Some thoughts on women's fantasy armor

 I hate the argument that “women aren’t strong enough to wear armor” or “women are agile, not strong.” First off, this is stupid. Secondly, besides the fact that armor is more maneuverable than most people assume, female armor mostly shows up in fantasy, a genre often known for its poetic or cinematic breaks from reality. A man can cleave his foe in twain in slow-mo, but a woman with good upper body strength breaks suspension of disbelief? Wut?

Besides, fantasy isn’t about what people “should” do. If you think about it, an illiterate, but pure-hearted peasant really shouldn’t become the king. Maybe the heroine should have learned a more agility-based fighting art. But she didn’t, because she must be a knight, like her father before her!!!111 Well, why not? If you can use “it’s not real life” to justify skimpy armor, you can use “it’s not real life” to justify a 16 year-old waifish elf girl in full plate one-handing a zweihander.

Playing the devil's advocate, yes, skimpy armor occasionally allows people to "dodge," though not as often as video games would have you believe. Real life sometimes imitates art. There’s an Indian martial art called Kalaripayattu that emphasizes flexibility and flying leaps. It’s amazing to watch. Weapons include swords with shields, daggers, and a whirling, whip-like sword. The male practitioners fight in thongs or loincloths, and give each other therapeutic oil massages as part of their Yoga practice! If these were ladies in D&D, people would be screaming “sexist”. Ironically, the women practitioners IRL are more modestly dressed due to religious conservatism. So yes, in certain traditions, fighting naked or in little clothing is perfectly feasible. But I’d still rather have a woman be unarmored than stupidly armored.

I personally dislike the idea that skimpy female armor is to distract men. Not from a realism perspective but from an artistic one. A good action hero has agency. His badassery stems from doing things, not in the influencing of other people to do things. If a lady warrior wears impractical armor to mess with men, it’s exactly the same stupid, sexist argument that was mocked in a widely-linked anti-feminist bingo card: “Women have all the power over men- you can reduce us to an uncontrollable jelly of lust!” I’m not like, outraged that a woman warrior is sexy- that’s appealing also- but I like to see a female warrior, when she’s on the field, rely more on her skills than on head-gaming men.

In a non-sex-related example, sensitivity is important in a female surgeon, both as a doctor and as a woman. But in her professional life, more emphasis should be placed on the job’s primary medical skills, not secondary social skills. If some medical drama about her only showed how damn NICE she was and didn’t show much actual surgery, I’d be pissed.

An anthropologist once noted that in all societies she’s observed, little girls aimed to please. Little boys aimed to excel. I want my women heroes to excel.

Bleeding Man Wins Saber Gold

From the Associated Press, an excerpt from the report on Men's Team Saber.

Quote:

---

After upsetting Hungary, the Americans trailed France 40-38 in the semifinals when Smart came in to fence Damien Touya. Smart rallied to tie it at 44. On the next play, no point was scored, but Smart's saber went through Touya's glove, piercing his hand at the webbing of the fingers, and exiting through his palm. The match stopped so Touya could receive treatment, while France's replacement athlete, Boris Sanson, started to warm up.

With the 10-minute injury timeout set to end, Touya chose to return to the match with his injured and bandaged hand instead of being replaced.

"He was especially courageous since we were tied at 44-44," said Philippe Omnes, the technical director of the French fencing federation.

The two fencers attacked two more times but no points were awarded. On each play, referee Jose Luis Alvarez of Spain determined that the fencers attacked simultaneously.

On the fourth attempt at a deciding point, Smart and Touya both recorded touches, but Alvarez ruled that Touya caught Smart while preparing to attack, giving the Frenchman the victory.

"France ... you know ... man, that hurt," Smart said. "Everyone was there, everyone saw it. For whatever reason the officials didn't want to help us out."

Smart stood in the middle of the strip, his helmet off and mouth agape, after the referee awarded the final point to Touya, who had bloodstains on the leg of his white suit.

---

Whoever says Frenchmen are wussy has it dead wrong. They just have better things to do than go to war.

Pictures, anyone?