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Author Topic: Alternate Priestess Art?  (Read 14478 times)

Sailor Vulcan

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Re: Alternate Priestess Art?
« Reply #15 on: October 05, 2015, 11:36:00 AM »

It's not just about skin coverage. A woman in a full body catsuit would be fully covered up, but still on display because of how tight the suit is. Same here with that laced corset looking thing.

How much of the men's bodies can you see through their clothing? None really.

And I'm not trying to be sex negative either. I think people can dress as provocatively as they want. The issue here is the stark difference between the portrayal of men and women. The men are shown as combat ready and capable by their dress and equipment. The women are shown off instead. It illustrates that women are expected to display themselves even when they are supposed to be trying to fight.

Who goes into a duel wearing strappy heels? How are you supposed to run and fight while laced into a corset?

I usually just pretend that they are wearing something else that's more appropriate to their occupation and the setting. It's an easy enough thing to pretend, considering how much more egalitarian the storyline and gameplay are.
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Ophidimancer

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Re: Alternate Priestess Art?
« Reply #16 on: October 05, 2015, 11:44:01 AM »
Agreed, there are in general problems with fantasy-women and the priestess/angels in mage wars. The new priestess really does not belong in that category.

It's not so much a binary yes/no categorization, but rather degrees of problematic.  Yes, the Academy Priestess is a bit better, but the issue is still present.

Ganpot

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Re: Alternate Priestess Art?
« Reply #17 on: November 01, 2015, 02:02:59 PM »
In my opinion, the only artwork that does stand out as problematic is the Priestess.  I mean, not only is her outfit extremely sexualized for belonging to a religious order, but it is also ludicrously impractical from any conceivable point of view.  WHAT IS GOING ON WITH HER SLEEVES?!  Those things must drag on the ground constantly....  They'd be a massive hindrance and probably be covered in filth. 

The other mages are completely fine though.  The female Beastmaster is somewhat scantily clad, but the artists were clearly going for a tribal theme, and her outfit is still practical and "realistic" looking with that in mind.  The Forcemaster is wearing a robe and skirt over light leather armor (it doesn't really look like a corset to me).  Since she's kind of like a jedi instead of a traditional warrior, that makes perfect sense.  The Druid is sexualized, but there are plenty of real-world nudist "hippie" communities, and the druid is almost certainly referencing that with her "natural" clothing.  The female Wizard is not sexualized whatsoever.  The female Warlock, while wearing less armor than the male version, does still wear decent amounts of armor and looks ready for a fight.  I do kind of wish the Siren was less humanoid (more of a mermaid), but it's not all that big of a deal. 

I also don't have a problem with the angel artwork in general (although I do dislike the Guardian Angel being half-armored; pick one or the other!).  Both male and female angels are depicting wearing very little armor.  A lot of real-life artists also depict angels this way (probably because of the Bible passage about people not being ashamed of their bodies or wearing clothes until after original sin). 

While only the Priestess artwork is really problematic for me personally, I do see your point about male and female mages being treated differently overall, even if the difference is sometimes subtle.  That's why I really love the Dawnbreaker's Chosen art, and wish it was the (eventual) female Paladin.  It would be great to have at least one really heavily-armored female Mage, and I'm also looking forward to seeing how Arcane Wonders eventually tackle the male Druid.