Oh my gosh, look at her BUTT: On Tracer and Twitter Interactions

Earlier today, Tracer had a pose removed where she stood with her back to the camera and nothing else.



The removal came to the media's attention when Jeff Kaplan--the game director of Overwatch--replied to the forum thread, which claimed that this position ruined Tracer's character by being overtly sexual and otherwise demeaning her. He said he didn't want people to feel excluded from Overwatch, so the pose was now removed after discussing it with his team.



It seemed very odd to me as a result and I couldn't help but share my opinion because it made no sense.



I found it silly for a lot of reasons, none of them because of exclusion. I feel bad if someone feels like a character doesn't represent them or otherwise offends them. However, I also feel like it's important to realize that sometimes people can be offended for reasons that aren't always normal nor the actual reality of the situation.



In the case of Tracer and her "sexualization" aka bad pose...



1) She isn't making any animations or otherwise emphasizing her posterior

2) Many male champions have similar poses, including Hanzo, who has his back to the camera in a similar way

3) She's wearing a fairly standard outfit--her pants are leggings which are VERY popular nowadays. Naturally, her ass is well-defined in this clothing as a side result

4) She's a cheeky Brit who is full of attitude, of course she'd go to the side and be like ":D I won." It's just a normal pose, period.





The biggest detractors have two points:



1) If anyone is offended, it's thus problematic (and you should support its removal, to support people who were hurt)



2) Blizzard made Tracer and therefore they have the right to deem what she wears, does, or otherwise looks like



As for the first point: I really disagree. I've seen this time and time again as an argument, but sometimes people get emotional or upset about things then try to push their viewpoint as the morally right one. I find domestic abuse and choking HORRIFYING. I personally cannot watch movies with it and I find jokes like "choke a bitch" really upsetting to me personally. This is because I have PTSD from nearly dying while being choked by my own father. It was bad enough I haven't seen him since. That said, I don't care if it's portrayed in the media. When Tomb Raider had Lara being choked, I was triggered because it mirrored my own struggle a lot. I was upset it existed at first. But instead of being angry, I questioned if it was a good thing to show or if it had any merit--if my own view was perhaps too sensitive on it and I couldn't be objective.



I couldn't, for obvious reasons. I was embroiled in my own experiences and views. And as such, I think it was a good portrayal; it helped others see the violence and feel Lara's helplessness, it was a major turning point in Lara becoming a killing machine (she finally got how she couldn't reason with anyone, she had to murder them), and it was generally a good plot vehicle. It was a bit raw for me and I wouldn't experience it again if I could help it, but it had a right to exist. I am not the sole arbiter in what media can exist and what media can't, right?



And that's the problem. If someone sees something as sexualized, it doesn't mean it necessarily is. In times like these, it can be helpful to judge it overall. In the thread, it was like a 50:1 response defending Tracer. Women defended Tracer as well. The same thing happened in my timeline, and I follow a lot of women.



Yet people keep saying if one person feels bad, it has to be changed. I just cannot agree with that mentality. The world would never get anything done if we tried to please everyone. You cannot make everyone happy. (And before you twist my words, I think sometimes outcries can be valid. But in this case, the nature of the pose and Tracer and how normal she was, I think it's pretty clear that she wasn't exactly sexed up here. Maybe if she'd slapped her ass or jiggled it, I could get it (but still disagree), but to me I didn't even think she was showing off her ass...she was just standing with her back to the camera?)



I also feel like it was slut-shaming to a degree, which was a bit ridiculous. She has to cover up or not show her ass off so much to be "a good girl" again. That's just shitty. I'm so very against policing women's clothes or presentation. I don't understand how it was inappropriate or how an outfit millions of women would wear (removing the scifi elements, of course) is demeaning to wear.



A lot of men also told me that it wasn't about her clothing. But I disagree vehemently there as well. The pose itself is literally just her standing. Not bending over, and again, no emphasis on her ass. To me that means it is all about the clothing. If her butt wasn't as well-defined, which it is thanks to the leggings, it wouldn't have been "offensive."



Anyway, onto the second point: Blizzard CAN change their characters, at any point. I didn't argue that. But likewise, as a consumer, I can call them out on a change that I find bizarre. I can question it. I don't pretend to imagine they'll listen, but at the same time, they listened to this one outraged customer so why shouldn't we share our POVs too?



It doesn't make me a baby. Caring about this doesn't mean I'm perverted. It just means I don't understand why one user's viewpoint means more than a dozen user's viewpoints--it means that I don't embrace the philosophy that if someone is offended, we must neutralize the offense at all costs.



Sometimes we should just look into it and conclude that it's inevitable: someone will always be offended. Does each outcry deserve the same response? Are all offenses created equal?





Since I spoke out, I got blocked including by a few formerly mutual followers whom I've had nothing but great conversations with prior. It honestly sucked. But I came to the realization that I don't want these "friends" anyway. To me, if someone disagrees respectfully, it's fine; if they can agree to disagree and move on, it makes both of us more mature and enlightened. I'm always open to recourse and debate*.



But I am not open to being shamed into switching a viewpoint I will never see. I am not into being treated like a reprehensible person because I think removing a pose in a video game is a waste of Blizzard's time (and a capitulation that just encourages further sensitivity). I am not into being called a bad woman because I like Tracer's outfit. I am not OK with being told I don't understand and/or am somehow intellectually inferior because I disagree about it being offensive. I am not happy that my argument is distilled into how I'm basically a big baby who wants to stare at asses all day (I really don't, Tracer isn't even my type of girl).



Be better than that.





* Except about this. I am done talking about butts. I don't even care about Tracer as a character, I just found it fucking weird to remove a NORMAL pose because a person found it problematic. At what point do we stop?

Reply · Report Post