Asian Women: East vs West

EA, in an attempt to move beyond their yearly sports offerings of football, baseball, skateboarding, etc., has used this year to bring new IPs under their banner, notably Dead Space (a mix of Event Horizon, Doom, and Resident Evil) and Mirror's Edge (an urban free-running game in first-person perspective). While Dead Space can be seen as "surprise of the year" (mainly for being a non-sport game from EA that didn't suck, though many would simply be surprised that EA released a quality game at all), Mirror's Edge was largely forgotten and ignored.

Developed by Sweden-based DICE, "Mirror's Edge introduces players to Faith, a "runner" in a world where communication channels are highly monitored and the movement of human traffic is closely watched. When Faith's sister gets framed for a murder she did not commit, Faith finds herself on the edge of the city, on the wrong side of the law.

Mirror's Edge delivers players straight into the shoes of this modern day heroine as she traverses the vertigo-inducing cityscape, engaging in intense combat, fast-paced chases and challenging puzzles. With a never-before-seen sense of movement and perspective, players are drawn into Faith's world."

In Faith, DICE created a female protagonist who wasn't a tits n' ass showcase. Slender and a bit rough around the edges, Faith appears to be a woman who could handle herself and has done so many times. Oh, and she's Asian!

And that's where the mini-internet-based controversy began.

At some point in the early fall, Faith fan art surfaced. The "fan art" is basically official promotional art of Faith except touched up to better suit the tastes of Asian males. The areas affected are the eyes (which are wider), the face (which is much rounder), and, most obviously, the boobs (which are quite larger).

Kotaku, a popular international gamer blog, published the fan art along with the artist's comments, restating the artist's opinion that the Western stereotypical view of Asian beauty does not reflect the standards of beauty from an Eastern perspective. The Kotaku blog post got 500 comments debating the East vs West Faith designs and got picked up by a Japanese game site.

The issue got another kick in the pants when a DICE producer went on record denouncing the touch up, saying Faith looked like "a 12-year-old with a boob job". He then defended his stance on Faith's design stating that she serves the purposes of the game and the goal's of the team.

From an American/Western perspective (mostly my own, but supported by many of Kotaku's comments), Faith's Western design gives off a strong presence and inner strength. In the Eastern design, Faith is certainly much more feminine, uncomfortably a bit too young, and lacking in presence. The Eastern Faith is designed as a sex object which makes things all the more awkward with Faith's decrease in age into jail bait territory. Looking back at Western Faith, I find her the more attractive version based solely on the characteristics/qualities one assumes about her character upon viewing. She has the Sarah Connor vibe going for her and who wouldn't do Sarah Connor?!

The Asian perspective is much more blunt, stating that Westerners (typically Americans) always go hotshit crazy for the ugliest of Asian women. The Western Faith is seen as an unsightly middle-aged woman with the assets of a 12 year old boy. The Eastern Faith, on the other hand, is more attractive with much to offer physically and lacking the stereotypical slanted eyes. As for the age issue, I don't see much of one on the Eastern front. Eastern Faith is hot. That's kinda where it ends.

Some comments have noted that Westerners seem to prefer the body of a 12 year old while Easterners prefer the face of a 12 year old.

I have seen attractive slender Asian women. I've seen attractive curvy Asian women. I've certainly seen attractive power women. Everyone has their own taste in women, but I find the "younging down" curve in Asian culture as a symbol of beauty to be a bit disconcerting.

Though the young curve prevalent in Japan, and other Asian nations, as well as their other puzzling sex issues could fill many posts.

Sidenote: How hard is it to find asian women wearing clothes on image google to use as examples in this post? Answer: Harder than one would think. I pretty much had to settle for the ones I used. Damn those sex-mongering Westerners! *raises fists*