Anyone who has been reading my blog for awhile should probably know my opinion on the depiction of women in fantasy art. For those of you who are new here, let's just say I'm not the biggest fan of fantasy art cheesecake and wish women were depicted as more than sex objects for the male audience to fantasize about.
With that being said, I hold no ill will towards those who DO like the more "risque" imagery. As I've said numerous times before, everyone is allowed to have their own opinions. If we all had the same opinions and acted the same way, the world would be a very boring place. Variety is the spice of life after all.
So, I have no problem with those who like the image on the left. If the "sexy" outfit is appropriate for the character or is being depicted in a product meant to be titillating, I'm perfectly fine with the character wearing it. My only complaint is when almost all the images of women in a product are depicted that way and the product is meant to be a game book that is trying to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.
Basically, to sum everything up, I have no problem with those who like to see a female character in "sexy armor" and I don't mind when a character is depicted in such if the outfit fits the character's persona or the product is meant to be titillating. However, I do have a problem when ALL the women in a product are depicted in a sexual manner and the product is not meant to be that kind of product.
You are right, a “holier than thou” attitude doesn’t help anybody. Each player helps build the game they want to play. It’s only a problem when every game starts to look the same.
ReplyDeleteExactly. If there is anything that really annoys me, its a "holier than thou" attitude. My stance on things is basically this: As long as you are not forcing your opinions on others or using your opinions to harm someone, than its perfectly okay for you to have those opinions.
DeleteI'm torn in-between the two attitudes. From my point of view, it depends on the game and what the point of it is to begin with. If it's meant to be sleazy and/or ultra-sexy, then I'll be fine with the left side. If it's meant to be Fantasy 'for everyone' so to speak, then I'll think the right image is best. To use concrete examples, left is perfect for Anima, but D&D should go with the right. I'm not sure I'm explaining this in a clear way but that's basically it for me. :p
ReplyDeleteI think you did a pretty good job explaining your opinion Bruno, and I can understand where you are coming from. For certain games and products, the image on the left wouldn't bother me all that much. However, if the image showed up in a product that was meant to have a wide appeal (like D&D or Pathfinder), I would rather annoyed and would probably make a complaint.
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