I love it when designers have pretty okay looking female armor (like maybe a some subtle boob dents and or it’s very very fitted despite being METAL) but the give her a thigh-high boots and leave that oh so precious strip of sexy, sexy leg flesh DIRECTLY where the femoral artery is
Like someone doesn’t even have to slash them she could easily just cut herself on her own armor and fucking die before going into battle someone please stop the nerds jfc
Exactly! We regularly laugh at the ubiquity of exposed thighs in female armor because of that.
Here are some highlights of that costume design trope from our ‘no pants’ tag:
[x]
[x]
[x]
And let’s not forget about the ones which shamelessly display the double standard:
[x]
[x]
[x]
Maybe fictional female warriors lack major blood vessels in their limbs just as often as they lack spines and vital organs in their torsos?
~Ozzie
I love it when designers have pretty okay looking female armor (like maybe a some subtle boob dents and or it’s very very fitted despite being METAL) but the give her a thigh-high boots and leave that oh so precious strip of sexy, sexy leg flesh DIRECTLY where the femoral artery is
Like someone doesn’t even have to slash them she could easily just cut herself on her own armor and fucking die before going into battle someone please stop the nerds jfc
Exactly! We regularly laugh at the ubiquity of exposed thighs in female armor because of that.
Here are some highlights of that costume design trope from our ‘no pants’ tag:
[x]
[x]
[x]
And let’s not forget about the ones which shamelessly display the double standard:
[x]
[x]
[x]
Maybe fictional female warriors lack major blood vessels in their limbs just as often as they lack spines and vital organs in their torsos?
~Ozzie
Concerning my previous ask: I think it’s time we stop beating around the bush and ask the real question that has been looming. What makes a guy sexy to women? What is the “t ‘n’ a” of men? What makes Conan different from Jacob from Twilight?
Well we do have a tag… but okay. (This was the previous ask)
Well, the most obvious differences between Conan and Jacob is that Conan was what his creator, Robert E Howard (who struggled his entire life with the pressures of society and toxic masculinity) not-secretly-at-all yearned to be and Jacob is the Stephanie Meyer’s idea of semi-exotic potential boyfriend. Check out this classic depiction of Conan by Frank Frazetta and try to remember the last time you saw a guy like this on the cover of a romance novel.
What makes guys sexy to women (physically)?
Well, it turns out since women are not a monolith and women don’t get to dictate beauty standards for men there’s no real standard.
Research has shown that men in general overestimate how much muscle women find attractive. They also tend to overestimate the importance and the preferred size of penises. (Seriously guys, don’t send unsolicited dick pics and don’t expect bragging about ridiculous endowment to help you)
Honestly though, the notion that you have to adhere to beauty standards in order to make a character attractive is kind of ridiculous. I mean, butts are sexualized across genders. Feeling comfortable pressed up against someone and kissing them is usually a plus. Looking like they may find you interesting as a person or want to impress you are definite help.
When designing a sexy male character: Leave the books about primary and secondary characteristics alone and forget about what manly men say a man should be like and ask, “What’s she going to like in this guy?”
Nothing is genuinely universally attractive, but at least this way you have a chance that the audience will see the appeal even it’s not for them.
– wincenworks
Gendered power fantasies and costume design | Male characters are not sexualized the same
Concerning my previous ask: I think it’s time we stop beating around the bush and ask the real question that has been looming. What makes a guy sexy to women? What is the “t ‘n’ a” of men? What makes Conan different from Jacob from Twilight?
Well we do have a tag… but okay. (This was the previous ask)
Well, the most obvious differences between Conan and Jacob is that Conan was what his creator, Robert E Howard (who struggled his entire life with the pressures of society and toxic masculinity) not-secretly-at-all yearned to be and Jacob is the Stephanie Meyer’s idea of semi-exotic potential boyfriend. Check out this classic depiction of Conan by Frank Frazetta and try to remember the last time you saw a guy like this on the cover of a romance novel.
What makes guys sexy to women (physically)?
Well, it turns out since women are not a monolith and women don’t get to dictate beauty standards for men there’s no real standard.
Research has shown that men in general overestimate how much muscle women find attractive. They also tend to overestimate the importance and the preferred size of penises. (Seriously guys, don’t send unsolicited dick pics and don’t expect bragging about ridiculous endowment to help you)
Honestly though, the notion that you have to adhere to beauty standards in order to make a character attractive is kind of ridiculous. I mean, butts are sexualized across genders. Feeling comfortable pressed up against someone and kissing them is usually a plus. Looking like they may find you interesting as a person or want to impress you are definite help.
When designing a sexy male character: Leave the books about primary and secondary characteristics alone and forget about what manly men say a man should be like and ask, “What’s she going to like in this guy?”
Nothing is genuinely universally attractive, but at least this way you have a chance that the audience will see the appeal even it’s not for them.
– wincenworks
Gendered power fantasies and costume design | Male characters are not sexualized the same
Gamasutra: Anna Jenelius’s Blog – Armor for Dummies and/or Game Developers
Gamasutra: Anna Jenelius’s Blog – Armor for Dummies and/or Game Developers
A handy armor design 101 for games (but works for other visual media as well). It approaches a lot of tropes we often discuss, like the importance of covering vital body parts or the absurdity of adding boobplates and high heels to female armor.
I especially like how the article handles the double standard in gendered armor silhouettes, a subject we alluded to before a few times, but didn’t have opportunity to talk in depth about. Thus, here’s an excerpt:
Tight armor and layers
Looking at the Demon Hunter (Diablo III, Blizzard Etertainment, 2012) above, you will notice that while her shoulder pads and scarf increase in size with her armor level, her waistline does not. In this case, it looks like she keeps wearing only some sort of leather corset to protect her stomach, while strapping on enough excess metal on the rest of her body to build a spare suit of armor. Honestly, I would have advised her to trade the sexy female silhouette for actual protection. This would mean adding for example a gambeson and maybe also a mail under the harness, which would make her waistline several inches thicker.
[source]
[…] While you would most likely want the layer that looks like leather here to be padded to soften incoming blows, and the harness probably is too tight to actually move around in, it shows quite well how layers are put upon layers in heavy armor. This sadly means that you’ll have to choose between looking like an hourglass and surviving while fighting.
Bolding mine.
Thanks to storiesfromthevoices for directing that link at us!
So yeah, that’s also why we don’t settle on announcing any outfit “good” just because it covers more skin than a bikini. You can’t just paint a skin-hugging suit silver, label it “armor” and call it a day. Armor design doesn’t work like that.
~Ozzie
more on why padding is crucial in armor design | more on armor design | more reference | more resources
Gamasutra: Anna Jenelius’s Blog – Armor for Dummies and/or Game Developers
Gamasutra: Anna Jenelius’s Blog – Armor for Dummies and/or Game Developers
A handy armor design 101 for games (but works for other visual media as well). It approaches a lot of tropes we often discuss, like the importance of covering vital body parts or the absurdity of adding boobplates and high heels to female armor.
I especially like how the article handles the double standard in gendered armor silhouettes, a subject we alluded to before a few times, but didn’t have opportunity to talk in depth about. Thus, here’s an excerpt:
Tight armor and layers
Looking at the Demon Hunter (Diablo III, Blizzard Etertainment, 2012) above, you will notice that while her shoulder pads and scarf increase in size with her armor level, her waistline does not. In this case, it looks like she keeps wearing only some sort of leather corset to protect her stomach, while strapping on enough excess metal on the rest of her body to build a spare suit of armor. Honestly, I would have advised her to trade the sexy female silhouette for actual protection. This would mean adding for example a gambeson and maybe also a mail under the harness, which would make her waistline several inches thicker.
[source]
[…] While you would most likely want the layer that looks like leather here to be padded to soften incoming blows, and the harness probably is too tight to actually move around in, it shows quite well how layers are put upon layers in heavy armor. This sadly means that you’ll have to choose between looking like an hourglass and surviving while fighting.
Bolding mine.
Thanks to storiesfromthevoices for directing that link at us!
So yeah, that’s also why we don’t settle on announcing any outfit “good” just because it covers more skin than a bikini. You can’t just paint a skin-hugging suit silver, label it “armor” and call it a day. Armor design doesn’t work like that.
~Ozzie
more on why padding is crucial in armor design | more on armor design | more reference | more resources
