Does Infinity Need Sex to Sell?

Tyler Provick

Tyler Provick is a writer and a gamer that likes to combine his two interests and share them with the community.

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6 responses

  1. Warren JB says:

    “The thing is, Corvus Belli, I don’t need my female troopers to be sexy. I know I used to be cool with it but like bad typesetting once it’s pointed out it can’t be unseen. I’m not even against sexual depictions of women. I just don’t want it to be the default representation, especially in a wargame.
    What do you think? Is this a valid concern or am I just white-knighting for feminism? Would you be sad if the sexy female miniature was reduced to 3 in every 4 female sculpts?”

    I do tend to agree with you. I sometimes visit the Repair Her Armor tumblr, which expresses the same complaint that the problem with the ‘sexy female/chainmail bikini’ trope is that it’s widespread almost to the point of universality. Having a look through that tumblr, or the minis industry, goes some way to convince you of that.

    Although I’m only ‘collateral damage’ in the scheme of things, I also find it somewhat insulting as a kind of cynical marketing. “You’re a nerd, and a dude, right? ‘Course you’re gonna want this. ‘Course you’re gonna buy it. We’re all nerdy dudes in this hobby, so it’s okay.”
    Vive la différence and all that, but I’m capable of keeping two… interests separated all the same, ta. In fact, seeing some minis in such obvious, out-of-context, poses and depictions mostly breaks my suspension of disbelief and boots me out of the story, or setting. Much in the same way as enormous cricket-bat/surfboard swords, brick-shaped aircraft, or wolf-drawn flying viking bathtubs.

  2. Nil says:

    Agreed 100%. Thanks for voicing this.

  3. Redbat says:

    Guys, I really can’t understand, what your problem is. Female figures in Infinity are amazing, and there are no problem in different armor, so that we all have different bodies. And also, their poses are great. Why don’t you just cut off female head, and glue it in place of man’s one? That could be exactly what you want to have.

  4. Redbat, it is not the presence of female miniatures that is the problem, it’s the depiction. There’s no argument that Corvus Belli isn’t intentionally sculpting their females to look sexy. Infinity is inspired by anime and anime depicts females in this way. Corvus Belli isn’t ashamed of this.

    The point is whether it’s needed in wargames, and if there’s any downside to it. I think it’s not needed, and I think that putting off potential players is a big downside.

  5. Redbat says:

    Tyler Provick, I got your POV, I just disagree. Female figure always sexy, I can’t see problem in depicting them that way. They have their guns and armor, so they can fight, I think. Other option, is sculpting females just like males, but with a femalelike heads. I don’t know, what about you, but that fears me much more, than sexy female poses. Man, I really can’t imagine, how new cute Fusilier, for example, can put someone out of the game. If you are male, you just like she. If you are female… Well, why don’t you like she too?

  6. yoink101 says:

    It’s holding men and women to different standards that is sexist. Yes, men and women are different. But if you pick two people regardless of gender, they will be different. If you look at modern day women in the military, their uniforms are not hyper sexualized, they are practical. Imagine if you got a game where all of the men were pictured as worthless meatheads while the women were hyper intelligent and powerful. It’s funny the first time, right? What if that were the standard and every game you played, movie you watched, book you read, or advertisement you encountered dismissed the male intellect? Would you get sick of it and turned off of products that did it? I’d be willing to bet that you would. That’s why it’s sexist.

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