Women in Combat




I read a wonderful blog post regarding the absurdity of women's armor in fantasy:  Fantasy Armor and Lady Bits  
I find this a practical examination as well as hilarious view of the subject.  There is a formula in the post that sums up the subject quite well.



This post was inspired by the the tumbler feed:  Women Fighters in Reasonable Armor 

The descriptions in this feed describe the pics as "awesome", "fine example", and "cool"

Most often these are descriptions that one would find in a collection of "Men Fighters in Armor."  I believe the majority of Women in Armor galleries would include words like "sexy", "oh yeah", and "babe." 

I believe a corollary to these posts is the following:  Impractical Aspects of Superhero Costumes
Although, this post should have been entitled "Completely Impractical Aspects of Superheroine Costumes."
This post expands the sexism of women in fantasy to women in comics.




I know.  I know.  The expected retort to this thread is "obviously, immature men and boys are the ones reading comics and fantasy novels as well as playing fantasy games."
...
My response to this is "the artists for the fantasy and comics have most likely not fought an actual woman trained in combat."  Through the years, I have dabbled in various combat styles and there have always been women in my classes.  There have been girls and women in my fencing classes that have easily been able to best me.  And in the martial arts classes I have attended have had women instructors whom I would not like to be on the receiving end of their attacks without protective gear.

In this video of women sparring in a taekwondo match, they're wearing effective pugilist's armor.


There are other comparisons such as women fencers, boxers, and even women's MMA.
All of them show two sides of the combatants, participating in their chosen sport in the appropriate "armor", and also a "sexy" side to them

Gina Carano -WMMA Fighter  




Laila Ali - Boxer

  Natalie Vie - Fencer Potrait by Daniel Kongos

In conclusion - our society is going to view women in the same vein as the fantasy and comic artists, but it's important to point out they are also valid warriors.

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