We get this kind of question a lot, often in relation to a particular concept or idea the asker has. However, it’s impossible for us to provide a helpful response on a singular concept – simply because we don’t know all the information and frankly don’t have the time to absorb it all then provide a meaningful response.
This weekend there will be a follow up post to this is one with some ideas on how to avoid bikini armor, but for now the main advice I want to offer whenever you have such a dilemma is asking yourself these questions:
How does the outfit serve your character?
How does the outfit serve the story?
How does it fit within the setting? How will others in the setting perceive it?
How would you do it differently if the character was a man?
Most of the pressure that leads to the inclusion of bad female armor comes from the fact that it’s become a social norm. Not that it achieves any purpose or that it’s clever, just that popular media has been doing it since this was the coolest dance move in western cinema:
I think it’s time we allowed ourselves to explore new options beyond bikini armor and its variants.
– wincenworks
It seems the time is right to bring back this concise explanation of what’s actually required for a story to justify bikini armor and what the actual considerations are.
There is pretty much no situation (at least none I’ve seen or thought of) where bikini armor makes sense as a choice for someone expecting serious, dramatic combat – it’s just not what it’s designed for.
– wincenworks
In short – skimpy armors are such a silly idea they require a whole different level of suspension of disbelief than a dramatic/gritty storytelling does. Creators (and fans) should always keep in check if those levels match, and if they don’t – readjust them instead of coming up with excuses
Tangentially related to BABD’s subject matter, but very important point for the gender in gaming discussion.
Just as the association of colors pink and blue with femininity and masculinity, the link between certain game mechanics and gender is a result of completely arbitrary choices made fairly recently, while the mechanics were being developed.
Therefore, marketing different types of games to “opposing” gender demographics does NOT prove that men and women are inherently attracted to different facets of aesthetic or forms entertainment.
~Ozzie
I think this is also worth remembering not just in terms of game mechanics but those assigned to female characters. Limiting female characters to support roles, femme fatales or rewards means that the designs of female characters limited to just those that serve these purposes.
– wincenworks
Predictably, after we published a short post on how Dark Souls 3 knows what is what, there was immediately people insisting that (despite their lack of any expertise or data beyond anecdotal evidence to back it up) there really was a real important difference that games should address.
Hilariously there is always agreement from these people that men get stronger or bulk up quicker, but they can never agree what women do better (though often default to either being charming or agile).
So I thought it was time to bring this one back, and also to point out three rather critical problems with this analysis.
The first is that, warriors don’t aim for peak bulk, peak lifting power, etc. They aim for a complex combination of traits that gives them the most advantages and the least disadvantages in the combat scenarios they encounter. Ideal fitness for a spearman is different to ideal fitness for an archer or a rifleman, none of them focus exclusively on “power” in training terms.
As combat style and schools of fighting need to be able to be passed on to people, there is usually a range of ability in which they are effective and the “optimum” levels of speed, strength, etc are those attainable by many.
The second is that while yes, aspects we associate with sex and gender such as hormones and the presence of certain body parts may have some effect on performance – they are but one of many, many, many, many, many factors.
Three is that tendency among the masses do not mean rules for the individuals, particularly in factors where large parts relate to social pressures and expectations. A single character is as unlikely to be a “standard” person and anyone you meet.
Chances are you don’t know many people who are exactly standard height, exactly standard weight, exactly standard proportions, exactly standard fitness with a certified IQ of exactly 100 and a personal income exactly in the mean and median for their age, location and profession. You probably know someone who’s exceptionally tall or short though.
Below the cut are a small sample of such factors which can easily make as much difference as one’s gender but are rarely considered by games or other media. One reason is that they (like gender) are beyond people’s control, and many of them are quite personal. So people tend to feel being judged over them and having all kinds of assumptions made is a bit of a personal violation.
So it’s probably well past time that we stopped making all kinds of assumptions and judgements based entirely off gender too.
– wincenworks
Genetic predisposition towards traits such as muscle mass, limb length, lung capacity, lactic acid development, tissue regeneration rates, etc.
Body’s responsiveness to hormones such as testosterone (this varies from individual to individual)
Lifestyle factors relating to the production of hormones such as testosterone
Endorphin releases in response to exercise (also varies from individual to individual)
Your overall brain chemistry including such factors as susceptibility to addiction, anxiety, etc.
Tendency towards sports types activities during early childhood (which effects brain development as well as body development)
Access to protein and other nutrition needed for peak training during development and adulthood
Access to quality trainers who teach proper form and techniques early on (this is why gymnasts and ballerinas are recruited as toddlers)
Access to a variety of trainers and approaches throughout development (to allow the discovery of your personal optimal program)
Access to support to allow full time commitment to training during development and as an adult
Presence or absence of disability or ability impairing disorders such as scoliosis, myopia, epilepsy or pectus excavatum
Presence or absence of serious injuries or temporary illness during major periods of development
Presence or absence of illnesses or other disorders that effect hormones, growth, emotional well being, etc. This covers everything from natural mood disorders, internal cysts, benign tumors to parasite induced disease.
Presence or absence of opportunities in alternative paths and careers (combined with social pressures to pursue or not pursue)
Presence or absence of competition and the standard of that competition (to set challenges, baselines and exchange feedback with)
A few words regarding the crucial difference between censorship and the creators consciously choosing to edit their content.
I dedicate this post to every salty dudebro who had the gall to suggest that we at BABD wantto “stranglecreativity”, because heavens forbid anyone was openly critical of The Thing You Like and suggested it has problems!
Important quote from the video:
Or is it only censorship when it’s people who aren’t you, and don’t think like you, getting what they want for once instead of you?
Dear dudebros, please ask yourself the above question next time before you type a single word of a reply to us.
~Ozzie
edit: “Thanks” to Tumblr’s absurdly broken video post feature, the video initially didn’t load. Fixed now.
Can you believe that this post is nearly a year old and we’re still getting brodudes screaming that providing feedback is censorship and insisting that any change they disagree with was force by “SJWs”?
Even in the face of mountains of evidence that the majority of people who make media actually want it to be enjoyed by lots of people, and thus do care about what alienates potential audiences and don’t take kindly to their “champions” engaging in this kind of nonsense. This, by the way, has always been the case.
This is, of course, glossing over the hilarity of bloggers having the power and authority to force billion dollar businesses to make editorial changes is just a little ridiculous. A little.
