Monster Hunter: World gives strong women proper body representation

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Monster Hunter: World's representation of strong women and their bodies should be celebrated and copied in other games

Monster Hunter: World can be described with many words but ‘realistic’ is not a prominent one. After all, you’re fighting giant fantastical beasts with absurdly large weapons, all while your bipedal pet cat runs around in a fairy outfit. Many aspects of the Monster Hunter series fall clearly in the realm of fantasy, but one aspect of these games that is realistic is how women, and their bodies, are represented.

Many games portray strong women in a particular way. Tiny waists, big hips, and large breasts all emphasise the hourglass figure at often unattainable measurements. Even when women in games are said to be powerful warriors they’re drawn petite. Think of the shape that Lara Croft’s body originally cut, the exaggerated lacy form of Ivy in Soulcalibur, and the stark breast-to-waist ratio of Sylvanas in World of Warcraft.

These female bodies are a result of women being designed with the male gaze in mind. Having big arms or war scars goes against creating a palatable and attractive character for the target demographic. But it creates an odd disconnect between the strength and skills these characters are said to possess and their lithe yet busty appearances.

While that can make for a few comical scenarios, it’s generally a poor representation of how strong women should and do look.

This is not the case in Monster Hunter: World. Even though it has a flexible character creator you’re unable to make your Hunter tiny or petite. If you pick a male Hunter, he’ll be broad and have visible muscles no matter how much tweaking you do, while the female Hunter will always be broad, with less overtly visible muscles. She is by no means fat or ripped, but her body composition makes sense for her profession.

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https://www.pcgamesn.com/monster-hunter-world/women#:~:text=Even%20when%20women%20in%20games,warriors%20they're%20drawn%20petite.&text=If%20you%20pick%20a%20male,with%20less%20overtly%20visible%20muscles.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Despite the claims of this article... these Ladies are fighting huge monsters.. that takes some strength and Endurance.. I like that the fits are not overly sexy and the women don't all have huge breasts to lug around fighting powerful monsters, (Any female bodybuilder will tell you as She gets bigger and stronger she begins to lose the fat in the breasts and they become smaller..) they should look like they can handle the job of running and jumping and fighting against these incredibly huge animals.

Its unfortunate that body type is not apart of creating your new character.. I was hoping they would have given us more options than make up and lipstick! You can chose any hair they have including none... the male hair style is also available to the women.. but yet the bodies have no modification. You can not detail how large the arms and shoulders should be,. and not many other games give woman the strength they need to battle more powerful opponents. But hey, I still love how she looks despite the fact there is a lack of opportunity to make her look stronger.