I have to say, this looks pretty amazing production and so many things to like. Great representation in gender and in skin tones as well as this imagery that makes me think it may actually encourage a respectful play environment:
I am definitely eager to see how Absolver turns out.
The latest episode of Tropes vs. Women in Video Games is live!
In “Lingerie Is Not Armor,” we explore the ways in which female characters are frequently placed in wildly impractical, sexualizing outfits specifically designed to objectify them for the titillation of the presumed straight male player. We then discuss the problems inherent in linking the sexualization of female characters to notions of female empowerment, and examine what positive depictions of female sexuality and sexual desire in games might look like.
Commentary on female boobplate from Australian TV Show “The Feed”
A fantastic summary that makes me proud to be an Aussie.
Though I disagree with their conclusion on where all the ridiculous female armor needs to go – that’s pollution and I’m terrified of the prospect of video games where the enemies are sharks and squids with boobplates.
Filmed this one for @bikiniarmorbattledamage. Armstreet steel plate legs. Heavy? Yeah. Impossible to move in? Absolutely not. Girls can totally wear armour. I see a hundred girls run around in armour every week. Maneuverable and sexy 😉
I love this not only for the demonstration of how proper plate armor still allows for quick and agile movement without great strain – but also the kind of gear worn under the armor (namely the arming belt).
Not only is plate armor designed for vigorous activity (battles are an amazing workout), to allow for denting, but also gear like arming belts that sit beneath it. It can have fitted parts, but it’s never going to be form fitting.
If your interested in more images of well made, well fitted pieces of armor being worn by a woman you should check out @larplyyyyyyf‘s blog.
The Nerdwriter’s video is primarily about the infamous ShirtGate incident, but the same analysis applies to so many people who smugly post familiar rhetoric regarding the depictions of female characters, declaring themselves right and others wrong often based off nothing more than that declaration.
Innuendo Studios (Ian Danskin) also did an in depth video series about those who are angry at the existence of criticism, specifically about the harassment that Anita Sarkeesian has endured since Tropes vs Women in Video Games took off. If you haven’t seen it, here’s the whole series.
Sadly, plenty of people either just don’t care what’s right and are more interested in maintaining dominance by default than they are about anything that’s ever going to be said. These people are largely the ones who try to seek out and weaponise Angry Jacks, and the ones who manufacture misinformation for their “cause”.
Attempting to engage in meaningful conversation with them, especially in their communities rarely does anything but make them feel that they’ve expanded their platform and hence gotten more “wins”. This is why you often see people like this desperately craving “debates” (winner to be decided by them or their friends, based off what they wanted to be true from the start).
So, if you’ve tagged us in to a conversation and hoped we’d join in – please understand that we haven’t got anything to say that wouldn’t be wasted on that audience. Everything we could say to them has been said, usually many times. This is the Internet after all.
If anything, they will simply interpret a specific response from us as an opportunity to try to hijack our platform and boost their audience, or simply assert that they’re our nemesis and thus instantly important.
Ultimately, that’s what’s feeding their habit – the search for bigger audiences, bigger wins and more validation. If they can’t get that, they take joy in knowing they’re wasting time that could be spent working on problems in a more general, helpful sense (especially if they have nothing else to do).
They won’t be getting a direct answer from us.Though we’re going to continue building commentary, resources and information on all the general issues around today and new ones as they arise and to call out key figures who actually already have high profiles and big influence.
We’re also going to continue to support others who do the same and hope that eventually social media platforms like Tumblr, Twitter, etc will start taking harassment seriously.
The important thing to understand about these people though is, that not only can’t they be persuaded (without having a deep personal change of their own), but they can’t advance or provide anything useful either.
By declaring victory for simply existing and refusing to consider any hypothetical or viewpoint other than their own, they’re inherently limiting their thinking, their contributions and themselves. By not even taking the time to understand before responding, they’re creating a no benefit scenario:
This is what happens when you choose harassment as your primary means of communication and dive deep into the No True Scotsman Fallacy.
So, while we do encourage you to call out people you see spreading harmful misinformation, if their response to that is to smugly reply with claims of victory and nonsense – remember what they’re seeking is equal parts maintaining the status quo and personal validation.
They’re also seeking to antagonize others simply because without some sort of scandal (or more commonly a faux scandal based on misinformation) to expand their audience, their default status is well…
Actually that’s not fair, Abraham Simpson III is far too good a person to be in that crowd. Sorry about that, Abe.
