TheKillerAngel wrote...
Siansonea II wrote...
By the way, I tried my hand at a new outfit for Ashley, and I decided to give her blonde hair, just for variety. I think this could work for most combat situations, and maybe also for aboard the Normandy:
Is she too covered up? I can accept criticism, so feel free to give feedback, this is a work-in-progress...[smilie]http://social.bioware.com/images/forum/emoticons/wink.png[/smilie]
That's a straw man argument and you should reconsider how you deliver your point. Few, if any people, saying Ashley should be wearing a space-bikini, but you are mischaracterizing your opposition's majority views as such.
Actually, Sian is right. A lot of our detractors want to believe that the above image is the only thing that can qualify as exploiting Ashley. Believing so lets them make excuses for the catsuit. It's not that bad. Etc. Catsuit still lacks armor.
Eromenos wrote...
IndigoWolfe wrote...
Eromenos wrote...
As for Liara, they should do away with trying to justify the ME2 "armor headband." And aim to recolor her outfit so that it doesn't try to riduculously emphasize her femininity. We can appreciate her curves just fine with the way her white labcoat is done. Tasteful. This red-version is not.
Okay, how exactly does the color scheme of Liara's armor suddenly make it exploitive?
Fair question!
The way her white labcoat is presented does not oversell the fact that she's female with an hourglass figure. The way her red labcoat's coloring is arranged is done precisely to emphasize that she's an hourglass who may or may not use guns.
With the way the colors are arrayed on her in this picture, do we ever see male combat outfits being depicted in this way that emphasizes the sexuality of their bodies above all else? Nope. So why should female characters alone be targeted for this thankless responsibility that thus far segregates them into titillation-toys?
I disagree with you. First, on your assessment that Liara's outfit is excessively sexual - I don't think the color contrast really made me think that. Maybe it did for you, but I, and I am sure many other guys, would just see it as a purple/red outfit and nothing more.
I can't recall where I posted it, but I said that just because "you and I" may not find Liara's red labcoat sexy for ourselves does not change the fact that it's intended to be sexy for the dudebros in a way that makes her look like Samara in a throwback to that particular asari's misogynistic depiction.
More importantly, I disagree with your assessment that male combat outfits don't emphasize their physical/sexual masculinity. Ways of expressing sexual attraction in male characters are not nearly as obvious as for women but they are almost certainly present in so many games. The reason men don't complain about their consistent depiction in media as hypermasculine, handsome heroes with epic shoulders is that they generally enjoy being able to take on such roles. Guy's don't want to play as 45 year old Joe with graying hair and a slight beer belly.
Oh, indeed. However, you pointed this out in a way that evaded dredging up the harm brought by gender-rolecompulsions in hypermasculine males and hyperfeminine females. The hypermasculine males are afforded power. The hyperfeminine females have no power. In the case of Ashley, no protection as well in her dangerous job. BioWare playing into limited sexual attractions along those lines is what I've been criticizing this whole time. And between Thane vs Liara, the "pimp" vs "ho" dynamic of these two appearances echoes what I just mentioned.
I must establish that what is physically attractive for women cannot just be assumed as the same for men. Just making a man really scantily clad isn't necessarily going to make him more attractive because for the average woman, intangible factors such as prestige, personality, and power matter a lot more than just raw physical appearance.
I know precisely what you mean. Yet you're still overvaluing the harmful lopsided arbitrary gender-roles enforced by such. BioWare playing up these factors for their male characters only serves to gratify the men. Lots of women may be conditioned to find these traits arousing, but who really benefits and who gets screwed over in such an absolutist binary dynamic?
For one, practically every male character has an ideal figure - narrow waist, broad shoulders, and often, their armor emphasizes or exaggerates the size of their shoulders while minimizing the waist to give a "V-shaped" appearance. This is why Jacob has "armor" on his shoulders and Shepard's ME3 armor is like this:
There is no good reason for his shoulderplates to be bulging out like that and plated up so much, if not to emphasize his masculinity. Compare that to the armor on his waist/torso, which is rather minimized, yet far more important. In the military you are taught to aim at center of mass, and issued body armor places the most protection on the torso. It's where your vital organs are - not your shoulders, and is thus far more deserving of heavy protection.
Heck, a lot of infantry aren't even issued shoulder armor.
Realistically, shoulder armor like that would impair movement significantly, not to mention to extra weight added. There is a video of Holly Conrad testing out her Shepard outfit and she comments about how she cannot move her arms that easily.
Once again, I agree with many of your points. But BioWare is still degrading and patronizing its women-characters by singling them out to wear catsuits. It's not because those things help the women. If they did, then why not have the men wear catsuits too? No, it's because they only care about making sure the dudebros get their obligatory T&A. Where armored hardsuits are supposed to be the best defense a professional soldier can have in the ME-universe (I mean...come on, Shepard) any attempt to segregate women out into something that prioritizes their hourglass at the cost of protection is no more than a cop-out for dudebros.
I have similar issues with Shepard's armor myself. But it's meant to be along the lines of the best that one can have. If the catsuits are better, then everyone should have them. The fact that BioWare refuses to put males into catsuits is proof of their hypocritical double-standard against women.
Last but not least, let's not forget that even BioWare's men-characters are portrayed primarily to gratify men. Women's interest is secondary in BioWare's misogynistic habits.
Modifié par Eromenos, 06 juillet 2011 - 03:38 .
Retour en haut
