Feminism

[Ninety-Three]

I'm struggling to develop an appreciation for the value people place in fashion and aesthetics, of not an appreciation for fashion and aesthetics themselves, but fashion snark will only ever read as pointless, superficial and mean spirited. Especially when it's just shooting fish in a barrel like this.

 

Perhaps they were just being mean-spirited, intent is hard to judge, but I can imagine someone writing that piece because they wanted to get to that concluding paragraph, and this thesis-statement in particular:

 

Nowhere is E3's soul-crushing professionalism more apparent than in the menswear on display.

[Twig]

I'm struggling to develop an appreciation for the value people place in fashion and aesthetics, of not an appreciation for fashion and aesthetics themselves, but fashion snark will only ever read as pointless, superficial and mean spirited. Especially when it's just shooting fish in a barrel like this.

What's the follow up, the people of Walmart?

That's pretty much how I feel, too. I wear the same type of clothes every day, and I don't believe it has anything to do with my "privilege". It's just what I'm comfortable wearing. And it's very similar to what those people are wearing.

 

I'm down with the previous Men's Fashion in the Games Industry article that was linked in this thread, which was about women (and, by extension (though not directly named), other men who don't want to dress the same way!) feeling uncomfortable dressing the way they want to dress because it makes them an outsider. But this one just comes off as "lol look at all these slobs". No thanks.

[Reyturner]

Maybe it's just that it's tonally all over the place, since, in regards to EA CEO Andrew "Shadowrun Villain" Wilson, here opens with:

"Fellas," writes Mashable's Emily Siegel, "you can't make it to CEO in your pajamas — unless you're Mark Zuckerberg, that is."

Like, sick burn I guess? Is this a lament of crushing professionalism and homogeneous faces, or is it article number 10,534 about "lol, look at these dumpy nerds".

[SuperBiasedMan]

Except that it is a privilege to be able to do that without it being something you're judged for most of the time. Articles like this judging how casually a lot of the industry dresses aren't that common. I'm the same, I wear just jeans and whatever. I'm not someone who divulges any real attention to what I wear, but that's absolutely a privilege.

 

Plenty of non white dudes need to think about what they wear because they will be judged in certain ways for wearing it. But a lot of white dudes like us just don't want to think about that and are entirely able to because this industry facilitates that in a way that it doesn't facilitate people that enjoy being fashion conscious. See examples of white dudes reacting uncomfortabley to others expressing a fashion sense by dieing their hair or wearing 'unconventional' clothes.

 

You probably don't judge these people (at least not consciously) like that, but the privilege is not having to be targeted by that judgement. 

 

EDIT: I'm on a terrible laptop so I can't quote or edit posts properly, but this is in reference to Twig's post above.

[Apple Cider]

Maybe it's because you can be considered a professional/authority in dumpy nerd land in a metal t-shirt and jeans whereas if you're dressed up as a woman at these events, you're probably still considered a booth babe?

 

I don't doubt that a lot of "lol dumpy nerd" articles are rather mean but on the other hand, the vast difference between what women thought was presentable and what men thought was presentable at E3 was a gaping chasm and it has to do with what is considered "appropriate" for women to wear as professionals and what men can get away with in nerd job spaces. 

 

I have to say though, it's interesting the kinds of reactions that happen when people make fun of how regular ol' nerd dudes dress. It sucks when you're constantly judged on your appearance, isn't it guys?

[Twig]

Yeah it does suck, which is why I don't do it.

 

Shrug.

 

EDIT: Also, just to be clear, when I talk about what I'm "comfortable" wearing, it isn't just what I'm personally happy wearing. I used to love wearing Hawaiian shirts, I dunno, they're fun, so sue me, but I stopped doing that sometime in high school because it's just asking for attention, and usually the mocking kind. I'd still wear them sometimes today, but I don't, because I know it'd receive the same kind of attention. Just because I'm a white dude doesn't mean I'm immune to this shit.

 

EDIT EDIT: Haha I even felt the need to slip in a defense of my desire to wear a Hawaiian shirt, and that's just some text on a computer screen. This is why I'd rather just never go outside ever.

 

This article fuckin' sucked. I dunno. It was just mean and served no purpose. Sorry, that's how I feel.

[BusbyBerkeley]

Here's another "reviewing E3 fashion" article that seems to be more than just snark on how bad all those dudes on stage were dressed.

 

Also, I find it kind of funny how defensive and mad people get about these things. If you're going to present on stage at a huge press conference, wear something that doesn't look like garbage. It's SO RARE for dudes to be told chastised about their wardrobe in any serious manner. Women get that shit ALL THE TIME. 

[Apple Cider]

Having your clothes mocked sucks and I empathize a lot, it's just interesting to see this discussion occurring here. Especially as someone who is painfully aware of what I'm not allowed to wear as a fat woman.

[Twig]

Yeah and I by no means want to diminish what women go through with this because it's undeniably worse, so if I came off that way, I'm sorry. And I'm usually all for mocking white dudes for their homogeneity. But in this specific case, I think that homogeneity comes from a desire to fit in, more than it comes from a just being a white dude.

 

Fashion is, for some reason, something people care way too much about (in my opinion), and there are people out there who will readily attack anyone for dressing "weird". Or calling their clothing "garbage" because they aren't wearing a suit and tie. I fucking hate wearing a suit and tie. If I could go the rest of my life without ever having to do it, I absolutely would. No clothing makes me more uncomfortable, both physically and mentally. But, unfortunately, funerals exist. I hope I can convince whoever might end up organizing my funeral to mandate a no-suit-and-tie rule. Assuming anyone would even go. O:

[Gwardinen]

I see where some of you are going with the idea that white males in the games industry being able to dress "dumpily" is a privilege, and in that way you can see this article as punching up. That's a fair point. The reason why I would never have written an article like that is that I don't think that's a privilege that needs to be attacked, I think that's a privilege that needs to be extended.

 

I don't have a problem with white guys wearing whatever the fuck they want, and I don't want to change the fact that they can. All I would want is for everyone else to also be able to wear whatever the fuck they want, so I don't think we need more critique of white guy fashion, I think we need less critique of everyone else's.

[tegan]

I'm surprised that the first article didn't realize that the t-shirt the Xbox guy was wearing was part of a reveal. After they announced the Rare collection he walked back out onstage with the jacket open so that you could see the shirt had the Rare logo on it.

[natellite]

Maybe it's because you can be considered a professional/authority in dumpy nerd land in a metal t-shirt and jeans whereas if you're dressed up as a woman at these events, you're probably still considered a booth babe?

 

I don't doubt that a lot of "lol dumpy nerd" articles are rather mean but on the other hand, the vast difference between what women thought was presentable and what men thought was presentable at E3 was a gaping chasm and it has to do with what is considered "appropriate" for women to wear as professionals and what men can get away with in nerd job spaces. 

 

I have to say though, it's interesting the kinds of reactions that happen when people make fun of how regular ol' nerd dudes dress. It sucks when you're constantly judged on your appearance, isn't it guys?

 

This whole thing hearkens back to the "video game industry dress code" debate from... this thread? The GG thread, maybe? that happened a few weeks ago. It's a tremendous double standard, and I'm genuinely surprised to see that the criticism is being taken at face value 'round these parts.

[Merus]

I dunno, that article's thesis is basically dress like the corporate behemoth you are, or express your personality through clothing choice. Don't half-ass it.

Saying that jeans and a t-shirt is comfortable and therefore sufficient makes me wonder if it isn't the fashion equivalent of chicken nuggets.

[Reyturner]

#nuggetshaming

[Apple Cider]

This whole thing hearkens back to the "video game industry dress code" debate from... this thread? The GG thread, maybe? that happened a few weeks ago. It's a tremendous double standard, and I'm genuinely surprised to see that the criticism is being taken at face value 'round these parts.

 

Especially considering how it's a qualitative judgement about sartorial choices and not their value as a human being too, which many other people get on a regular basis. No one is saying you can't wear what you want when you're out living life and certainly think a lot of dress codes are restrictive but what is being asked here is if you are a game developer in a professional space, at least put some effort into it. 

[Problem Machine]

I think they might be putting effort into not putting effort into it. I think the perception is that putting effort into it would make them look bad? I dunno. Video games are basically fashion opposite day forever?

[clyde]

I think they might be putting effort into not putting effort into it. I think the perception is that putting effort into it would make them look bad? I dunno.

This is what I got out of the first article and it corroborates pretty well with what we've heard about the de facto dress-code (the male-dominant social pressure to look like you don't care about your appearance) in the games industry.

That second review was pretty interesting. I had no idea that Aisha Tyler had been so clever with her clothes and it was nice to see it pointed out so I could appreciate it.

[Badfinger]

Isn't everyone on an E3 stage going through wardrobe, or at least being vetted? I feel like the critique should be directed towards whomever at that company thinks that's what Video Game Dudes "should" be dressed in, as opposed to those guys being picked out. The second review indirectly points out that all the presenters on stage were outfitted the same for each company. It wasn't like a carte blanch decision or a case by case basis. Outside of Aisha Tyler, all the Ubisoft ladies had the same blazer/button down/jeans look as well.

 

I do appreciate learning that the jeans/blazer look is called a mullet.

[Zeusthecat]

I just don't get fashion critiques at all. It is such a stupid fucking thing to focus on and yet our society is completely inundated with magazines and television and so-called 'fashion experts' making claims about how wonderful person A looks and how terrible person B looks because of the combination of fabric and colors they decided to wear. It is just all so dumb and pointless.

[clyde]

If it's so dumb and pointless then then why do so many folks (especially women) seem to pay so much attention to it and talk about it as if it's a valuable form to appreciate?

I think that you may just need some foundational techniques that can help you start to enjoy fashion unless you want to just constantly reaffirm that it is stupid. Join us Zeusthecat.

[Apple Cider]

You don't have to like it but it's definitely not pointless and it occupies the same sort of space as video games - part consumer culture, part art field, part skill people believe it's important to have. 

[itsamoose]

Edit: Moved to Fashion Thread

[Reyturner]

edit: we have a fashion thread now

[BadHat]

There's some shit going around about the Mad Max spin-off comic about Furiosa, for good reason. Man, it feels like it's been a while since I've read about a project so colossally fucking mishandled as this one.

 

TW: everything.

 

http://www.anamardoll.com/2015/06/film-corner-we-need-to-talk-about.html

[Argobot]

So I strongly feel that these backstory tie-ins are usually garbage, largely because they detract from whatever made the original story great. In this case, the movie Fury Road is great because a lot of these background details are never explained to the audience, which is an incredibly effective form of storytelling. A prequel comic will always be worse, because by its nature it is undoing what made the film work.

 

That said, I really do not like this article that is getting linked with its page by page deconstruction of this comic. The author really feels like she is trying to find fault in every line of the comic, which ends up making her argument feel incredibly weak and overwrought. If she had just written a generally summary of why this comic is bad, why using rape as a narrative can be bad, then I would be much more supportive. This combing over of every possible transgression the comic can make is not a good way to criticize something, especially when her criticism feels very thin, which is often. I shouldn't read an article like this and start to sympathize with the comic, but I did, largely because I saw the author working overtime to twist everything to fit her thesis when she didn't need to.