Sexism in miniature 2 - It's not all bad

In a previous post, I went over the worst offenders in the Infinity line, and generally groused about how sculptors seem to design female figures as sex objects first and everything else second.

Today I thought I'd point out the figures that show that it's entirely possible to sculpt kickass women without inexplicably removing half their uniform and/or posing them in some weird knock-kneed stance.  This isn't a "well done, Corvus Belli!" post, it's more a "you've proven you can do it before, why can't you do it again?"



Naffatun

"The Naffatûn go into battle alone which is understandable given that that they are loaded with flammable equipment."

Fire in the disco!

Hot damn I love the Naffatun.  Badass combi-flamethrowers/rifles, cool helmets and a complete disregard for property values.  And look!  Everyone is wearing matching, sensible clothing, and no-one is knock-kneed, ass out!  This should be the norm, and not something I am surprised and happy about.  One of them does suffer from boob-armor, but more on that at the end of this post.



Keisotsu Butai


"...the StateEmpire Army uses the Keisotsu Butai in the front line, where the action is always dangerous and the mortality rate very high."

And yet their pleats are so crisp!

These are first generation sculpts, which means they're technically not as good as later waves.  It's mostly noticeable in the facial details, which can be a bit "lumpy".  But that's not the point here.  The point is that the male and female sculpts are dressed and equipped the same, both have similar, neutral poses, but you can tell their gender from a glance.


Hassassin Lasiqs

"Patience, acute eyesight, a firm pulse and an unbreakable faith in the objectives of the organization, are the qualities required to become a Lasiq."

Being a total badass doesn't hurt either.

Here's an interesting one, how do you suggest gender in a miniature that's not only wearing armour, but wearing a long hooded cloak over the top?  In this case, the sculptors have chosen to emphasise things like shoulder and leg proportions.  It's a little exaggerated but it's not exploitative and it works really well, with no need for bare asses or cleavage shots.

EDIT: Someone in comments pointed out that the female Lasiq is wearing heels.  I can't tell from the pictures (I thought she was wearing quite thick soles) and I don't have one in hand to check, but if she is wearing combat heels then.. well, that sucks.  Ridiculous footwear is another pet peeve of mine!    Never mind, yes she is. Ugh.  My thoughts on that are here.


Kempaitai

"Violent and implacable, their missions of punishment are true cold-blooded murders."

Ki ken tai ichi

If it seems like I'm deliberately choosing miniatures that are covered in head to toe in long coats, I'm not.  It's just that most of the more "normal" figures are.. well, they're the ones I wrote about in my last rant.  In any case, this is another great example of sculptors working with proportions and facial sculpts to represent male and female members of the same unit in an equal and awesome fashion.


Alguaciles

"The Alguaciles are good soldiers, skilful and stubborn, always swearing, but who’ll force themselves beyond what seems possible."

I like how "always swearing" is a selling point.

Another terrible 1st-gen sculpt (combat crouches and weird heads for everyone!), another example of gender equality.  Is this a rule somehow?  The better the sculpt, the more "fanservice"?


Borderline cases

While researching this article there was a couple of  units that I saved as good examples, but had second thoughts about when giving them another look. I think they're okay, but they display minor examples of stuff I complained about in the past.  I still rate them as good, but you might disagree.

Halqa

"Once they get off the vehicle, they will have to take a strategic position on the battlefield, which will see enemy fire concentrate on them." 

A to the K

I was in the middle of this writeup when I noticed that the female Halqa sculpt might actually be suffering from crop-top armour.  It's a bit hard to tell, and if she is they've painted it as if she's wearing a tight shirt underneath (it's the same colour as her arms).  It's up to you whether this is a problem, but it's a minor blemish on an otherwise great model and pose.  I would put it in with the others, but for fairness I've bumped it down to borderline.



Haramaki Zensenbutai

"Their loyalty, bravery and courage in battle are undeniable, they never turn down a challenge and they disdain automatic weapons"

You can disdain them all you like, automatic weapons will mess you up.

You knew it was coming. That's right.  Boob Armour.  Sculpted breasts on armour are inherently stupid for a number of reasons, the main one being that it actually guides projectiles towards the center of mass, rather than away from it.  Not to mention that most of the time it's just stupid cheesecake.

In this case, I think boob armour is being used as a simple shorthand for gender and nothing else.  I've already talked about the difficulties involved with portraying powered-armour male/female body shapes at 28mm scale, and how sculptors will exaggerate things like shoulder and leg proportions as a way of dealing with this. 

If this is the only technique used, however, we get some weird distortions where all women in power armour are weird stick-insect thin (and Infinity does have this problem).  So in this case I think the sculptor decided to add boob-armour as an easy signifier of gender.  While it's still silly, it's not exploitative, and I think that's the important part.  However, I totally understand if this kind of thing is a instant dealbreaker for you.

"Boob armour? No! Nooooooooooo!"

So there we have it.  Corvus Belli are perfectly capable of releasing miniatures of badass women soldiers without resorting to giving them distinct uniforms designed more like nightclub or fetish gear, and without giving them ridiculous poses.  But for whatever reason, they don't.  And that's a bit depressing when you think about it.