In Defense of Tifa's 'Unethical' Boobs
Free the nipple
During E3 last week, Square Enix finally unveiled the design of Final Fantasy VII Remake's Tifa Lockhart, and I was pleased with the result. After months of speculation from fans that Square might censor its own game, I was happy to see her design is largely faithful to the original 1997 game.
However, I sympathized with worried fans. After all, it's not unusual for puritans in today's gaming sphere to pinch their noses and repeatedly whisper "yikes" and "male gaze" to each other at the sight of any female character with exposed skin above the knee. Considering the unwarranted power of these "progressives" within the industry, it was only logical to fear Tifa's exposed midriff, miniskirt, bare legs, and large bust might be tweaked.
And guess what? They kinda were.
For the most part, the new Tifa looks how fans hoped a modernized version would appear: She has the same physique, including large breasts; same crop top; and same miniskirt, and while her legs are covered, at least it's with thigh-high socks and not full-length tights. It's not a perfect representation of her original design, but it's pretty darn close.
Shortly after her reveal, some theorized her cup size had been reduced slightly. As you can tell by the comparison below, you can at least see where these concerns are coming from. I tweeted at the time that it appeared as though Square had reduced her breasts just enough to a size that would please both fans and "feminists" who apparently think big boobs are evil.
Based on news unveiled today, I'd say I was mostly right: Tifa's boobs maybe the same size, but they've been "restricted" with a sports bra to at least to appear smaller, and not necessarily by her designers' choice.
According to an interview with Famitsu, Director Testuya Nomura said Square Enix has an ethics department that told developers to "restrict" Tifa's chest. This meant clothing her in the black sports bra you can see beneath her classic white tank top to give her a more "natural" look.
It's pretty ridiculous that Square Enix has a paid department presumably of several employees whose job, in part, includes telling developers what they can and cannot make, right down to the proportions of characters' bodies and what they wear. Think about that for a second: There's a group of dudes that sat around a table, measured the cup size of a digital woman, determined her breasts were too big to be "ethical," and told the developers to restrict them.
I hate to break it to you, Square, but natural big boobs exist, and it's not "unethical" or even "unnatural" for a character to keep them "unrestricted." The only unethical thing here is a department of suits telling developers how their characters can appear.
Prudes in the gaming industry have been afraid of big boobs and simulating realistic breast physics in games for years now. I've seen prominent people and groups both within and outside the industry calling perfectly valid body types of female characters "unrealistic," shaming the real women who have similar curves and sizes.
It's weird to write this when I'm actually a fan Tifa's redesign. It honestly makes logical sense for an athletic, busty woman like Tifa to wear a sports bra when constantly running around and fighting.
But this issue isn't about logic or even Tifa's boobs. It's about the implications of giving a group the power to say what is and isn't "ethical" when it comes to the content in games or any medium. Today they're telling developers to slap a sports bra on Tifa, but tomorrow they'll be telling them to drop her from a D cup to a C.
That's not the trajectory I want to be on.