As a longtime fantasy fan, certain cliches rankle me more than others, and reigning supreme at the mountain of mediocrities is the chainmail bikini. Sure, it’s not always chainmail, and it’s not always a bikini, but they’re all practically the same: a woman depicted with armor that suspiciously lacks coverage for the breasts or other area appealing to the prurient interests of male customers. For lack of any other encompassing term, I refer to this as Chainmail Bikini Syndrome (CBS).
CBS can strike anywhere, and often without warning. Notable sufferers include comic book character Red Sonja, Martian Princess Dejah Thoris and Taarna the warrior, star of the animated cult classic Heavy Metal. Now, we add one more to the ranks: Diablo III’s female Barbarian.
She’s a tough-loooking customer who looks like she knows her way around a battlefield, so why sport the exposed bosom? Oh, yeah. That’s right: the predominately male customer base that supports the video game industry. Aesthetic choices like these have no justification beyond pleasing the male gaze.
More women than ever are discovering the joys of video games, and the industry needs to do more to make them feel welcome. Some companies are slower to learn the lesson than others, and when they do, it’s usually painful: see last year’s Electronic Arts “Sin to Win” fiasco for a good example of this.
Gamers themselves are just as guilty of making female gamers feel unwelcome. An acquaintance of mine, a woman who enjoys first-person shooter Modern Warfare II, recently told me that she has experienced male gamers logging off from a game in progress when they discovered they were gaming with a woman. Ask around enough and you’ll find plenty of similar stories.
We need to ask ourselves if we’re really serious about inviting our wives, girlfriends, sisters, mothers and female friends into the boy’s club of gaming, and if we are (as we should be), we need to act like it.
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So does that mean that I, as a woman, am betraying my sex when I find a female in a chainmail bikini to be appealing? I look at it as a form of escapism, where I don’t look like that in reality so I want to look like that in a fantasy setting.
I’m really trying to wrap my head around the whole sexism thing because men are idealized & objectified, too. The male barbarian in Diablo III is just as bad. He’s muscle bound and half nude.
http://www.diabloiiikore.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=32784504
And as a female gamer, I haven’t had anyone give me shit for being a woman but maybe I’m just lucky in that respect.
I think that you’re entitled to feel the way that you do. The barbarian is also half-nude, you’re right, but you’re seeing this in the context of a basically heteronormative sexist society, and male nudity has been traditionally seen as a different thing altogether: played for laughs or not considered sexist at all. In any case, I appreciate your comments.
Sorry Matt, but you’re treading on sacred ground here. I love chainmail bikinis. I love platemail bikinis. I have never had a problem with Conan the Barbarian bull rushing an army while wearing nothing but a bearskin speedo. And Heavy Metal? The only problem I had with Taarna was that she never got any good lines
Back in the 1980’s, when America was truly a sexist society, I tried to get some girls I knew to try gaming but failed miserably. It had nothing to do with, “the costumes female characters are expected to wear.” That was never an issue. It wasn’t even the fact that AD&D came loaded with glass ceilings for female characters.
Instead it was all about the problem of getting girls – She Ra loving, My Pretty Pony buying girly girls – to fathom spending a few hours in a room full of zit-faced testosterone fueled teenage boys who apparently enjoy shouting at each other over “the way the game is supposed to be played” all of whom were self-professed experts (idiots) on the matter.
It was all about the attitude.
So to turn the tables on myself. Would I enjoy playing a character who resembles Fabio from the cover of a cheesy romance novel in a room full of pudgy giggling brace-faced girls? Actually, that might be fun (rwor). But it all depends on the people. Girls are not pristine. They can be jerks. Girls can quite easily turn catty and nasty and flat-out mean, especially in large groups. So sorry girls, but if you’re going to act that way then you’re not going to get Fabio from me. And I greatly respect any female gamer who carries that same approach to the boys in her life.
As far as simply getting rid of the chainmail bikini, or looking down on anyone who chooses to show up with a character who is wearing one. Well, is this any worse than than Sharia law where Muslim women are forced to cover themselves in a birka? Or perhaps living in France where Muslim women cannot wear a head scarf even when they want to? It’s still forcing people to do something that they don’t want to do – and that’s not fantasy to me.
A friend of mine photographs jewelry for catalogs and one item she was assigned was in fact a chainmail bikini top. She snuck it out of the studio and into the restroom to try it on. Knowing this, I can easily see how women might relate and want to identify with badass women clad in badass women’s clothes. If guys do the same, why should girls be any different?
“…heteronormative sexist society…the male gaze…”
That’s all fine and well for academic circles, but if you’re trying to talk to gamers, you need to adjust your language at the very least (and judging from the comments above, your perspective as well).
On the other hand, if you’re actually wanting to talk about gamers (while excluding them from the conversation) and tell them what they “should” want (as you explicitly do), then by all means, carry on.
But I think you’re misguided for a few reasons:
1) assuming that the “boys club of gaming” really wants to invite wives, etc…The history of most societies has examples of separate male and female social groups and activities.
2) assuming that women can’t navigate such evil, sexist terrain fine on their own (yes, this is the you’re actually more sexist than me because you presume that the ‘other’ needs your white male help in the first place argument, which is no sillier than the one it is derived from).
3) assuming that gaming–entertainment and escapism at its core–needs to restrict itself to the dubious confines of working-world social norms. As Eric implies, if we’re going to invalidate the sexuality of females in games, let’s just balance it out by forbidding male power fantasies as well. No barrel-chested male physiques, big swords or heroic quests. Won’t that be fun!
Regarding the “boy’s club of gaming”:
Yes, there’s been some talk in the gaming industry of attracting female gamers, yet their marketing material sometimes seems to suggest otherwise. Do you think that they’ve done a very good job?
“White male help”:
Am I to only comment on issues strictly pertaining to my skin tone or gender? Well, in some ways, my post does concern that very thing: I’m speaking out to my fellow men, and saying that we can do better.
I’m a “white male.” That’s true. If there’s one good thing that I can absolutely speak about with any sense of authority it is being a white, heterosexual man, and being a participant in white, heterosexual male culture.
As a lifelong expert on these “white male” things, I can tell you that some of us are bigoted, some of us are sexist, and some of us don’t try very hard at all to be any other way.
If you’re choosing to argue against these presumptions, then I won’t try to stop you. It’s your privilege. However, do at least recognize the fact that I have a right to my observations.
I disagree with your assertion that “academic” talk (whatever that may be) has no place in this discussion. The unspoken implication is that gamers aren’t educated or particularly cerebral and that such talk may be above them. My experiences suggest otherwise.
I’m not especially interested in whether other societies choose to separate men and women in their social activities. App, thanks for your comments.ealing to history or tradition as a guide isn’t useful. Slavery has a long tradition among humanity, too, but I can only hope that you’ll agree with me that we’re better off free of that particular evil.
In any case
Well, here are a few (jumbled) thoughts I have…
First, I don’t necessarily view chainmail bikinis or the popular presentation of females in a fantasy game as evil. That is a pretty loaded word. The term is real subjective. I’m pretty evil in many people’s eye (like to PETA members).
Games are a form of entertainment and escapism, and if the male crowd, white or otherwise, wants to envision scantily clothed female barbarians; that’s cool with me (I like envisioning them myself).
These games are not trying to impose their particular view upon real life, they’re just games. No one is forcing women to play these games, though it might reduce the chances of more women entering that particular segment of the hobby. Where is the evil?
I think it’s OK to have activities that don’t cater to every demographic or maintain strict political correctness..
Don’t get me wrong, as a father of a little girl, I totally love to see strong women in gaming that are more than sex symbols (but there isn’t anything wrong with being sexy). But I’m not going to cry foul at Blizzard for using imagery that works for them (they are making a ton of sexist money).
In the end, I say lead by example, instead of pointing fingers. Get off the soapbox and create some games that appeal to women. Do something outside the white male standard. Show the industry how successful it can be.
Matt: “An acquaintance of mine, a woman who enjoys first-person shooter Modern Warfare II, recently told me that she has experienced male gamers logging off from a game in progress when they discovered they were gaming with a woman.”
So, what exactly is the problem here: that a male gamer didn’t want to play a violent game–for whatever reason–with a female? Or that he didn’t continue to play anyway even though he didn’t want to? Should her gaming preferences take precedence over his because she is female? Or should we all agree to never leave a game server to look for one better suited to our personal preferences?
Mad B.: “Don’t get me wrong, as a father of a little girl, I totally love to see strong women in gaming that are more than sex symbols (but there isn’t anything wrong with being sexy).”
“More than sex symbols” is the key. Sex(iness) itself is not inherently exploitative (outside of feminist theory). It’s certainly part of life. What is demeaning is being reduced to nothing more than a sex symbol. A kick-ass, sexy barbarian who is strong and sexy is another thing altogether, and not a bad role model (or fantasy avatar) for females. She may be showing cleavage, but she’ll break the arm of any man foolish enough to touch.
“Get off the soapbox and create some games that appeal to women.”
Well, that’s the thing–there already are tons of games out there that are not only ’safe’ for women by Matt’s criteria, but even targeted toward them.
It’s OK for some genres to cater more to male demographics (chainmail bikinis), just like it’s OK for other genres to cater to females (every SIMS expansion ever made). Vive la différence!
So, what exactly is the problem here: that a male gamer didn’t want to play a violent game–for whatever reason–with a female?
You don’t see a problem with this? What about gamers that don’t want to play with people of a different skin color?
I have to say I’m a little surprised by the negativity of the replies left on this article. It’s an interesting topic and one that I think bears discussion.
I am female, and I game. (D&D and WoW as well as console gaming.) I like sexy female characters, but more than that, I like options. I think the issue for me is less if there’s a chainmail bikini for my avatar to wear, but if there’s something else to choose from as well. The same goes for male characters.
The gaming world is undeniably still a “boys club”, and it can often seem unwelcoming to women. The expectation from some people seems to be that if a woman really wants to play then she should just tough it out and deal, and I don’t really agree with that. I also know there are games targeted to women out there, but often the options cited are things I have no interest in. (The Sims for example.) It’s almost like saying “I have a GI Joe cause I’m a boy, but here’s a Barbie for you. That’s what girls like, right?”
I don’t think there’s any one correct answer here, and there will always be disagreement. This is why I think options are important and that having them might bring a little more balance to the gaming world.
“You don’t see a problem with this? What about gamers that don’t want to play with people of a different skin color?”
They may be jerks but that’s their prerogative. Much as you might like, no one can ‘cure’ individual tastes, preferences, or bigotries. All we can do is make sure that certain bigotries aren’t institutionalized. If a game were hard-coded to auto-disconnect women then that would be a problem. People being jerks isn’t an institutional problem, and conflating individual asshattery with institutionalized versions is a big (and all-too common) mistake. Crying because someone was mean to you is perhaps understandable, but not really an issue of social justice. Crying because the entire system is rigged against you, and holding you down, is different. But that’s not what you’re describing. Women can make all-girl servers if they like, and more power to them. (To extend the argument: if there is a ‘female-only’ game server out there, do males have an ethical right to play on it?)
I really am mystified if your position on this is that some system of ethics requires me to play a game with people I don’t want to play with–for any reason at all–particularly given that there are countless other instances of the very same game out there for us both to play happily.
Mac: “options are important”
I agree wholeheartedly. My naysaying reaction here is based on Matt’s implication that chainmail bikinis are offensive to some and should therefore be removed, rather than adding other, presumably less risque, choices.
I see this as a classic liberal misconstruction of reality. In a single paragraph, Matt denigrates the financial and social foundation of the game’s very existence, implying that economics and psychology are but trivial nuisances; speed bumps on the highway to sexual egalitarianism. “We’ve got all these mostly male customers who enjoy the system enough to pay for it…but it’s just not right, so let’s make some corrections. Once more women are playing the game, the men won’t miss that stuff they liked alot in the first place because they’ll be filled with the joy of political correctness.” Whereas if the system had been designed to rigorous feminist standards in the first place, it likely never would have gained enough popularity to become a target in the first place. Which brings us back to another commenter above:
“I say lead by example, instead of pointing fingers…Show the industry how successful it can be.”
Create some of this utopian success you dream of from the ground up, instead of telling others how they should improve on theirs after they’ve done the difficult work.
Make humanity better by offering more, and better choices, rather than taking the ones you don’t like away.
Beautiful and spirited reply Euphrosyne.
Although it’s amazing how many words have had to pass on this article to get to that one point which sums it all up:
Make humanity better by offering more, and better choices, rather than taking the ones you don’t like away.