RANT: Disproportionate Women (may be offensive)

[Jdvn1]

At work today, one of my female coworkers commented on numerous disproportionate ladies. There were really lots of huge and very fake... um... disproportionatenesses.

 

[ForceUser]

I guess I just got lucky with my Mrs.

Tough as nails and an enormous rack.

/jealous

 

[Dog Moon]

Originally posted by Jdvn1
disproportionatenesses.

I like that word. Just sounds neat.

Originally posted by Audhild&Krin
-I am a she, not a he. I would think that kind of obvious since it is usually women who complain about overly large breasts in fantasy art.

Naw, sometimes I complain about overly large breasts, though not always in relation to just fantasy art. I think the perfect size is just a little larger than your grasping hand. It's just that often, when they're TOO big, they just look bad. It kinda turns me off, actually. It's like 'Holy crap, what am I supposed to do with those? They'd frikkin suffocate me or something.'

 

[Jdvn1]

I like that word. Just sounds neat.

I like the word, "palaver."

 

[Dirigible]

I'm with SWAT.

There's an unwritten assumption that humans in a fantasy world are the same as humans in this world - they eat, sleep, crap and function like us except as specified differently. The unrealism of magic and critters is discreet and specified - thus, you can't really say "there's magic, so all the defaults about human biology go out the window".

 

[diaglo]

i'm a butt man.

i can take or leave the racks on these babes.

 

[DaveMage]

this whole argument is not being realistic.

...But at least it's about breasts. And really, when it comes down to it, that's all that matters.

 

[fusangite]

-I am a she, not a he. I would think that kind of obvious since it is usually women who complain about overly large breasts in fantasy art.

Wow! I'm surprised. Usually feminist men make these arguments. My bad.

I do not have a problem with magic in fantasy. Magic follows rules. A muscular, active woman with DD breasts does not follow the rules of metabolism

Magic, if it follows rules, is a subset of the world's physics. We know from the way magic works in D&D that D&D worlds do not have our world's physics. There are other clues to this as well like the fact that D&D worlds have four elements and not 100+. Magic works in a system of physics that permits and prohibits different things than our world's physics does. If we know from the way Fireball and other spells work that energy (if it even functions as a single category in D&D what with fire being an element) works fundamentally than it does in our world. Why would metabolism work the same as in our world if the rules governing energy and matter are different, given that metabolism is largely (at least in this world) about extracting the former from the latter?

Furthermore, I have a muscular female friend with DD breasts; she works out every day, does rock climbing, goes on three-day hikes, etc. Furthermore, because she's a "friend with benefits," I feel I can speak with absolute authority about her physical strength and the size, shape and naturalness of her breasts. The only way she fails to live up to the stereotype is around the abdomen -- otherwise she'd clearly be a 2nd level elf ranger.

This friend of mine is, no doubt, exceptional (this is evidenced by the fact that she is in a very very exclusive group of women who have thought it was a good idea to sleep with me); but that's largely what fantasy art depicts: exceptional people. Why is being exceptional with respect to strength and martial skill acceptable in art but not being exceptional with respect to where one's body distributes fatty tissue?

(unless she consumes a large amount of calories each day).

And why wouldn't she? My friend does.

The fact is most of the breast is fatty tissue and any woman who had dieted can tell you, the first place you loose fatty tissue is in the breast.

I think you are confusing the most common place with the first place. Not every woman's weight loss pattern runs like Lindsay Lohan's; some women do lose weight like Angelina Jolie. They are rare in the extreme; fortunately, Hollywood is working hard to make/find them.

-I am not obsessed with non-realistic elements in fantasy. I am annoyed with the lack of common sense in fantasy art.

Okay. So you only care about non-realistic elements in fantasy when an artist puts pen to paper drawing women. Common sense also says you can't make giant walls of fire by saying a few words.

Yes, there are overly muscular men pictured in fantasy art as well. That also annoys me.

Poor you. Still, we all have our things. I have trouble with anthropologically incorrect belief systems and religions in RPGs. We all have our own individual things that undermine our personal suspension of disbelief, despite the fact that we have decided to accept talking dragons and xorns. The difference is that when I see things that violate my suspension of disbelief, I don't tell people to stop making them. I just don't buy them myself.

Also the parts of interest on a man are not focused on or oversized as often as the parts of interest on a woman (I hope that makes sense, I am tired).

Yep. That's true. In part, though, that comes from the fact that unlike men, 0.1% of women in the US undergo breast enlargement surgery every single year. The world is slowly filling up with women whose breasts don't shrink or grow with their weight, whose breasts or supremely buoyant and hemispherical. Sadly (for women's health, as opposed to my enjoyment of visits to the gym), fantasy game art is destined to become more accurate and reflective of how women in today's society look.

-My biggest problem (no pun intended) is not about large breast, it’s about breasts that are impossible without surgery,

Or really exceptional genetics and constant careful support. And D&D worlds don't have breast enlargement surgery. But, then again, they don't have genes either.

I guess you should be objecting to women having 18 strength too then if you are going to make a big deal about D&D physiology having to be the same as real world physiology.

But the key problem here is that you say it is impossible for women to have breasts like the ones in D&D if one obeys our world's rules of biology and physics. But why should it? What evidence do you have that D&D obeys these rules? Shouldn't xorns upset you then, what with the total absence of internal organs and all?

I thought I was clear about that, but guess not. As a woman I do not find gargantuan breasts attractive, nor do any of the men I have asked (and yes they were honest, they had no reason to lie).

Well, here on ENWorld, you can see just how special and exceptional your male friends are.

 

[fusangite]

I'm with SWAT.

There's an unwritten assumption that humans in a fantasy world are the same as humans in this world - they eat, sleep, crap and function like us except as specified differently. The unrealism of magic and critters is discreet and specified - thus, you can't really say "there's magic, so all the defaults about human biology go out the window".

What about the way people take damage and recover from it? The hit point mechanic makes it pretty clear that the way bodies are damaged is drastically different from the way bodies are hurt in our world. Only very specific types of magic weapons can cause effects that are normal in weapon damage in our world like loss of strength, constitution or limbs. The way damage works in D&D is the way it works in the Die Hard movies. As long as you have one hit point left, you're good to go.

Then there's the matter of average ability scores. Why don't women have penalties deducted from their strength scores if we're so interested in accurately representing their physiology? I don't accept a difference between expecting women in chainmail bikinis to have the same +6 damage modifier with their greatsword as the men and expecting them to fill out said bikinis with a pair of D- or F- cup breasts.

 

[fusangite]

Naw, sometimes I complain about overly large breasts, though not always in relation to just fantasy art. I think the perfect size is just a little larger than your grasping hand. It's just that often, when they're TOO big, they just look bad. It kinda turns me off, actually. It's like 'Holy crap, what am I supposed to do with those?

I've had that thought. But it's always been followed immediately the realization of one or more things I could do with them.