Magic the Gathering!

Commentary - I don’t understand why there’s a Tumblr of some chick with weird boobs posing naked with Magic cards.

mtgfan:

ianthe:

MtGFan’s response: The girl in particular, actually makes a living (or supplements her living) though softcore camera shows. That’s a-okay, since she choose that particular path. No, what do people call it, “slut-shaming” here. She’s proud of her body and the idea that she plays Magic the Gathering, a game she enjoys and is willing to share. That’s absolutely within her right to do, and your right to complain about. Not taking a side on this subject, but rather a much bigger one:

The problem isn’t girls who show their boobs and play Magic the Gathering. The problem is when people think (or actively take part in) girls who play Magic the Gathering must be using their womanly physical charms on a mostly male audience.

This kind of sexism or discrimination has to stop. Much like how many of my friends who are women can’t use their voice on XBox LIVE without being called “a 12-year-old boy,” or being asked to “show us ur tits if you’re really a gurl.” That kind of behavior is immature and is something the rest of the gamer population need to stand apart from.

Remember, each person is a representative of the medium you happen to be partaking in. People should also be aware that just because so see a sample of the population doesn’t mean all of the population is that. Not all MtG female players show their breasts or are trying to captivate you. Not all MtG men are misogynistic douche bags. Every group has its vocal minority.

If you haven’t yet, read my article on Why Elitism Kills Games. A lot of the same logic can be applied here.

I encourage you to keep this conversation going through reblogs and replies at Disqus. I’d really like your feedback.

I appreciate that you’re engaging the topic.

The problem isn’t this girl, she just happened to be what spurred my thoughts at the moment. My thoughts being that there are two prevailing ideas of girls who play magic: 1) They’re that girl in the skimpy Magic card dress who rely on their looks or 2) They’re not good at Magic.

Fantasy games and art all sexualize women to a level I find disconcerting (I presume because of the assumed target audience). I find myself actually getting excited when I see a woman depicted in MTG art wearing armor that might actually protect her in a combat scenario. Guys by and large get badass armor and girls get to superglue hubcabs over their nipples and hope for the best.

I want the badassery of a lot of female MTG players to get the recognition it deserves, but when Tumblr posts reinforce the “I hate when I’m not the only girl at a tournament”/”look at me oh em gee i luv magic cards LOOK IT’S MY BOOBS” mindset it starts to seem hopeless.

Cheers for intelligent conversation!

One of the reasons I follow http://womenfighters.tumblr.com/. It even has a few MtG arts in there like Naya Hushblade and Elspeth, Knight-Errant.

One of the ways you, me, and the rest of the population can do to fight attention-hungry folk is to starve them at the source. Deny them the attention.