Combat Heels = Facepalm

First up, the inspiration for this article was this thread from the Infinity forums: Sexual objectification in Infinity?

I worry that when I say am a feminist, people will imagine I mean one of the characters from Kate Beaton's fantastic comic. When I say feminist, I mean it in the Rebecca West sense of "the radical notion that women are people." My culture will certainly on average agree with that statement, but its actions don't always line up with the ideal. This is especially obvious when feminist issues crop up in traditionally male-dominated pastimes, like miniature gaming.

I'd very much appreciate it if the world would just "get better" in regards to the manifold ways it disappoints me regularly, but I don't often have the energy to fight the good fight. I'm especially reluctant to think that arguing with forum denizens with which I disagree is likely to result in any significant ameliorating of their attitudes. Unsurprisingly to those who know me, I also cannot keep my mouth shut. What I try to do most often is address the issue with humor, and try to add something that has the possibility of educational value.

The original poster in the referenced thread seems to feel that some of the depictions of females in Corvus Belli's miniature range for Infinity are problematic. To quote:

I do not really mind if there's some clevage here or there but when more than half of the female minituares are dressed down and/or with a hand on her hip it gets a little bit tedious. Especially when comparing them to their male counterparts who are armoured, with helmets and in the middle of the action. -bladerunner_35

I'm solidly in agreement with bladerunner_35 here. Yes, humans have sexual attributes. It is perfectly reasonable to depict those attributes if your aim is to depict humans. However, it is preferable to depict any human, male or female, real or imaginary, with respect. It is very difficult to argue with any sincerity that models like the Ariadna Caledonian Volunteers or the Nomad Reverend Moiras depict women respectfully. I do not mean to imply that all female characters depicted by Corvus Belli's miniatures are disrespectful to women; there are some great figures there. I also do not dispute that Corvus Belli has the right to make whatever artistic decisions they want - of course they do! But it would be better if more women could look at the Infinity models and see depictions of characters they would like to identify with, rather than the objectifying examples to which they are so commonly subjected.

Because I didn't have the strength at the time to attack some of the pathetic straw-feminist arguments I saw, I instead posted in that thread a link to the Anti-Comics-Feminist Bingo Sheet. Here is a selection of posts from that thread, and following each my justification for scoring that post on my bingo card. Please note: I will not score any post that seems to claim that sexism isn't a problem; only those posts that claim that Corvus Belli's depiction of women is not sexist. There can be no meaningful discussion with people who know what sexism is and think that it is ok.

Cervantes3773 posts "If it bugs you that much, vote with your dollar and don't buy those models." From the bingo sheet: "... sexism is wrong, whether you think it is a waste of time or not."

The Last Foxtrot posts "With an anime style theme....this is bound to happen. Theres no way around it." But "... Sexism is not necessary. It’s just habit."

werkrobotwerk posts "Riotgirl is also a faster lower armor heavy. Hence built up legs and minimal torso protection contrast to the mobile brigada, who is also female, but with a higher armor, and lower speed. She has her armored bulk more evenly distributed." Another example of "... the parade of comic book women who ... just happen to have personalities that require costumes emphasising their primary sexual traits." To be fair to werkrobotwerk, I don't think the Riotgrrl is the most egregious example - she just could be better.

drizz73 posts "I think if most guys are really honest it is what they want." "If you genuinely believe men just have to objectify women ... then you have a really, really low opinion of men." See also post #70.

savonarola posts, with implied sarcasm "Miniatures should be fat and ugly because many real people are and so they will not feel humiliated" and "There are places in the world and situations everywhere where women need real help. Lift your butt, pseudo-philosopher, and help a real person." Double score! "... your critic want[s  figures] of women treated as realistically as men are, in the same manner, with as much variety in face and body type. Apparently, you find that threatening and have jumped to an exaggeration of their argument that also demonises fat and those who don’t fit the cultural beauty standards." and "The More Important Things Fallacy! ... it combines an utter cluelessness of the impact of cultural artefacts on our, y’know, culture, with the arrogant assumption that complaining about comics is as far as your critic goes when it comes to women’s rights ... don’t you dare assume that ... the portrayal of women in [miniature form] doesn’t feed from and into deeply disgusting misogynistic tropes. Sexism is everywhere. Your critic is choosing to fight it in at least one place they see it. That’s admirable, not risible." He does this again in post #153. I sense a pattern.

Harlekin posts "... if everything looked just 'realistic' we wouldn't be around to trash talk about this 'problem', because nobody would have bought any of those miniatures." But "... we all want a certain amount of realism."

evilleMonkeigh posts "my wife ... went with the nomads BECAUSE of the Moiras ... I would say 99% of the thread respondents here are men, and 99% of women wouldn't care. So why should we?" "It is never appropriate to use your sample of female friends, or yourself, as a trump card that triumphantly deflects all feminist criticism with which they/you disagree."

Also, special mention goes out to micf2303: "objectification of women is bad in a sense" Good job! You win!

Yeah - I've run out of steam. I can't be bothered to keep going and see if I've won anything. I do feel some hope when I see that Corvus Belli has released a new Daktari model, in place of their old one. I think it is a sign that they are at least aware of the issue.

*Credit to Corbeau on the Infinity Forum for the title of the post.