‘Sexy’ simply does not work the same way for both genders. Yes – as a society we are far more comfortable with feminine expressions of sexuality – but you cannot force males to be equally sexualised. Our bodies are different and perceived differently.
The key word here is “perceived”. There is a huge cultural element of men-are-THIS, woman-are-THAT forced on us, and the “THIS” is usually considered superior, so anything that treats men more like women is basically blasphemy. If men are sexualized, that’s “gay” or “emasculating”, because being made to be sexy is for women, so men simply are not, cannot be, must not be sexy.
If we “allowed” men to be sexualized, if we “forced” men to be sexualized like woman are all the time, you bet people would come up with a great number of ways to make it so. Some of these ways would be impractical, uncomfortable or flat-out health hazards … as it is for women. Some men might be horrified, others might find it empowering or liberating … just as women react differently, too.
Would you also propose that female characters’ nipples should be displayed?Y’know…for equality, of course.
It’d actually be awesome if the female chest was treated more like the male: no big deal, unless context and intent deliberately make it so. So if there is actual equality overall in terms of which outfit is designed to be sexualized and which is not, then yes. It’s not like some of the existing “armors” leave much to the imagination as it is. This puerile “Tee-hee, look look look BOOOOOOOOBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But it’s fine cuz no nipples so you can’t say it’s porn!” attitude that is so widespread in female character design in various forms of entertainment annoys me to no end — showing the whole thing could actually end up feeling less objectifying, as well as more honest.
Look at that impressive image from GW1 that phys linked (thanks, by the way). I agree that it’s not sexy even though the guy shows a whole lot of skin. There’s no emphasis or attention on his “assets”, instead he’s a stunning whole-body work of human art. If a female character was presented in exactly the same way, bare chest and all, it’d be far less sexualized than many female outfits in GW2 that put a nudge-nudge-wink-wink fig leaf over the breasts.
I can appreciate why you want to instigate change in society’s perception and attitude towards this issue. However for the time being, accept that it will take time for this to occur (if it ever does).
If nobody speaks up, or if they do but are silenced, it won’t change, either.
They have a great number (more than they have skimpy) of armors that are fully clothed.
My problem isn’t just the ones that are show a lot of skin. Just barely hiding something or mostly covering it but drawing attention to it via frills or fishnets or boob windows or whatever also plays a part in objectification/sexualization. Plus, there’s the frequently huge difference in theme and design, especially with light armor. Men get the default, the original theme. Women get something that screams “LOOK A FEMALE!” which may end up looking very different or even nothing like the cool original male design.
What’s “offensive” to me, incidentally, is not that sexualized outfits exist or that people use them or how popular they are. It’s the difference in treatment of the genders and the excuses made for it. I’d like people to try to understand how the neverending barrage of female sexualization and the glaring lack of diversity and choice can affect women and society’s opinion and treatment of women — and I’d especially like to make that request from those guys who feel uncomfortable or flat-out revolted by rare cases of actual make sexualization (not muscled power fantasies).
