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At their annual BlizzCon event in 2014
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the wildly successful game studio
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Blizzard Entertainment showed off a new
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game they had in the works called Overwatch.
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And from that first reveal it was clear
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the appeal of Overwatch
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resided in its cast of characters:
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a diverse assortment of heroes, each with
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unique traits and abilities.
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The roster revealed at BlizzCon included
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men and women,
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sentient robots, and super intelligent gorillas.
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However, for all
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apparent variety and diversity
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in the heroes Blizzard showed off at
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the game's debut, there wasn't much
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diversity to be seen in the body types
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represented by the female heroes.
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The male characters introduced that day
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included the towering knight Reinhardt,
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the sturdy engineer Torbjorn,
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the agile archer Hanzo,
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and the hulking simian scientist, Winston,
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among others.
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The five female characters introduced
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consisted of the slender adventurer, Tracer
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the slender healer, Mercy
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the slender support character, Symmetra
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the slender sniper, Widowmaker
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and the slender but well-armored
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security chief, Pharah.
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Overwatch was hardly alone in
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having all of its female characters
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share a similar physique.
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In Ultra Street Fighter IV
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characters such as Dhalsim, Hakan, E. Honda
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Rufus, and Vega
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represent a significant range
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of male body types.
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Looking at the roster
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of female characters, however
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while some may be
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a bit taller than others, or have
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...slightly larger thighs, not one of
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them represents a notable departure
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from the slender body type that has been
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established as the standard of
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conventional female attractiveness.
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Similiarly, when we look at the
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champions on offer in the hugely popular
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MOBA, League of Legends, we see the
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designers employing a wonderful range of
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body shapes and proportions across
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dozens of male characters, from the
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classic muscular warrior physique of Taric,
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to the hefty beer belly of Gragas,
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to the cartoonishly disproportionate
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body of Dr. Mundo.
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There isn't any one
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male body type that is presented as the
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standard default male body type, and the
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value of these characters is definitely not
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connected to their sexual desirability.
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But when we look at the female heroes,
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there is nothing approaching the
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diversity we see on the male side of the roster.
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There are few noteworthy variations from
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the standard.
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Illaoi is somewhat more muscular
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than many of the female characters
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Jinx has smaller breasts
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and there’s the cute, gnome-like Tristana.
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But the overwhelming majority of female
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characters make it clear that
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a slender figure with prominent breasts
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is viewed as the standard
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for female character design.
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Likewise, in Dota 2, male heroes can be
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handsome or comical
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outlandish or grotesque,
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while female heroes are
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mostly relegated to being standard
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humanoid characters with conventionally
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attractive facial features.
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Where are all the female rock creatures,
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skeletal priests, and...
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whatever this thing is?
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This isn't just an issue in fighting
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games, MOBAs, and other titles that give
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players a range of characters to choose from.
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Female characters across the board
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are often limited to that same specific
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body type.
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"I should kill you."
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"Doing all right there?"
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(singing)
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"Stay away from her!"
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"Sure you want to let him go?"
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(singing) "You are..."
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"And this guy wants me to trust him..."
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It's as if male characters are free to
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embody whatever physique best
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communicates their personality or abilities.
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But when it comes to the
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designs of female characters,
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that kind of imagination and creativity
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often doesn't seem to exist.
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Rather than seeing
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such an exciting range of female
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characters, we mostly get the same body
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type, over and over again:
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one designed to be sexually appealing
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to the presumed straight male player.
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This reliance on the same
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same body type for so many female characters
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isn't just boring;
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it's harmful.
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It links our value as human beings
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within the culture
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to our desirability to men,
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and it reinforces our culturally-influenced ideas
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about who gets to be considered desirable
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and who doesn't.
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The problem is exacerbated
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by the fact that when we do
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see representations of women
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with different body types,
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they're often presented as
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a joke, as in Fat Princess,
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(fart noises)
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or they're pathologized and presented as
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a twisted transgression
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of the established feminine ideal
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as in the case of the
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evil, lesbian, psychopath, Jo Slade
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in Dead Rising.
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"Let’s see just how shameless you are,
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you dirty little skank!
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Say hello to my little friend!”
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“Oh, no.. not again!”
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When the majority of the women who
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populate these game worlds are designed
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from the same narrow template, the problem
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isn't just what we're seeing in games:
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it's what we're not seeing.
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The fact that fat women,
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and women with different body shapes
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aren't featured in these worlds,
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reinforces the false notion that these
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women are less valuable, and less worthy
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of recognition, than those women whose
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bodies come closer to matching the
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cultural beauty standard.
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These limitations on creativity when it comes
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to female characters don't stop with
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body type.
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We also don't see the same
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range of ages commonly represented as
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we do with male characters.
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It's not unheard of to see
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male soldiers, fighters, and heroes
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who appear to be in their 40s, 50s, and even older.
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"You're right."
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Playable female characters, on the other hand,
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are almost always young;
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and it's for the same reason
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that so many of them
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have the same body type.
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They're intended to be sexually appealing
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to straight male players.
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The result is that we have
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plenty of representations of male
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characters who communicate that men
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can continue to be active, vital, and
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powerful over the course of their lives.
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Meanwhile, the absence of older, playable
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female characters wrongly suggests that
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women's value is tied directly to their
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beauty and youth, and that when they
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are older, that value is all used up.
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There aren't many good examples of
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prominent, positive representations of
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women with different body types in major
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contemporary games. In Life is Strange,
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there’s the minor character Alyssa, a
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classmate of Max, the protagonist.
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“I didn't know you were a
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sci-fi geek like us.
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What’s your favorite?”
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In Assasin’s Creed Syndicate, there’s
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Agnes MacBean, owner of the train which
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becomes the heroes’ base of operations.
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"And may I present to you,
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Agnes and Bertha: lady and locomotive.”
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And in Star Wars:
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Knights of the Old Republic II,
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Kreia is a great example of a capable,
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powerful, older, female character.
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“I am Kreia, and I am your rescuer.
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As you are mine.”
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Let's go back to Overwatch for a moment.
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Since that initial reveal, a few female
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heroes have been added to the roster.
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There’s Mei and Zarya, both of whom have
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body types that are notably different
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from those of the originally announced
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female characters.
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"Ana, reporting for duty."
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And more recently, Blizzard announced
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the game's next hero, Ana, who is both
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an older woman and a woman of color.
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These characters are welcome and
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encouraging additions, but really they're
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just a start. Game developers need to
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continue to actively working towards
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creating the same range and diversity of
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female body representations that we see
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among male characters.
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When female characters' bodies
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are liberated from the need
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to uphold narrow, limiting cultural
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beauty standards, the resulting range
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of representations can not only make
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games themselves more interesting,
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it can encourage us
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to see all women as the
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desirable, valuable, autonomous,
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fully human individuals that we are.