Why are female hero’s always so scantily clad?!

[Soubriquet]

Watching justice league for the first time, and the first thing I could think of, is why is Wonder Woman and the Amazons half dressed, whilst most of the men are covered head to toe in armour.

Doesn’t make much sense with fighting does it?

I mentioned this to my dh and he laughed at me because I don’t think the same things about women in dance shows and stuff like that. Tried to explain it wasn’t the same but no

No actually they weren’t!

Fair enough that you did it as a child. I have watched the comps on tv (not the reality show version but actually international comps) and the women’s costumes still have that ‘sex appeal’ thing going.

The difference in what the Amazons wear in the WW movie and Justice League is eye opening. Male vs female director.

Someone did a comparison of how many upskirt bum shots there were as well.

www.bustle.com/p/the-justice-league-amazon-costume-controversy-is-why-we-need-more-women-directing-superhero-movies-5495794

Now isn’t that a difference!

Another significant difference is that skimpy costumes don't protect the body when fighting. Wonderwoman's arms and legs are very vulnerable.

At least a skimpy dance outfit doesn't stop you dancing.

@picklemewalnuts

Another significant difference is that skimpy costumes don't protect the body when fighting. Wonderwoman's arms and legs are very vulnerable.

At least a skimpy dance outfit doesn't stop you dancing.

That’s the point I was trying to make but couldn’t convey

Thank you

And one is fantasy and one is real life.

Duh

Yes it’s depressingly predictable and all because sex sells. At least in GOT the women heroines are all fully clad by the standards of whatever people they are in. Like Brianna, female knight, she’s in full armour. The Dothraki are half dressed but that’s true of both men and women.

Have a look at Shreya Arora's pictures that illustrate the difference in how male and female superheroes are posed.

I’m a practical woman. I need my boobs held in and wear big knickers when having my period. So tottering around in what’s basically a swimsuit and high heeled boots is just daft. Plus I feel the cold and need pockets

It's my mission in life to get womens clothes made with big pockets. Every time I buy some clothing allegedly made for women, I give feedback about it, and always mention the lack or uselessness of the tiny pockets.
Unless its actually got some useful pockets. I also buy quite a bit of mens clothes for myself, and again always feedback the massive and generous pockets and why the fuck dont women get them.

The point the philosopher made in the article discussed last month: massive male domination of arts, writers, producers, funders, directors, etc etc etc, so female characters are written and costumed and acted through male eyes and male perspective of what females are and are for and are motivated by. And sold primarily to the most important customers, who are in massive majority, straight men. S'tedious.

Although I did very much enjoy one of the really bad daytime films about some giant evil shark that could both leap up out of the sea and bring down helicopters and swim up tiny water pipes to eat people in their garden swimming pools, and had a heroine incapable of keeping her shirt on. Any time anyone said anything to her, her answer was "right!" while ripping her shirt off. I began to keep count after a while, it was a perfect film for a drinking game.

@FFSFFSFFS

I refer you to the Daily Mail.

Why is it news that women have boobs?

Because we live in a world in which a large percentage of visual information is provided for the male gaze.

I also refer you to the ages of women and men in most action films. I don't have the stats to hand - but its normally women in their 20s with men in their 30s/40s.

Tangential but I do like how The Rock prefers to act opposite women (live interests) closer to his age range.

@MorvaanReed

I can't find it but there was an art tumblr called something like "women in practical armour". I loved it but I haven't used tumblr for ages. If anyone knows the one I mean and can link I'd be delighted.

Bikini Armor Battle Damage maybe?

There are some more linked at the TV Tropes page on "chainmail bikini", like Women Fighters In Reasonable Armor.

Drawn by men for the male gaze. Skimpy outfits, skinny waists and big boobs. No one wants to see real women as superheros do they?

So men can wank over them.

Seems to start early. I don’t understand why my daughter has to wear a skort or tight leggings for PE while my son wears loose shorts or tracksuit bottoms.

Better than PE knickers though

Oh crap! I forgot about those PE knickers

They were awful...and I don’t think anyone wore them after the first lesson when they realised they wasn’t needed

Time for a couple of my favourite links (one of which covers the same ground as Shreya Arora's work):

Why boob plate armour might kill you

Male sci fi author recreates sexist book covers

I'm a big video game fan and this frustrates me to no end. There are some games where the female hero/protagonist is not wearing little more than a bra for armour. The recent Assassin's Creed games for example are a series that is doing much better on that front. The new one coming out next month let's you choose a female viking hero who is fully clad in armour. The Mass Effect series also has a female protagonist option and you wear the same armour the male character wears.

I cannot stand any of those wanky Japanese games (and some Western games!) that treat women as sex objects.

Another thing that is usually said is that women leads don't sell video games or movies. Captain Marvel was very successful and The Last of Us 2(two female protagonists) on PS4 sold bucket loads.

I think this is a rhetorical question and you know the answer really, don't you?

It's because the creators are male, directors are mostly male and they want to cater to a mostly young horny male audience. They don't care about practicalities or comfort. They care about if the boobs will look good or be visible enough through the fake armour.

Yes, male gaze, which is to say they are intended to sexualise women.

A good clue with dance, often but not always, is whether the men have a similar level of exposure in their costume. You can see this in ballet for example, both men and women have similar materials and exposure in many cases, although they are stylistically different. If you go to a competitive dance studio, or a commercial one, often what you will see is quite different.

I actually think this probably relates to men as a group being more visually interested in such things. Women might enjoy an attractive man but there is a reason publications like Playgirl struggled to appeal to women, or male strippers are a joke to many. And you can see an interesting comparison of gay male sexual culture and lesbian sexual culture along the same lines.

So there is a tendency for male sexual interest in women to want to see or cover women in relation to their sexuality, depending on how the culture as a whole has understood the role of sex. In secular western culture it tends to be to expose, especially where commercial gain is involved.

Most women would laugh is batman was going around in hotpants.

Thinking about this more, this is one reason why Black Panther is one of my favourite superhero films. The female characters and actors are just treated with so much respect, it’s really wonderful to see.

I do think this is worse in specific areas. Where the viewers are majority male you see more of it, and to some extent things meant to appeal to young women in their teens and 20s, though I think they look slightly different. Superheroes have tended to appeal to boys more for whatever reason, even when you are talking about male superheroes.They may have a more even divide nowadays but the expectation is set around the outfits and people tend to stick within that it seems.

FriendOfFreyja Dragon Age doesn't do too badly either - Aveline in 2 wears proper armour and most of the female characters are completely covered. The only really scantily clad one I can think of is Isabela in 2, and I'm kinda ok with it on her, I think it suits her character.

Final Fantasy, on the other hand, seems to get worse each time. Tifa in 7, Rikku and Lulu in X/X-2, Lightning in 13, Cindy in 15 - they seem incapable of making a game without at least one scantily and inappropriately clothed woman.

Ok why don’t all the women actresses join together and say no more? Sisterhood and all that? No, because they won’t stick together and agree not to wear it. Some will love to break away and do it because they like to wear stuff like that. Some women do, some don’t.