Disregard As I Am A Woman

[disregardasiamawoman]

Welcome

To live, you must pursue understanding to avoid becoming stagnant and bored with the world. You must learn to love and appreciate and study each thought a little bit harder. And what better way to do this than to put pen to paper (or fingertips to keys) and write.

Expect opinions, expect thoughts, expect facts and analysis of quite literally whatever we feel is important. But as we are women, please make sure you disregard each essay once you have finished reading, as it obviously cannot contain anything of substance.

[disregardasiamawoman]

Why are we even having an argument about jiggle physics in the first place?

Jiggle physics is a very hotly debated topic and has been for many years. I’ve noticed a recent surge in discussion of the topic with the popularisation of Marvel Rivals. And I have things to say, so lets talk jiggle physics!

I’m sure most of you know but when I’m talking about jiggle physics I’m talking about the unnecessary movement of women’s boobs in video games. And I’m sure most people on the internet have played or watched gameplay where a female characters ass or boobs move way more than they should. What we should be asking is why is that?

Our first and most obvious reason is that it is sexy. Boobs are much more desirable to our average gooner when they are large and bounce up and down with character movement. If the ass does the same there are no complaints there either. This combined with the skimpy outfits many female video game characters are clad in provides perfect material for the wank bank. 

But oh my god, you can’t say that anymore because have you seen the Marvel Rivals male skins? They’re also super skimpy! And hell yeah, they are. That gets us a step closer, but unfortunately, this is still not quite equality in video games because these men do not have jiggle physics applied! And think about how strange it is if we saw a male characters penis and ass bouncing with every step. I find applying common tropes to the opposite gender helps me acknowledge how strange and out of place it often is.

There is also the argument that women’s boobs actually do move in real life. This is correct to a point, but in-game physics have been greatly exaggerated, which brings me to my next point. I think that males get so defensive about this arguement because they genuinely don’t know how boobs work. 

Women have boobs, we are rather attuned to the movement of our own boobs and it is a lot less controversial for us to be staring at our friends boobs. There is an understanding of how size affects movement, as well as what movement is normal. As someone who is studying animation and game design we are taught to look at how people walk and move so as weird of a flex it is, I think I have a rather good understanding of how boobs move while walking. And unfortunately for a lot of games, the answer is not much. Jumping adds more movement but again many games seem to have the boobs move seperately from the body when in reality they probably apply the principal of slow in and out rather than secondary action. 

But why should men even know this? Most men with any sort of internet access have probably only specifically looked at breast movement in porn and in video games where boobs do have a life of their own! So of course they’re going to think that women are wrong (about their own boobs might I add) and believe that these movements aren’t exaggerated when these are movements they commonly see. I fear that the only solution to this is to actually go out and experience boobs for yourself. Go look at them in a non-creepy way of course and actually see how they move (especially to the guys who’s job it is to rig and animate female characters). Go buy a pair of fake boobs for yourself and put them on and jump around. It won’t take long to see that the exaggerated movement in games is frankly ridiculous and, in my opinion, unsexy. 

Usually here is where I’d say disregard as I am a woman but honestly being a woman probably means that I have more knowledge about boobs so unless you’re going to go get a pair of your own, you have to regard me.

-B

[disregardasiamawoman]

There’s really nothing special about queer characters in media, so why shouldn't there be more of them? 

Queer representation in animation has been a topic of debate in relatively recent years, as the uprising of the (predominantly) younger generations fighting for the rights of minorities has become somewhat of a trend. While this is completely needed for any major changes to happen in the media world, since catering to trends is how big media companies profit in the short term; being a minority isn’t a trend. It is a struggle, and yet it is a way of life. Being a minority does not make you any less of a person, but also doesn’t mean you’re any more of a person, and therefore doesn't mean you need any sort of special attention in the media so why are people so mad about it in the first place? While representation is what we have been asking for, the answer isn’t to drop random queer characters with no plot into existing stories, and it isn’t to just add in that an already existing character is all of a sudden gay. What we have been asking for, is representation, not a spectacle. Not something for people to pity, or to marvel at. Just show people being people, and that is it. 

A lot of people forget that representation in the media isn’t just putting a minority on a pedestal and going, “Hey! Look at this! We made this for you [insert minority here]!” But instead is the normalization of these minorities in the environments they are in. An example of terrible representation in animated media specifically, is the queer relationship between Korra and Asaami in ‘Avatar: The Legend Of Korra’. Neither of these characters are even hinted at being somewhat queer until the very last episodes, and even then calling it representation is a stretch. This is what some might call queerbaiting, which is loosely defined as baiting the queer community into thinking there will be representation in a show, and then not following through with those promises, or following through just enough to be worthy of a spot in the “Top 10 queer romances in animated history”. The moral gymnastics the people who make the decisions at these studios must have to do, to think that all people want for their representation is some vague hand holding in the last scene of a show, or in the case of the show Voltron, some flashbacks of a past relationship of a pretty prominent character and then outing him as homosexual. This example would have been fine, however, it was done in the second to last season of the show, indicating to viewers and people of the queer community in this fandom that this relationship, and this plot point was an afterthought to bait the already very queer fandom of the show into thinking that they would get at least a little bit of representation. To top it all off, the love interest for this surprise gay character was killed off in the first non-flashback scene that he starred in, so how’s that for enthusiasm. 

Queerbaiting isn’t all that goes on however, while a lot of queer representation is iffy at best, there’s still some crumbs here and there that show genuine thought of characters and their stories, as opposed to just saying that they’re queer and then not building on their character from there at all. One of these examples is the show Yuri on Ice. It is essentially a one season show about a former ice skater, who finds himself with no purpose after losing a tournament, and then being offered to be coached by his all time favorite ice skating idol. The show focuses on ice skating mainly, with a compelling plot, interesting side characters, and meaningful backstories, it’s essentially just like any other sports anime, with little bits of focus on the romance between these two male leads. It’s one of the best representations of queer relationships I’ve seen in animated media as it truly shows that queer people are just people. They have lives, and they have stories to be told, they can have opportunities and competition, just like every other non-queer character in media. 

Companies shouldn’t be creating queer characters for the sole purpose of gaining views, traction or being seen as woke or progressive in any way. If they want that oh-so sought after representation, they should be creating meaningful characters, with meaningful backstories, and interesting characteristics. Being queer isn’t a personality trait, or a buzz word for attention, it is just a way of life, and as much as big media companies might disagree, queer people aren’t spectacles, they are simply people. There’s really nothing special about queer characters in media, so why shouldn't there be more of them?

But as I am a woman, please disregard this.

-T

[disregardasiamawoman]

Why Do We Let Men Who Have Not Spoken to a Woman Write Female Superheroes?

Representation of women in comics has long been a hotly debated topic, the main issue being the unnecessary sexualisation of women. Writers have a responsibility to provide accurate representation in their stories due to the widespread impact media has on our society. If our only representations of female heroes are not strong, capable women, but scantily clad sex objects for our male main characters, then how are real women going to be perceived? How are these women supposed to be the role models for young girls in the same way that Superman, Spiderman, and other male heroes are role models for young boys?

All female heroes are victims of this sexualisation due to the mostly male creative teams at DC and Marvel. Starfire, one of the most famous female heroes in DC is often a victim of this sexualisation. She is one of the main heroes in the Titans, so she has been used in many comics and TV shows since she was created. When DC did another revamp of their character stories, making the New 52 universe, Starfire was used in the comics Red Hood and the Outlaws written by Scott Lobdell and illustrated by Kenneth Rocafort. The most disappointing thing about Red Hood and the Outlaws is how the dynamic between the Outlaws could have been great if Starfire was not written purely for sex appeal. The positionality of Lobdell becomes an issue when he tries to write Starfire as a sexually liberated woman because he is a man and is writing it from a male perspective. Starfire becomes a man’s fantasy of a sexually liberated women and instead of empowering the character, it becomes degrading (Hudson, 2011). Our first introduction to Starfire is to let the reader know that Jason has had sex with her, Jason letting Roy know that she’s “with us, but yeah she’s been ‘with’ me”. Lobdell then goes on to write Starfire asking Roy to have sex with her after a montage of her in a bikini on the beach. It becomes obvious that Lobdell has not considered how representing female characters correctly is important, but has instead written what he believes is the sexiest version of Starfire. In one fell swoop Starfire’s character has been reduced from a caring, funny, and kind teammate to nothing but a sexy alien with superpowers who can’t tell humans apart and just wants to proposition every man she sees. This comic could’ve been easily improved if Starfire was written with her previous personality and not seen as the love interest.

Starfire’s character is made worse through writers often employing the “born sexy yesterday” trope when writing her. Born sexy yesterday is a trope written by males for males where the female character mimics behaviours and intelligence of a young child despite being physically sexy and appealing (Sampson, 2019). As Starfire is an alien, many comics depict her as unknowing of human customs, leading to ‘funny’ misunderstandings like her swimming fully naked when it is human custom to wear swimsuits. Starfire is often written with childish optimism and naivety which is rather uncomfortable when the other half of her personality is sex appeal. These paedophilic depictions of women in comics has real world implications. Young girls and teenagers have often been targeted sexually by older more mature man and continuing to depict childlike personalities as sexy in our media exacerbates and maintains this problem.

Throughout the entire comic Starfire had little clothing, her New 52 era outfit even more revealing than the one she was created with in the 80s, and despite referring to her as one of the most powerful people on earth, Lobdell treated her character with little respect. Starfire’s costume can and has been made in a way that it not overly sexualised while still being “sexy” and tasteful. Lobdell’s version of Starfire was not tasteful with her outfit containing boots, a thong, and barely any coverage of her chest. When women talk about not wanting female hero costumes to be so revealing, we do not mean that we want these heroes to be incredibly modest. The issue with women’s hero costumes is the double standard when compared to male hero costumes. Most men’s costumes are skintight and fully cover the man up to his neck. Many of them are armoured in order to protect the wearer against the enemies they face. Starfire’s costume leaves readers worried her nipples will fall out.

If Starfire was treated with the same respect Lobdell affords her male teammates, Red Hood and the Outlaws could have been a much better comic. Instead, the comic focuses too much on sex, specifically surrounding Starfire’s character, and it draws readers focus away from the main plot points and completely alienates female readers. DC allowing these harmful portrayals of women to be perpetuated in their comics makes readers wonder if they are that worried about losing their historically male dominated audience. However, by letting this continue, DC will lose the steadily growing audience of female comic fans. Women can clearly see that comics like Red Hood and the Outlaws are not written for them and portray women as thoughtless shells. Comics like these also impact the way that women are seen in real life. If all the media someone consumes shows that a woman’s only goal is to have sex with her male teammates and friends, men are going to be unable to see women as friends.

Lobdell has written Starfire in a way that completely reduces her character and makes it so readers are unable to look up to her as a role model. Like Superman, she is an alien with incredible powers, but unlike him, she has been turned into nothing but eye candy for male readers. Lobdell projects his fantasies around her character onto the comic and because of this cannot write her character in a meaningful way. Starfire’s only relation to the plot is for her male teammates to make sexual comments about her and for her to bust them out of situations where they need alien superpowers. She brings nothing to the team in a way readers can connect to so all she does is reinforce the narrative that women are objects.

But as I am a woman, please disregard this.

-B