"But It's Impractical!" Aka, Why I Hate Most Fem Fortress Designs

"But it's impractical!" Aka, Why I hate most fem fortress designs

A lot of the time, I'm sure many have come across comments like this:

"Fem fortress but they all look the same, just with boobs"

"Fem scout would never wear a skirt! It's impractical!"

To be honest, I think these kinds of comments come off as mysogynistic, because it is still policing what women wear. The tf2 mercs can wear silly cosmetics, many of which are even less practical, but when femscout wears a skirt or fem engie has a beehive and makeup, it's considered impractical because woman. I feel like the tf2 fandom has a problem with a lot of fem merc designs that arent masc. In general, masculinity is praised in society while feminity is disliked. Its why conservatives throw a hissy fit when a man wears a dress. This most likely comes from the idea that any display of feminity is seen as weak. Fem engineer builds stuff and does masc things, so she has to be a masc woman by default. If any of the fem mercs dress feminine, it obviously for the male gaze. While this seems like it is breaking gender roles, its still perpetuating stereotypes - that feminine people cant do things like shoot guns or throw piss at people or build machines.

There is a difference, though. The fempyro mod and femscout mods are examples of a character designed for the male gaze, as I believe the mods were made by men, are mostly used by men, and are in a game that is mostly played by men. They don't take into account what women wore during tf2s time, instead just slap a bow onto scouts hat or put pyro into some catsuit despite pyros gender being a mystery. But dressing feminine doesnt always mean its for the male gaze. Many women dress feminine for themselves. A lot of the tf2 fem concept art is an example of how you can make feminine women while still keeping them unique and not male gaze-y

Another complaint I have is many fem fortress designs look so modernized. For example, the fanon femscout design looks like someone you'd see jogging at the gym in 2025, not like a sporty girl from 1968.

Back then, ponytails were more formal I think. Ive seen ponytails in makeup ads and things from the time but not in sports photos. So fem scout would most likely have short, bobbed hair. It just annoys me to hell and back when I see people reject research and creativity just to use the same cookie cutter fem scout design because shes "hot."

Of course, I have no problem with fem fortress designs that are masc! My fem sniper is a butch. But remember, masc women didn't dress the same way they do in 2020! Even women wearing pants outside of manual labor jobs at the time was considered very masculine. The 60s spy theme is what makes tf2 stand out and the fanon fem fortress dont have the same charm.

Tldr; Fem mercs can wear a skirt, saying they can't is still policing what women wear. Hyper feminine and hyper masculine women are both looked down upon. Also fem fortress artists should have more fun with the time period.

If you want more info about how society demonzies both hyper femme and hyper masc women, I reccommend this video https://youtu.be/qGx0zh2QsPI?si=Pyl9ThTdv9JAF3Ql

Examining the difference of the male gaze vs dressing for yourself

https://youtu.be/1MTtYyZ1zd8?si=JOyASmtMsp_O8XWO