Does Mystique seem overly sexualized?

In a universe where Daken cannot find a shirt capable of covering his 6 pack and Sentry scoffs at the idea of a barber, no I don't think she's overly sexualized.

I can usually get behind these kinds of arguments (lack of respect for women, cultural / ethnic / racial diversity, etc), but Mystique is SUPPOSED to be sexualized.

She, Emma Frost, Daken, StaceyX, Poison, Typhoid Mary, and others base their lives around their sexuality, using it to get what they want.

It would be a disservice to their characters to cover them up or tone them down or censor them. They are liberated women. Leave them be.

20three wrote:

I mean her attacks are called "Masterstroke" and "Infiltration", her character symbol is a pair of lips, and her rack is absurdly gigantic during some of her animations. I'm thinking these may have been intentional.

If you are asking if Mystique is overly sexualized in the images in this game, the answer is a blatant yes. Personally the thing I hate most is her "roster" pose (when you look at her powers in your roster), since it is nearly impossible for someone to twist that way to show off their boob and butt at the same time, and certainly not while trying to casually walk down the street. The "lips" symbol I have no problem with, honestly, nor the names of her powers (double entendres or not).

You'll also notice many other female characters are overly sexualized, especially the earliest ones. Moonstone is probably the worst. Storm doesn't hold up well in any of her characters, nor does Black Widow. Yelena and She-Hulk are also quite bad.

Another thing that also clues you in: people trying to give a reason why she is sexualized that has nothing to do with her character's motivations. "Other characters are too" and "that's how many comic book characters look" are key straw mans to let you know that the character is definitely hyper sexualized, because those excuses are not excuses. What those are really saying that it's a big, big problem and it goes far beyond this character, and they are right. It's a serious issue with the entire comic book industry, but they are working - very slowly - to fix it.

Another false excuse is that because a tiny, tiny fraction of the male characters are also sexualized, that means that the vast, vast majority of female characters being sexualized is ok. This is, of course, just silly. But the fact that it gets mentioned again clues you in to the fact that you're right.

That said:

To give the devs credit, Mystique is probably the LAST overly sexualized character they released. Since her, there's been a slew of really good character art and design: Squirrel Girl, Scarlet Witch, and Kamala Khan have all been extremely good (Thor's and Gamora's boobplates being the two low points since Mystique). So even this game is trying to get better - slowly. They just haven't gone back to change any of the particularly bad images.

theHappyDance wrote:

So the gender balance is once again pretty badly off.

Another systemic problem within the comic book industry.

theHappyDance wrote:

Also, I can't be the only one thinking they need to find better artwork for 4Thor with a realistic breastplate instead of boob-plate (or switch it out for a super-suit instead). i.e. something that wouldn't give her cardiac arrest the first time she took a hit in it.

Part of the problem is that the character is new and has only one costume so far and it's boobplate. (Well, or hospital robes.) For as interesting a character she is, they did not step too far outside their comfort zone with the costume: specifically, the "rule" that you need **** to tell a character is a woman, especially if you can't see her face (which is also a systemic problem). Not saying you aren't right, and giving her a realistic breastplate would be an awesome move for D3. But I can at least cut them some slack for having so little to work with, cannon-wise.

By contrast, Mystique could look like literally anything, so they don't get a pass there.

IceIX wrote:

Bet Tilda Swinton could pull off a cravat...

Tilda Swinton could pull off anything.



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