Women's Armor in Video Games, and/or other media.

Women’s armor in Video Games.

A lot of video games go back to the roots of Medieval and Dark Age type of weapons and garments, and often make a fantastical spin on it. But depending on the game, you likely have women trying to or succeeding in taking the role of a fighter or a warrior, perhaps a guard. This brings us to my point today, the armor they wear, which wouldn’t have any significance under certain circumstances, like the garments not meaning to allow you to take extra damage, and being a fighter who relies on stealth or overwhelming single blows while being too agile for a target. Some games like Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, feature legitimately heavy armor that actually covers the body. Other sources of women’s armor may not protect the body in the same way, but compare to the style even the men use to not be so much of an issue. While the majority of highly renowned and well known games don’t casually portray women in metal bikinis while trying to pass it off as armor, a lot of lesser known MMOs, Massively Multiplayer Online games, put women in an unnecessarily degrading outfit that in the games gives the same amount of damage reductions, comparatively to the men who wear full on plated armor that would actually protect you, completely falsely to any realism.

This video generally, (though slightly crudely), covers the logical steps and how people would like to justify this type of Misogyny.

This website hosts a study of how deeply video games can produce a large group of misogynistic behavior towards women in video games, some of which may carry over their real life behavior or simply their perspective and opinions about women. Sources like these that consistently objectify women, to the point where it is its own trope in media. It's a hard balance, of giving women in games a stronger presence they didn't even generally have in the Medieval time, or the Dark Ages, empowering some to be strong as men, tearing through enemies in the game just as easily regardless of which gender. But opportunities for game developers to cash in on the sexy "warrior woman" continue to be refreshed in too many games to change anything.