lawrence
Troubadour
Came across this : BBC News - The battle against 'sexist' sci-fi and fantasy book covers on the BBC site today.
Quite an interesting piece. I have to confess being a fan of the way females are often portrayed in fantasy art and online games. As a male it's hard to resist the appeal of a beautiful elf dressed rather less conservatively than Galadriel. I do recognise that it is 'unreal' and even a tad silly (going into combat in a mithril-plate bikini doesn't seem that wise. Lots of bare skin in between the protected bits!)
But still, isn't part of the appeal of fantasy the element of striking visual beauty, be it drawn in landscapes, cities, or the male and female forms? Also, the focus in the article is the female depictions. But men are equally portrayed as eye candy on covers. For example, the Conan covers featured alot of masculine flesh alongside the scantily-clad girls. That said, I think there is alot of room for heroes that are more than mighty of arm. Aragorn leaves Conan in the dust imo. Anyway...have a read of the article.
Quite an interesting piece. I have to confess being a fan of the way females are often portrayed in fantasy art and online games. As a male it's hard to resist the appeal of a beautiful elf dressed rather less conservatively than Galadriel. I do recognise that it is 'unreal' and even a tad silly (going into combat in a mithril-plate bikini doesn't seem that wise. Lots of bare skin in between the protected bits!)
But still, isn't part of the appeal of fantasy the element of striking visual beauty, be it drawn in landscapes, cities, or the male and female forms? Also, the focus in the article is the female depictions. But men are equally portrayed as eye candy on covers. For example, the Conan covers featured alot of masculine flesh alongside the scantily-clad girls. That said, I think there is alot of room for heroes that are more than mighty of arm. Aragorn leaves Conan in the dust imo. Anyway...have a read of the article.