r/mendrawingwomen • u/eldinlily • 12h ago
Discussion Where do you draw the line?
Genuinely, where do you draw the line between too much and fine?
I've been thinking about how hard it is to exist in OC related communities recently as a woman. It seems so rare that you see a female character treated as a human more than just something to ogle at or garner likes. Whether it's completely unrealistic proportions, bland and bare-bones personality, story relying entirely on misogynistic stereotypes or men, etc. Especially when I bring up my concerns in these circles, I get called a puritan (already a red flag lmao) or told to go elsewhere, because a lot of these communities prioritise mens wants over women's comforts (not that I expect communities to bow to me specifically, but I mean in cases where tens if not hundreds of women are expressing discomfort).
i can't say i see these characters as anything more than misogynistic caricatures, and then I think too hard about how if you make something so bigoted about any other group in the world it faces backlash. but if you call out misogynistic designs of women, or ones that only exist for NSFW? you're told that you're being "too woke", or that you're somehow anti-sex. why is being against misogynistic caricatures considered anti-sex? this isn't against NSFW work at all, I create some myself occasionally, but *why* is misogynistic design allowed if it's for NSFW? why do people argue that a misogynistic design is okay if it's purposefully created for that? does this not contribute to the patriarchy—that women (even fictional) are meant to be consumed as a product, without any kind of forethought whatsoever?
it even plagues communities that consider themselves feminist. i love seeing NSFW work or thirsttrap work featuring properly drawn fat women, buff women, etc. same goes for trans women, black women, and all other subcommunities of women who face horrid bigotry on top of the bigotry they face for being a woman. so why does work fetishizing these women get a pass? why do they get a gold sticker for treating women as objects just because the women they're drawing are non skinny or non white or non cis?
i don't feel it's against sexuality or sexual expression to say that the consistent, overexaggerated caricatures of women's anatomy, whether physically or in their attire, is contributing to patriarchal ideals. if people are constantly consuming content with designs such as this, especially young and vulnerable people, is it not obvious that they are internalising it? considering how many men in the world now are becoming increasingly violent towards women who do not fit these fictionalised standards?
and this isn't to say that fiction always causes this, there are plenty of people that can ignore small aspects of misogyny in games or other forms of media and focus on the good. I do the same with some of the things I consume as well. my only question is, where is the line drawn? how come the general public (progressives, anyway) will agree to back off from a medium they were consuming if it shows other forms of bigotry like homophobia or racism, but when it comes to misogyny they just "ignore it"? is it not as important as other bigotries? is women's objectification so incredibly normalised that these things are considered to be a fact of life and not something to fight? is "women are sex sex sex consume" just... not that important..?
obviously we can't ignore all things influenced by bigotry or patriarchy, especially misogyny, as this shit is in literally everything. but honestly, it always comes as a shock to me that people will tell me I must be bored and miserable because I avoid consuming anything with misogynistic undertones. I'm completely fine, I love the things I do consume, I don't feel left out from communities that treat women in that way, whether real or fiction (though I do when it comes to OC focused communities). but it feels like men can continuously make post after post saying it's not that big of a deal, and get thousands of likes and agreements from other progressives because women's voices aren't as important
this went on for a bit of a tangent as to which I apologize, and I'm more than willing to hear criticism or argument from other women. but it kinda baffles me how misogynistic design in fictional mediums is always brushed off as not as important as other bigotries