Welcome to the Blog where I post things that connect to other blogs:
1: I'm uncomfortable because I'm sharing this specifically because so much of the gendered discussion around Magic and gaming in general is because it's all geared "for men(boys)" with the assumption that objectified versions of powerful women are enough to get the girls along for the ride. So we never really get to see anything made with the idea of being attractive to us, some women MTG players I know find Jace or Sorin kinda hot but in a traditionally tropey way - we're supposed to like the emo looking thin MU and the metrosexual eurotrash looking vampire. I don't find either of them to be my cup of tea, but I respect the girls who do. But I'm genuinely surprised that there is a guy who is an illustration that engenders that reaction from me because it's literally the only one, not just in the set but in my entire experience with Magic.
1: I'm uncomfortable because I'm sharing this specifically because so much of the gendered discussion around Magic and gaming in general is because it's all geared "for men(boys)" with the assumption that objectified versions of powerful women are enough to get the girls along for the ride. So we never really get to see anything made with the idea of being attractive to us, some women MTG players I know find Jace or Sorin kinda hot but in a traditionally tropey way - we're supposed to like the emo looking thin MU and the metrosexual eurotrash looking vampire. I don't find either of them to be my cup of tea, but I respect the girls who do. But I'm genuinely surprised that there is a guy who is an illustration that engenders that reaction from me because it's literally the only one, not just in the set but in my entire experience with Magic.
I like my men kind of rugged with testosterone ( not testosterone poisoning ) and competent, really, really competent. (Jace and Sorin are a little too er . . . androgynous for my taste) So because the illustration kind of shows off his real body proportions as being equivalent to the work he does the angle, the jaw the dressed in clothes that are practical not ridiculous and he's actually doing something useful I find him hot. And I'm not used to finding these illustrations hot and that kind of makes me uncomfortable.
I now wonder if any guys who look at the art and actually find something that turns them on because it does instead of because it "should" also ever feel uncomfortable?
2. I am well aware that if I talked about his thighs and forearms the way that some people have discussed their favorite attributes of illustrations, comic book characters and actors and actresses, there is no social context to support my discussion of "sexy" that is not basically a female imitation of the marketing male objectification. I am uncomfortable because I know that my girlfriends who are certainly not shy about evaluating men based on attributes do not actually find aesthetically pleasing men good for anything but looking at. The context does not support objectification in the right way, even though we do it, I'm pretty sure that I'm not the one to communicate it.
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