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...