Oh my head!

[megwrites]

Is there a rule somewhere that says the women in SF/F cover art must look like they're just copypasta of fashion models, except with bigger boobs?

I went surfing around a few of the sites of artists who do the covers for SF/F books and I swear I've seen some of those women in the advertisements and fashion shoots for Vogue or Vanity Fair or something like that. One picture - which I shall not link here - featured a model with slicked back hair standing behind something and I realized that I'd seen nearly that exact same pose, model, and body type in an advertisement for body wash.

Somebody really needs to do something about SF/F cover art's representations of women. Like, right now. Because no matter how revolutionary the text, if we (the larger we) are still representing it using old, harmful standards of beauty when it comes to women and people of color, we're taking two steps forward and two steps back.

Which, if you do the math, leaves us exactly where we started. And I'd really, really like to be somewhere different than where SF/F is right now. Somewhere that has less tramp stamps and improbably tight fitting leather (seriously? How do you fight demons and vampires wearing that stuff? And how do you not sound like a walking fart machine when it starts squeaking? God, the chafing must be unreal!) on the cover of urban fantasy novels.

Just once, I'd like to see a cover which features a model wearing practical shoes. High heels are great for cocktail parties, but when it comes to fighting off the monstrous undead, I recommend a solid pair of Nikes. Because otherwise you're going to fracture your ankle during a battle and get eaten. And I will not feel sorry for you because anyone who tries to fight a vampire while wearing a pair Manolo Blahniks is sealing their own fate.

Comments

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

I was at the bookstore yesterday, making the decision on which book to buy.

I wanted to read some YA by folks on my FL, but they all come out hardcover, and were out of my budget for the week.

There are lots of urban fantasy authors on my FL, too, and I like to support whenever possible.

As I'm looking down the aisle of newly released books, one thing I noticed was that the covers on most of the urban fantasy books are so similar that it's often difficult to tell the books/authors apart.

Like you said, they all have on some sort of leather garment, and most have flesh showing. Lots of shots from the back or shots not showing the faces, like the leather and flesh are the only things important.

I won't get into the fact that the back cover summaries sound a lot alike, too.

I just went with my favorite author of the bunch, who had pretty much been at this before the others got their first books out.

However, in reading a lot of urban fantasy, I often wonder if all they have are designer shoes and leather outfits to fight in.

My books will never make it if fantasy/urban fantasy/science fiction has a dress code!

[fiction-theory.livejournal.com]

However, in reading a lot of urban fantasy, I often wonder if all they have are designer shoes and leather outfits to fight in

My books will never make it if fantasy/urban fantasy/science fiction has a dress code!

Well, the content of the novels varies. I know that some don't mention the clothing their heroines use to fight in, and some explicitly mention things like shoes. Ilona Andrews (Magic Bites) left a comment a while back saying that her editor asked her to put leather in her book because the cover artist had leather on the model for the illustration and that it's apparently a selling point.

I feel dubious that it's a literal selling point rather than just something that editors perceive as being popular (much like the "black people on books don't sell well" meme that's going around and affected Justine Larbalestier's books).

And I'm right there with you. If there is a dress code, I'm kicked out too because neither of my heroines wears leather. One is a decided vegetarian and the other just wears jeans and teeshirts - so no leather for them.

[handyhunter.livejournal.com]

It seems to me that certain genres (or publishers) get stuck on a particular look for covers -- maybe as a way to advertise it's part of that genre? -- and then it's like every book that's shelved in that section has to look the same. Romance does the same thing. There seems to be a recent trend of the backs of half-undressed women in corsets or gowns to denote some historical time period on the covers (as well as half-naked men everywhere). YA, too. The vampire books look alike to me (patterned on Twilight) and there's a certain stylistic art for romantic comedies...

[handyhunter.livejournal.com]

And I will not feel sorry for you because anyone who tries to fight a vampire while wearing a pair Manolo Blahniks is sealing their own fate.

Heh. That must be the true superpower of slayers.

But seriously, yes to having more realistic/less gratuitous body shots on covers.

I seem to recall the leather outfits in the X-Men movies giving the actors a lot of trouble; they were so stiff the actors couldn't move properly. I would think it would get easier as the leather got broken in. Perhaps it's not unlike riding horses in chaps -- the protection is greater than with just breeches or jeans; it's supposed to be tight to prevent chafing, though I'm not sure if that's the same with leather pants...

[fiction-theory.livejournal.com]

But seriously, yes to having more realistic/less gratuitous body shots on covers.

I so am ready for that trend to be over now. I'm tired of books that are supposed to be for women by women being splattered with really exploitative looking art. I don't like the implication that a woman's power is some how so inextricably linked with her sexual attractiveness.

I seem to recall the leather outfits in the X-Men movies giving the actors a lot of trouble; they were so stiff the actors couldn't move properly.

Good point! I think I remember reading something like that, too. I get why you wear leathers when riding, but it seems like wearing them while trying to fight in close hand-to-hand combat wouldn't be to your advantage.

Plus, I had a friend who tried to leather pants thing once on a whim. She sat down in a booth at a restaurant and it sounded like she was farting every time she so much as moved. Needless to say, she never wore those pants again. From then on out, I pretty much laugh at the amount of leather clothing that people think is sexy.

[handyhunter.livejournal.com]

LOL. I can see how that would be distinctly unsexy! :D

In my experience, when the leather is broken in properly, it tends to be very comfortable and non-squeaky (not so much the fake plastic leather, which is very very squeaky and doesn't ever seem to end up less squeaky). But getting to that point sometimes involves some pain/discomfort and embarrassment, as well as attention to care for the leather (the higher the quality, the softer and more supple and stronger the leather, also the more expensive). People using it in hand-to-hand combat situations... I would understand the reasoning for it (or at least for stuff like leather boots or jackets), even aside from it being supposedly sexy to wear. The material is very durable, if cared for properly (though I have no idea how one washes/cleans leather pants). You give up some mobility that lighter material would allow for a little more protection.

[jamiam.livejournal.com]

Did you see the Tempest/Doug Cohen/RoF covers/request for male nudity/Harlan Ellison blow-up last month?

[fiction-theory.livejournal.com]

I certainly did and it was one big Not!Surprise party. Harlan was, as always, a complete ass who didn't even have his facts straight and living under the delusion that he still matters. Tempest was, as usual, awesome and rose above it.

I think that's one of the reasons that I've never picked up that magazine. Anything with that kind of "ZOMG! BOOBIES!" on it is usually meant for guys, and therefore is very painful for me to read so I just go somewhere else where I know I'm not going to be insulted for being a woman just by reading. Why read that when so much other stuff - not splattered in male-fantasy boobs - is available, yanno?

[chomiji]

I did some freelance work for the RPG company Iron Crown Enterprises back in the 1980s, and at one point they got famed historical arms & armor illustrator Angus McBride to do covers for their main rules book series. He created a core adventurer group that appeared in different scenes on the various covers. One of them appears to be a female ranger, and the only flesh she's flashing is a pair of moderately sturdy legs (her tunic is slit fairly high up). Also, she has short hair. See here and here.

But for the most part, yes - leather and/or chainmail bikinis. And female characters looking helpless even when they're not looking sexy; see here where P.C. Hodgell is taking issue with the cover for the one-volume combined reissue of vols. 3 and 4 of her Chronicles of the Kencyrath.