Note how, in the picture below вЂ“ which is about as good as a fantasy picture is going to get вЂ“ even the Half-Orc and the Dwarf are not permitted to be stocky (the Half-Orc is done in a very She-Hulk, вЂњIвЂ™m just a very tall supermodelвЂќ style, though at least she doesnвЂ™t have the pipestem arms). A perfectly flat, but not muscular, midriff.Narrow hips (an oddity given the curves required for that bosom).No more than about 130 pounds, often much less.Google Images can barf up some weird things, but вЂњ fantasy womenвЂќ shows us a fairly clear standard: Whereas thereвЂ™s a limit to what Photoshop can do, fantasy art knows no such restriction. For one thing, take a look at Jim Hines trying to assume poses from fantasy covers. Now, when a woman turns to D&D to create her idealized self, what does she see? Sadly, the imagery is actually worse than that found in modeling. If you watch your players closely enough, their characters will tell you a lot about the person they wish that they could be. When people build characters, they generally make them with most of the qualities they like about themselves, then add a couple of qualities they wish they had. Now, you might be asking, вЂњIsnвЂ™t this a D&D blog? I get that girls are bombarded with images telling them that they need to be impossibly thin, but what does this have to do with roleplaying?вЂќ Well, one of the primary aspects of roleplaying is projection onto the character. Women are constantly being told that their bodies are wrong and that they arenвЂ™t sexy in the right way, sometimes in very subtle ways.* The other model in the picture essentially has the build and bust of an adolescent. Except for being a bit tall, sheвЂ™s actually average. Katya Zharkova, the model on the right, is 5вЂ™10вЂќ and about 135-145 pounds. Now go back to the picture of the two models together. If I had to bend over like this, I would die. LetвЂ™s take a look at some of them that stand out: ThatвЂ™s right, the world considers these women fat. What youвЂ™re looking at is the general consensus for вЂњplus-sizedвЂќ. Okay, guys, do me a favor and follow this link or this link. When someone starts with the idea that вЂњitвЂ™s just a game, so the normal rules donвЂ™t applyвЂќ, unacceptable behavior starts to creep into the out-of-game experience. You see this most often in the form of transferred misogyny. The way women (of all species within the game) are portrayed has an effect on how people approach the game and how they view the female players.Unrealistic and hypersexual female models make many women feel uncomfortable.Having so few women changes the flavor of the game. The surveys, which you can still take, suggest that women make up only about 15-20% of the player base (though, to be fair, thatвЂ™s an average of about one woman per 5-person group). It would be nice to have more women playing D&D.Today weвЂ™re going to look at how women are depicted graphically in fantasy roleplaying games (as distinct from sexism or misogyny).

Dwarf female proportions fix