84 replies to this topic

[CG Anastasius Focht]

Freud would have a field day lol

Of course they are, anything with a gun/cannon is, think about it.........

[Mordegald]

[CG]Anastasius Focht, on 30 November 2011 - 07:03 PM, said:

Freud would have a field day

Now now, sometimes a gauss boat 'mech is just a totally innocent walking phallic symbol

Ah, I can't judge too hard though. Really, the silly-looking 'mechs are just part of the hobby. Sure, we all applaud when somebody comes along with a piece of alt art that makes, say, the Whitworth not look derpy as heck. But hey, there's no greater laugh than watching the silly-looking old-school version break somebody's face on the TT, for the Whitworth's owner or for their opponent. It's just part of the game. And as ***-ugly or ridiculous as some of the designs may be, let's face it; it just wouldn't be Battletech without them.

[ChaosTicket]

This is very strange topic that seems more related to gender arguments than anything.
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Mechs wouldnt need to be masculine to be effective, but increase in size, armor, weapondry would make it more bulky, which is considered masculine.

Remember some of the greatest mechwarriors past and future are female.

[Blackfire1]

Nope.... >.> *flex*

[Outlaw]

Incubus (Vixen) seems less masculine than most designs hence its IS Designation. The Centurion is borderline IMO, and i thought that the way it was presented in MechCommander made it feel even more feminine than other designs.

[ChaosTicket]

The Incubus is a physically feminine mech, which just fuels the argument. Its a small, fast mech, with a small frame.

How many larger mechs, especially Inner Sphere ones, have small feminine frames?
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Overall just small humanoid mechs are feminine and larger mechs, humanoid or not are masculine.

[asaxvuh]

Well considering the complete absence of genital, no. The masculine, and the feminine have the same basic constructs, the same construct is reflected in the mechs for a variety of reasons.

[PsihoKekec]

I like my mechs just like my tanks, mean and manly.

[Thorn Hallis]

Every four-legged mech is absolutely feminine.

[Dlardrageth]

Red Beard, on 26 November 2011 - 04:24 PM, said:

Uncle Monkey's polls "bother" me. Rather creepy actually.

On top of that, I have a policy of not trusting anyone who "likes" their own posts like that. It's odd.

Red Beard, on 26 November 2011 - 08:17 PM, said:

This thread needs to be put down like a lame horse. It's only purpose is to entertain the OP's odd curiosity.

Kill it now Garth! Sane people are begging you!

Red Beard, on 26 November 2011 - 08:31 PM, said:

This thread is repulsive and offensive. Uncle Monkey seems capable of only posting topics of some odd gender polls and they are offensive by their very nature.

H8ters gonna hate?

And I object to this thread being called "repulsive and offensive"! Sheesh, get over your compulsive obsession and grow up.

[Alex Wolfe]

Form follows function. Mechs aren't usually made to look masculine, but a female frame (disregarding the obvious) would have: less wide shoulders, broader hips and an incline in the waist area. This is specialized design, which mechs don't need because all they need is means of locomotion and racks to put weaponry on. Why would anyone want to design a war machine with those features?

People can call chicken walkers "feminine" if they want because they look "sleeker", but the truth is, a female bird usually has similar body shape as the male (disregarding plumage, which mechs don't have). Still, it's up to anybody's preference there.

In short: there doesn't seem to be much point in asking for "feminine machines", they are simply made to be functional, with few exceptions such as Atlas's "deaths' head" (neutral, everyone has a skull) or Kodiak's claws (not much distinction between a male and female bear) . The ones that can be considered borderline are usually designs plagiarized from anime, and stand out greatly with their artstyle in general (some of them even wield guns with visible clips).

[Paladin1]

Uncle Monkey, on 26 November 2011 - 08:27 AM, said:

The male/female ratio of pilots question got me thinking. Is MW such a masculine activity that masculinity is imposed on the game? Just reviewing the mechs in MW4, there aren't any that I could say are feminine in design.

Do you think that is because it's a "guy" thing to be the warrior or because mech design is controlled by "guys" ?

Would love your thoughts on this.

My immediate thought would be "Why are you trying to impose gender on a machine?" followed closely by "I take it you've never seen a Kintaro then." and then finally by "I swear to God, if you bring Oprah into Battletech I'll hunt you down and step on your house with an Atlas."

Seriously, `Mechs are gender neutral. The fact that you're looking for a gender is a construct of your own bias and cultural heritage and has nothing to do with a machine's design.

[Joachim Viltry]

Gender baiting, pure and simple. And apparently proof that you are not capable/willing to just go look at mechs at Sarna.net. If you define 'femininity' as a svelt appearance then you will find quite a few mechs that fit the bill (several have already been mentioned). If you want a mech with *ahem* secondary *** characteristics, then look no farther than the Pinion.

Some mechs clearly have no gender other than DERP; such as the Sentinal, or Urbanmech
You will also find that there are MANY mechs with obvious animalistic design elements that are often neither masculine or feminine.

For instance, the Crab has no obvious gender, seeing as how it looks like a frickin' crustacean.



Look at the giant bug! It thinks it's people, and is upset that you tried to impose your gender standards on it!

Ditto the Bishamon (spider thing), the Tarantula (also a spider thing). Quads generally look like Bugs, horses, or dogs. No obvious or implied gender there.

Ultimately this entire exercise has nothing to do with what we say; but rather is simply you displaying cultural bias and an apperant need to fixate on things that others simply pay no mind too.

[Johnathan Underwood]

Uncle Monkey, on 26 November 2011 - 08:27 AM, said:

The male/female ratio of pilots question got me thinking. Is MW such a masculine activity that masculinity is imposed on the game? Just reviewing the mechs in MW4, there aren't any that I could say are feminine in design.

Do you think that is because it's a "guy" thing to be the warrior or because mech design is controlled by "guys" ?

Would love your thoughts on this.

I think if mechs look masculine it is because it makes them look more aggressive. It is something tied in to basic human physiology and psychology. I'd go so far as to say that the only way to make a mech look too masculine is to add muscles to the armor (sorry, but a mech does not need killer abs or massive pecs) or something that hints too strongly at... er... uniquely male appendages.

[HIemfire]

The Wyvern (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Wyvern) is quite feminine.

[Joanna Conners]

Assign whatever gender you want to your inanimate object. To the U.S. ships are female.To the Russians ships are male. People think their cars are male or female. It really doesn't matter. If you want to think of your mech as a woman or a man, knock yourself out. It's just a walking nuke reactor.

[Tweaks]

glory, on 26 November 2011 - 10:27 AM, said:

Ok speaking from a lady's perspective - first of all, a 'Mech doesn't look "****" (whatever that means) if it's feminine. Misogyny much? Come on now. Get off this kick of thinking femininity = fragility/weakness. I even saw one of you use the word "fragile"!

Anyway, a lot of OmniMechs have a feminine feel to them ... TimberWolf, NovaCat, Mad Dog, ShadowCat... IMO, anyway. I'd call them a "she" before a "he". Curvy and sleek. Some of them are downright succubi.

As for the IS, the Griffin is a girly-mech and one of my favorites by far.

Urbies on the other hand ...

My point was not to be misogynist, and the word that got censored is s_xy if you can guess it. My point was 'Mechs are meant to look scary, not pretty. I think it shouldn't neither look masculine nor feminine. It should be neutral, as long as it looks mean and dangerous.

[Joanna Conners]

Tweaks, on 01 December 2011 - 03:52 PM, said:

My point was not to be misogynist, and the word that got censored is s_xy if you can guess it. My point was 'Mechs are meant to look scary, not pretty. I think it shouldn't neither look masculine nor feminine. It should be neutral, as long as it looks mean and dangerous.

You realize some people find masculinity beautiful? This whole concept is absurd. Not everyone is intimidated by the looks of a mech either. My first thought when I see an Atlas is simple. "Does he or she know what they are doing or are they good?"

I don't judge a mech by its looks or its class. I worry about whats piloting it.

[Uncl Munkeh]

Demona, on 02 December 2011 - 07:55 PM, said:

You realize some people find masculinity beautiful? This whole concept is absurd. Not everyone is intimidated by the looks of a mech either. My first thought when I see an Atlas is simple. "Does he or she know what they are doing or are they good?"

I don't judge a mech by its looks or its class. I worry about whats piloting it.

That's actually very reasonable Demona.

I'm gravitating toward the opinion that we see what we want to in the design, other than the obvious, of course. One of my thoughts when starting this thread was the Novacat

I also remember getting fried more than a number of times by pilots that really knew how to pilot that mech.

[Wil Scarlet]

While i think the design of the mechs is overtly masculine, the concorant body is not. Black Widow Squadron was prominently feminine but the mechs within the group were simply machines, neither male nor female. Genderless if you will. Wolf's Dragoon's had a masculine feel. I think the star or group takes on the gender of it's leader, his/her personality and leadership qualities shine thru.