I think there needs to be a serious talk on the representation of women in Malifaux.
In general I think Malifaux does much better than other wargames; there is a strong female presence in the characters, and they are written to be more than side-notes or as foils to the men. Wyrd have also done a lot to improve their scuplts of women since starting. This doesn’t mean there aren’t areas that can be improved though.
My biggest issue comes from with how may of the characters are dressed and sculpted. Beyond ‘in character’ revealing clothes there are many outfits which are designed to enhance sex appeal on characters where this is not part of their background, and where the male version is dressed normally (see gunsmiths for a good example). Moreover many female characters have a body type that I can only describe as ‘male fantasy’. They’re not proportioned well, and the models sexuality seems to be a core facet of the sculpt. I propose that both of these things should change from the Wyrd design team moving forward. Jesse Holliday is a great step in this direction going by her art, and maybe Wyrd are already moving this way (though Pandora goes in the other direction), what I would hate to see is that the render than changes her body type. Wyrd sculpters seem more than capable of making a model apparently female without sticking large breasts and a narrow waist on her.
To answer some common questions/rebuttals I have seen to this suggestion:
Why do this?
I have struggled to get people into the game, especially female friends, due to these sculpts. They appreciate everything else about the game but this oftens winds up being a deal breaker/killing interest. There is no reason to not make this change unless a significant proportion of the community actively want sculpts looking like this. In which case I need to question whether I want to stay in the community.
I don’t see a problem with the sculpts.
That’s great. I’m highlighting that there are people who do. Unless it really pains you to have your women unsexualised, you shouldn’t mind a change.
Why can’t they just play with what they like, and I play with what I like?
Unfortunately you cannot pick what you play against. Additionally it is about the community we want to portray to people. From my experience Malifaux is one of the most open and accepting communities, but if people actively are petitioning for models that look like male fantasies, then this attitude definitely won’t be seen by everyone.