I Hit It With My Axe!

fuckmonogreenelves:

zeico:

fuckmonogreenelves:

notcayleb:

uroborus-void:

confessionsofapuzzledwizard:

sarroth:

uroborus-void:

confessionsofapuzzledwizard:

nayamtg:

“The pulled mat for GPINDY. Do you find this to be offense or put the image of magic the gathering in a bad light.?”

“I’m don’t think it’s offensive, but I am proud of Wizards saying that they don’t accept it, companies need to uphold their standards more strongly as they are in the public eye and once something like this gets through, it’s a downward spiral to needless fan service and further alienation of female players.”

“It’s not that Offensive, I’ve seen worse! It looks like the typical fantasy portrayal of women. It’s like the typical female Barbarian has a chain-mail bikini!, while the man has full plate.”

Having “seen worse” does not make it okay. Being a “typical fantasy portrayal of women” does not make it okay. In actuality, that’s the problem with art like this - it’s typical for fantasy and it really shouldn’t be. Do I find this offensive? No. However, I find it very, very childish, and think a much better playmat could have been designed. And if you can design a nonchildish playmat with good art that won’t possibly be offensive, then why wouldn’t you?

Wish that’s what I’d said now.

Yes, me too! Though I’m annoyed that someone saw fit to truncate my original statement, Highlighted that this image shouldn’t have had any association with M:tG as WotC did not sacntion it. Also Saying it was typical, was supposed to condone it, not support it. As I’m sure we can all agree that having the female in a bikini while the man is in full plate is a ludicrous concept.

wow…I will say this and only this. If these hypersensitive children affect the next set in a negative light. I will flip ship.

Sounds to me like people need to grow some thicker skin.  The reason people find it offensive isn’t because it is necessarily offensive, but because they’re always looking to turn everything into a reason to complain.

Yes, the women are being sexualized.  The exact same thing is done for men in plenty of other media venues.  Sure, it isn’t as prominent, but that isn’t to say that it doesn’t happen.  Why is it only an issue when women decide that it’s an issue?

Because the media isn’t in a bubble. Also male characters in fantasy are nearly always portrayed as power fantasies, not sexual fantasies. 

Let’s look at the image above. The male here is being fawned over by many sexy women. The goblin himself is not very attractive, but because he has power (sitting on a throne, dragon at his feet) the women flock to him to be his sexual servants. The women here are in subservient roles to the male. The only one that seems even slightly independent, the greyish woman on the right, is only there to be looked at. While she does wield some form of magic, she is not threatening the viewer at all but rather stands to display her breasts.

This kind of art perpetuates the idea that women are only good for is their appearance and sexuality. In fact these sorts of images go all the way back to Renaissance era (perhaps even earlier) paintings, and it has been showing the same idea since then, men act and women appear. While yes, males do get sexualized, it is a VERY small minority and is not as deeply seeded in our culture. 

This kind of image being ‘typical fantasy’ is part of what discourages females from participating in nerd culture at large. Because when a woman becomes prominent, she is judged by her appearance first.

And if people simply “grew thicker skin” nothing would change. Wizards would not renounce this artwork. And we would not have badass female characters because they would all be the same cookie cutter sex object. 

I find it hard to believe that there are a vast majority of people out there who still think that we live in an age where women are seen as nothing but sexual objects.  I mean, on the grand scale, all people, at least here in America, are treated and seen as being pretty much equal.  That being said, what is there to take offense to here overall?

Men are often depicted in lots of other mediums as fawning over girls.  There is also quite a bit of media where women look down on men as being inferior because “they hold all of the power” sexually.  So why is this double standard acceptable?

When I say “grow thicker skin,” what I pretty much mean is “learn to think before passing judgment on things.”  People take offense to this because they want to take offense to something, not because it is particularly offensive.  They’re so quick to judge that they don’t take the time to stop and realize that they are being hypocritical.

“I mean, on the grand scale, all people, at least here in America, are treated and seen as being pretty much equal.”

*blank stare*

Are you freaking serious? That’s not even close to a little bit true. What idealized utopian post-racial classless science-loving poverty-free America where immigrants and gays are treated equally, the homeless aren’t invisible or scenery, and women have the same legal control of their reproductive organs that men have are you living in or looking at? And where can I get a plane ticket to there?

The level of disparity at every facet of every identity in this country is unquestionably staggering. “All people seen and treated equally in this country” my ass.

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