarier than just an evil cloud or something, especially when their original appearance in Final Fantasy III looked like this:
This was the final boss, by the by. Much scare.
-Icy
Hey, but it’s aaall okaaay, because they are a powerful genderless being who only chooses to look like a generically sexy woman in absurdly impossible “clothing”! Their appearance doesn’t have to make sense as long as they possess magic and will to be like that.
Yup. Makes total sense to me. Don’t look at that nosebleed I’m getting from cognitive dissonance brain strain! Just accept that this is what a sentient evil cloud of entropy would look like, okay?! *passes out*
~Ozzie
Posted on
It really seems like Legend of the Cryptids is trying to one-up its own stupid designs. This card is apparently called “The Lone Warrior Woman,” though I would rename it to “The Soon-to-be-Dead Warrior Woman.” I mean, all those straps on her stomach are basically a giant arrow pointing at her exposed vital organs. At least there’s more than 2 colors…? Also, looking at her walking in that wind is making me really cold. At least her advanced card takes place around some nice warm fire or something.
It’s really amazing how much more armor her arms receive in the upgrade, but her bra somehow gets even smaller. Never change, Applibot.
Why is Symmetra sexualized even as a dragon, though? That skin really could do without reptilianboobs. They even made her dragon feet super strange-looking, because she always needs to be in high heels!
Also, why none of the characters released since last year get a spooky costume? It’s not like Orisa, Doomfist and Sombra are any less likely to celebrate Halloween than any other OW hero coming from a culture that doesn’t care about this holiday. And, most of all, where are the sexy maleOverwatch costumes? Do we always have to rely on fan-made content to provide that?
~Ozzie
*Unfortunately, as per usual, old skins are available again.
As a child of the 80s I am somewhat confused about why Zarya’s “Totally 80s” outfit is horror themed… I mean… they weren’t that bad. The fashion was that bad, but I don’t see how it counts as horror.
Also, Blizzard seems to really want to double down on new skins for Symmetra that maximize the panty flash… even if she’s a dragon monster.
So I’ve been liking my mesmer character, figured this should be one of the two I spend my level 80 character boosts on. Those boosts come with a trial period where you get all the top-level abilities unlocked and can run around a specific area of the game to make sure you want to use this boost before you commit. It also gives you upgraded armor. And locks out your ability to spend transmutation points to change its appearance. And locks away your old gear so you can’t put it back on, even at a significant stat disadvantage. Meaning that upon deciding to try out this boost (which I could only get by pre-ordering their expansion packs or by spending lots of in-game time/real-world money to buy on their gem store), I am very suddenly, unexpectedly, and irreversibly naked. Yes, I’m saying naked, because I can see her fucking crotch.
This game falls squarely within the genre of MMORPG – massively multiplayer online role-playing game. No, I don’t fully ‘role-play’ this character like some people enjoy. But this type of game generally holds the expectation that the player puts fairly significant investment into character creation and advancement. That’s the point of the genre. After playing this game for years, I tend to make characters that reflect some aspect of myself – in this case, (if the hair didn’t clue you in), my queerness. I directed my feelings about my identity, about pride and resilience and sometimes having to redirect attention, into this character and how she looks and how she plays. It’s a game, yes, but it’s also a fun escape that I’ve poured hours into around grad school and a family that I can’t come out to yet. It still means something. So to have that character’s appearance be suddenly taken out of my control, in a way that left her fucking *naked*. Is appalling. And uncomfortable, and sick, and makes me want to scream. Especially in such a clearly objectifying way that even added tattoos that point at her crotch for good measure.
GW2 certainly doesn’t have a perfect history with this kind of stuff, most notably because their starting light armor for their humanoid female characters includes a short skirt and garter belt. But that’s pretty easy to get rid of quickly, and not still not as bad as this. Otherwise, this kind of ‘armor’ tends to be one option among many, there for those that want it and easily passed by for those who don’t. Which is how it should be. But this shit. This isn’t okay.
Guild Wars 2′s track record regarding female designs is, in the most generous words, flawed. And wow, this situation is the textbook example of everything wrong with the skimpy high level trope. The game gave you an opportunity to test all the high-tier gear… by locking the character in probably the most objectifying costume possible. How charming!
Also nice commentary on the fact that MMORPGs are the game genre where players put a lot of investment into their characters. And how making top tier armors like this directly contradicts the appeal of character customization.
Hope you still can decide not to commit to this boost.
The three lucky ladies are Jaina, Zagara and Sonya (from left to right):
(Though, don’t be fooled by that awesome concept art of Sonya, her in-game model is of smaller frame and has no defined muscles.)
So let’s take these in order, shall we?
Jaina is an ice wizard (basically) whose regular outfit just looks really stupid, besides not making any sense. Her demon skin replaces her 70s pants with booty shorts, and while she does gain “armor,” it’s in the laziest possible way. [x]
Her design brings to mind the Draenor, rather than demons. It’s so generic, I don’t even have anything to say… And what’s with the colors?
As for Zagara, you may notice that she is not even a person. She’s the “Broodmother of the Swarm,” an “ant queen” type of creature; she doesn’t even have a face, despite that strange exoskeleton boobplate. The maw in the front of her bug abdomen spews various things in combat. So of course her demon skin makes her Hot Bug Lady. [x]
I mean, we know she has weird bug arms and huge bubbling pustules on her insect-like abdomen, but look at those titties! This is the second Zagara skin that gives her a sexy face, but why include her in this particular promotion at all, for the release of a lich character from WoW? Do they think their zerg-birthing monster needs more sexy lady skins to even out the fact that she’s a bug? ಠ_ಠ
Finally, we have Sonya, the lady barbarian from Diablo III. Her demon skin still reveals about as much as her regular, although for some reason she has platform shoes now? This is called the Death Knight. Much spooky. [x]
Also, the design screams “we didn’t know how to make her demonic.” There is a skull on every piece of armor she’s wearing, and her weapons! This is even more baffling when you realize that this skin came out concurrently with the Deathbringer skin:
It’s the exact same skin (save for the weapons), except no spooky scary helmet, and actual padding under her armor… so why?? Why did they take the padding away from the Death Knight skin? I thought they were just doing the typical fantasy barbarian thing, where they sort of wear kind-of clothes, but apparently not!
Ah, one of our favoriterepeat offenders… Seriously, though, what am I even looking at?? Is this a Red Bull ad?
So I looked up this character and the wiki page had this to say:
Only the most elite knights of the continent of Hiquba are permitted to join the Starka Temple Knights. It is considered the highest honor to join their ranks… At the grand induction ceremony in their hallowed temple, their captain Fortunata looks on forlornly. Her heart grieves at the thought of how few will live to see the end of the next war.
I have a few questions: If these soldiers are the most elite, why will so many of them die? How do they replenish their ranks? Why does the captain worry about her fully-armored soldiers dying, and not herself, who appears to be wearing a Victora’s Secret armor lingerie? Did her left foot step into a wormhole, and is that why it’s disappeared? …What’s with the cherubs…??
Her evolved armor looks a lot better, though she still forgot her pants at home, and I don’t even want to theorize on what’s happening with her breasts…
But with the improved armor comes a worse lore entry:
Fortunata leads her fresh recruits to subjugate the ogre demonic brutes that have crossed into their borders. The unfortunate young soldiers, lacking in the strict training characteristics of the Starka Temple Knights, serve as little more than human shields. Despite this handicap, Fortunata exhibits superb technique and strength, slaying the horde with ease. She is more than willing to prove how she earned her lofty position.
What???? This lady is awful at her job, how has she not been fired? Or jailed?? She’s just leading fresh recruits to die to demons when she supposedly has an army of professionals! Is this an insurance scam? Why is she leading recruits when she’s supposed to be commanding the elites? No wonder that cherub is glaring at her!
