Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
OK, then, semi-naked warriors, if you prefer. What do you find offensive about pictures such as the ERB cover that I posted above?
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1) Half-naked male guy, obvious attempt to appeal to male readers' egos and female readers' hormones
2) Sexualized comic book pose. It's basically the best possible pose to display muscles, and the worst pose if he's actually fighting or fleeing, he'd kill himself by tripping on his sword.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks
There's nothing wrong with trying a little harder to do a nice cover with a more realistic image. There's also nothing wrong with stepping back and thinking a little harder about your entire audience before slapping a "typical" cover on a magazine or book.
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QFT.
I don't like having naked/half-naked bodies shoved in my face. It's lazy and unrealistic. Honestly, the covers that depend on naked people are often less interesting than covers that don't. Take the earlier cover as an example - it tells nothing about the book, other than the fact that there is a dude who has a sword. Oh, and the dude is probably an idiot. Boring, what story are you trying to tell?
Also, there's a whole history of subjugation and oppression that ties in with half-naked people, armed or otherwise. Let's stop exploiting the lowest common denominator instincts to sell entertainment, OK?