This is the follow up to the previous article Men wear armour, Women wear sexy-time lingerie. Here I address issues of how men and women are pictured in games, beyond what they are wearing.

We will try to answer the this two common questions that often arise in discussion:

“What is wrong with pictures with sexy women in sexy poses?”

“What is wrong with pictures of submissive and passive women? And dominant and active men?”

The answer to these questions is that the problem isn’t sexiness, nor is the submissiveness, dominance, passivity or activity. The description becomes sexist when the traits is predominately applied to one gender.

Let’s turn to our hypothetical example of the fantasy game “Wyrms and Warriors”.

How do characters look?

Role-playing games are often about wish fulfilment. We want cool characters, we want them to look cool. So let’s look at the pictures. Perhaps the male characters look something like this:

Pictures of male characters:
~ 30% : Conventionally handsome sexy dudes

~ 20% : Elvish androgynous beauties

~ 20% : Muscular guys that look like they can wrestle bears

~ 15% : Ugly bad-ass mother fuckers

~15% : Average everyday looking dudes doing cool things

Looks pretty cool to me. If I want to create a character I have a lot of different looks for character can inspire me. I can be inspired to play beautiful characters or ugly characters and a lot of other cool looks.

Then I take a look at the female characters:

Pictures of female characters:
~ 40% : Female supermodels with a E-cups

~ 30% : Female supermodels with a B-cups

~ 30% : Female supermodels with a GGGG-cups!

Wow. My cup size can vary! I feel inspired! Or… Perhaps not. While many of the male characters type was attractive in different ways, there was a lot more variation to them the size of the bulge between their legs. The different looks and body types expressed something about the character.

How do you fix this?

Well. Perhaps you could try something like this:

Pictures of female characters:
~ 30% : Conventionally handsome sexy gals

~ 20% : Elvish androgynous beauties

~ 20% : Muscular gals that look like they can wrestle bears

~ 15% : Ugly bad-ass mother fuckers

~15% : Average everyday looking gals doing cool things

Just saying. It is a bit more interesting than cup size. Here is a great site to help you: Athletic Body Diversity Reference for Artists.

What about that passive/active, dominant/submissive, and sexualised/non-sexualised images of men and women?

Here’s the thing. There is more to images of characters then clothes and body type. It’s about their attitude, situation and pose too. Let me try to explain.

Active/Passive
Active: Someone who is active in the picture is doing something, making something happen.
Passive: Someone who is passive in the picture isn’t doing much. They might just be standing, sitting or laying about.

Dominant/Submissive
Dominant: The one that dominates in the picture is the one who is in charge, or has control and power, or is self assured and look to be in control.
Submissive: The one that is submissive in the picture, is the one that doesn’t have power, or has less power and is vulnerable, or insecure or at a disadvantage.

Sexualised/Non-sexualised
Sexualised: If someone in the picture is shown in sexualised way they try to hint at sex in some way. They can be posed in way that focus on sexy body parts, or be undressed, or show sexual cues like hard nipples or hinting of an erect penis.
Non-sexualised: If someone is shown in a nonsexual way they are simply shown in a way that doesn’t try to hint at sex, be sexy or show sexual cues.

While nothing is wrong with any of this things on their own, they are often expressed in a sexist pattern. Men are more often active, dominate, and non-sexualised in images and women are more often passive, submissive and sexualised.

An example would be that there are more images of brave, powerful male knights fighting a monster to save the the weak, submissive but sexy princess then the opposite with female knights and princes.

It’s pretty boring if everything fall into that pattern. It’s also an easy trap to fall into. Mix it up. Let men be sexy, and let women be active sometimes. Let the prince be the one that needs saving sometimes, and the dominating monster be female.

How to fix it?

Count the images. If 60% of the men in the pictures are active, let 60% of the women in the pictures be active. If 30% of the women are submissive, have 30% of the men be submissive. If 50% of the images of men are non-sexualised, have 50% of the images of women be non-sexualised.

Assuming that you can count, it is pretty easy.

Closing words

As you can see, this discussion isn’t about banning things. It is about variation, not just for the guys, not just for the girls, but for everyone.

by Elin Dalstål 

repair-her-armor:

[Please take note that the commentary is just for fun. Bunch of sarcasm. Don’t take it too seriously. I am getting tired of these outfits, though.]

1. The classic Bikini Armor. If you’re lucky you might get an actual shoulder-pad! If the designers even bother doing something more than just a regular bikini, you might get some accessories with stilettos! Exactly what I want in battle. For a extra nice touch; cameltoe.

2. The Lingerie ”Armor”. There’s absolutely nothing that protects you, but it looks really uncomfortable and nice in bed battle! Complete with some feathery, useless shoulder pads!

3. The ever so Stylish Swimsuit! This is usually the armor you get before you get the upgrade Bikini Armor. Bonus points if a choker, thigh-high boots/stockings and a half mask is included!

4. The Abstract Art. Yes, we’re all wondering how the hell that works; how does that thing stay on, how does she walk with those shoes, how on earth is that supposed to protect her and why is half of her naked? All those questions is a part of the costume! They say art say more than thousand words.. or something!

5. The Dominatrix and/or Slave outfit! For those kinky players out there! Complete with leather or latex, fishnets, chains, chokers and whips! Bonus points of the stilettos are sky-high!

6. The StereotypeShaman or Barbarian! Because she’s clearly so wild and ~exotic~ that she doesn’t need clothes! Best worn with tiny loincloth and underboob-straps!

7. The Cute Frilly Dress! Something you’d LOVE to wear, CONSTANTLY…. in battle! Usually the female “robe” costume, but hey, robes doesn’t show her nice legs! ): For absolute effect, add garterbelts.

8. I call this the Why?. Everything is so massive and made of thick material, but we wouldn’t want to cover her girly parts now, would we? Clearly NO ONE would be aiming there!

9. Nature Thing Something. If you’re not of human race and belong to the nature, expect your outfit to look something like this! Feel completely exposed free! I didn’t even bother with this one, but clearly they don’t even do that in games either. But since you’re not human, it’s totally okay!

10. This is best known as “Just In Case You Forgot”. Have a decent looking outfit, but then they suddenly cut obvious holes around your privates, just reminding you that you have breasts, a butt and a vagina! How nice of them! Bonus if you don’t have a boob-hole, but instead boob-chest-plate!

11. The Everyday Archer! A very classic outfit, complete with a corset and a mini-skirt! Don’t forget the cape, but heavens forbid that you wear it longer than your hips! Then we wouldn’t be able to see your nice butt or legs from behind! *sad face*

12. The Creative Healer! She isn’t supposed to be in close-combat, and sometimes doesn’t even use weapons other than a staff, so minimal armor is understandable… that’s why we give you a dress that leaves you wondering how that thing stays on, and with a leg-slip-thing! We wouldn’t want you to forget you have legs, after all!

13. And finally, your Average Sci-Fi chick! This one is an absolute classic. It has weird cut-outs everywhere, extreme cleavage, patterns pointing to your crotch and chest, and CRAZY shoes! Don’t forget the skin tight, often nearly-transparent, glossy fabric. Perfect battle wear, absolutely perfect!

So true…