http://contexts.org/socimages/2010/01/10/the-evolution-of-the-dungeons-and-dragons-playbook/
Sociological Images takes down the evolution of the D&D book covers here. Lisa shows how the covers evolved from archetypal male figures - the knight, the wizard, etc. into a genderless cover that merely looks like a leather bound tome. The Martial, Arcane and Divine player book shows a woman on the front in a nice change. However, she is dressed in robes that show her legs and breasts. She is sexualized, while her lizard companion is not.
Of course, the D&D cover irks me slightly. Only slightly. As a fantasy fan, I've learned to make allowances for this and fast. The revealing caster robes are a fallback for artists who can't get away with midriff baring breastplates or chainmail bikinis - it's a great way to show skin without breaking belief. It's only recently that I've started to notice the bullshit in that old trope, and as such it doesn't seem as glaringly impractical as other sexist fantasy cliches.
I have to note that the female character isn't thrusting her breasts or butt out, she isn't swaying her hips, she isn't making foxy eyes at the reader. She's wearing a stupid, sexy robe - but she's braced for battle in a dynamic pose. When you're a woman into fantasy, you take what you can get. It's not perfect, but it is better than other fantasy depictions of women. (I'm looking at you, Blizzard)
What does D&D do right? It shows women characters everywhere. Female dwarves, female elves, female paladins, female beserkers. It uses feminine pronouns sometimes in text. It shows women playing the game. It mentions women in anecdotes or in examples of rules. Reading through it, I knew that I wasn't a token or an outlier. They were acknowledging my existence and working to include me.
More importantly, it is a system that allows you to tell whatever story with whatever characters you want. The system allows for any combination of traits. Unlike Warhammer, where you are constrained by the army's lore and rules or World of Warcraft where the options are limited, you can be whatever you want.
Hell, you can even be a mage who wears padded robes that don't expose your vital organs.
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White Wolf's World of Darkness and Exalted game lines are also very good about that - the gender mix when discussing characters and rules in the text is pretty close to 50/50 if not slanted in favour of the feminine. I also love that in the world of Exalted, which is otherwise heavily influenced by the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon school of wire-fu, several of the most (physically, socially, politically, intellectually) notable personages in the world are women, and that the game world explicitly states that while some cultures do strongly divide gender roles, many just don't care what bits you've got as long as you get the job done. (There are even a few cultures that explicitly allow people to act outside the gender they were born with, by undergoing certain rituals.)
ReplyDeleteWhat Lassarina said about Exalted. :3
ReplyDeleteIn which, I might add, the Scarlet Empress is the single most sought-after figure in Creation, not because she is sexualized or somehow A Princess in need of rescuing, but because she's a badass and the world needs her. ... and don't even get me started on the Rose Black, or that one of the most powerful beings still alive (Luna) states right there in the text that nobody knows if xe's male or female, and it's been known to change.
/minirant
I love that the D&D books use feminine and masculine pronouns describing all races and classes. It's not perfect - far from it - especially when male ogres, orcs and goblins are depicted as slavering monsters and female ogres, orcs and goblins are drawn much "prettier," but that's improving, too.
I really miss D&D. It's really hard to find anyone whow wants to play.
ReplyDeleteReally agreed with this assessment: it's not perfect, but better than most. And of course as far as gameplay goes, you can be anything you want, and things can be as feminist as a DM is willing and able to make them. So, I'm a big fan.
I really need to get into other tabletops. I'm interested in the Star Wars Saga, but the manual is definetely more male-oriented and I hear the combat's not as fluid...
ReplyDelete