Dear Kades and those who would like to continue to have a serious discussion on the topic,
Have you noticed a trend in the posts in this thread? I have.
First, there are tons of people poking fun at the fact that people take issue with the lack of diversity in female representation in LoL. The joke, in and of itself, is dismissive of the concern. The butt of the joke is COMPLETELY people who raise a legitimate concern about a game they obviously care deeply about.
The second response you get is basically get over it. This takes the form of either, “its just a video game” as if the game (one of the most popular games in the world) exists in a vacuum. The other is chill out or don't play the game. These responses serve to de-legitimize the commentary. When they're directed at perceived females, they're “you're oversensitive” and when they're directed at perceived males they're “you're whiteknighting”. Again, the idea is that you cannot have a legitimate concern about this and the underlying idea is that the representation of one's gender and/or race in a form of popular culture doesn't matter. (This is patently untrue, see links later on.)
A third response is to attack a person just because they dared speak about it.
The final response is that someone brings up a few examples in order to attack a specific flaw in the argument while ignoring the overall argument. For example, “X character doesn't fit the body type that you're discussing, therefore your entire point that the majority of characters fit into the body type that you're discussing is void.”
Do you see the pattern? Everything serves to de-legitimize the argument rather than authentically address it.
If you've paid attention to posts on topic like this, you see the exact same response when someone brings up the lack of racial diversity in the game.
If you're someone who cares about the games and the topics at hand and you try to address this, you get tired of the incessant attacks upon your person and the constant fail to actually counter the argument. You're actually usually going to be hit really hard with personal attacks. See Anita Sarkeesian.
There are 105 champions in League of Legends. 32 are presented as female. There are, in fact, three differing body types for female champions. Those are:
1.) The Model: These champions fit traditional beauty standards with hourglass bodyshapes. They may be clothed or scantily clad but all their clothing is form-fitting and they are generally buxom. – the majority of female characters fit in this category. 27 in fact. Most of those champions are scantily clad and only two don't have completely skin tight outfits: Diana and Kayle. Even Leona's is skintight.
2.) The Cute: These are short, childlike characters – there are 4 of these: Annie, Lulu, Poppy & Tristana. Three yordles and a little girl.
3.) The Monster: These are non-humanoid creature types. There is 1: Anivia.
Furthermore, there's a strong similarity in how the Model females are all posed. The majority are posed in sexualized fashion, hips jutted out, breasts or butts pushed forward, bodies often contorted in ways that bodies don't actually work.
Proof? Here's the splash art.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Q...l-females1.png
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-G...l-females2.png
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-j...l-females3.png
When you look at male presented champions, you can't even break them down into so few categories. Sure, absolutely, there are a lot of bulky, hyper masculine characters. Some of these are ugly, some of these are conventionally, traditionally attractive. There are fat champions, skinny champions, monstrous champions, animal champions, old champions, young champions, there are cute champions, there are scantily clad champions, there are champions in loose clothing, there are champions in form-fitting clothing.
The men aren't even all posed similarity. Some are sitting, some are standing, some are zoomed in on their face, some aren't. Most, particularly in newer splash art, are in some form of action pose, but that's not even true for all of them.
Point? There is variety.
Here's your proof in the form of all the male splash art.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7...lol-males1.png
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-R...lol-males2.png
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--...lol-males3.png
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-m...lol-males4.png
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-D...lol-males5.png
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-s...lol-males6.png
This isn't a non-existent or made up concern. There is clear, overwhelming evidence backing it up. Not only are there fewer female champions but of those champions, a certain body type and sexualized style is over represented whereas others are not. Meanwhile, we have arguments by Riot employees against including female variant champions like the Spider Queen.
The impact of these design choices does not exist in a vacuum and does have an impact upon the greater world as a whole. It does represent an ingrained sexism that exists not only in gaming culture but in the world. Recognizing and addressing this does not invalidate the wonderfulness of the game. It does, however, open the door for improvement and provides Riot with the chance to do something else revolutionary in the gaming community.
TLDR: Just watch these videos.
Tropes vs MovieBob
Nerd Sexism
