Boob Jam's game devs show the 'unsexy' side of breasts

What started as a throwaway joke on Twitter by editor Jenn Frank has led to a developer movement to demystify boobs. 

 

You read that right; one of the most frequently misunderstood aspects of female human anatomy is the boob. Frequently exaggerated in commercial art and constructed as object of desire, the breast is little more than a thing, rather than something attached to another human being, at least as far as media and videogames go.

 

Discussions of whether videogames and their fiction are welcoming and inclusive of women abound, especially given an increasing amount of attention given to the representation of women in videogames, but the only thought given to breasts is whether they are depicted with taste, propriety and in realistic proportions.

 

While contemplating the top heavy female characters that are frequently seen in videogames, Frank asked:

 

 

The thought occurred to Frank, the editorial director of gaming blog Unwinnable, after she accidentally got deodorant all over her left boob before an appointment.

 

"Everyone thought I was kidding," Frank told the BBC. "I thought I was kidding, and then two hours later I was building a website for it." The website she's talking about is Boob Jam, a 'game jam' that challenges developers and designers, whether aspiring or professional, to create videogames that show the 'unsexy' side of breasts.

Within 24 hours, Frank received many suggestions for games and features. Among those suggestions include "**(o)(o)**," which portrays the side effects of estrogen during hormone replacement therapy, most notably, painful levels of nipple sensitivity, and "Sleeping with Boobs," about how uncomfortable an experience sleep can be for the large-breasted.

In the industry's favor though has been the gradual cultural shift away from boobs for boobs' sake. While Lara Croft of the Tomb Raider series has been gaming's pre-eminent female protagonist, much of her recognition comes from her sizeable rack. But in this year's franchise reboot, her spunky witticisms and bodacious figure were traded for modest proportions and a realistic personality.

Still, game developers and publishers remain cavalier about boobs.

Meanwhile, at last month's Q&A for the next installment of the best-selling Final Fantasy series, the developers were asked whether the main character, based on screenshots and videos released thus far, had gone up in cup size. Asked, "are her breasts going to jiggle all the time," the developers responded yes, and players who wanted to experience the sophisticated physics of these breasts could try dressing her up in different clothes.
 

Rock Paper Shotgun's Cara Ellison summarizes this unsexy side by saying, "Breasts are a fact of life, and are a bodily part that belongs to someone, and aren’t just for visual pleasure." Boob Jam, as one academic puts it, shifts the attention towards women as active subjects that must deal with boobs as an unpleasant reality.

Rather, it aims to expand the conversation by taking a different approach from the usual critiques of boobs in games. As Frank writes: "No one is claiming that a great rack doesn’t have its place in gaming canon. But instead of having the same conversation over and over, why not try having a new discussion altogether?" And she admits that some of the stuff that is going to come out of Boob Jam could court controversy.

Still, she's not interested in legislating such games.

"Like, say a game-maker wants to decontextualize tits completely, kind of pull a little Duchamp and stick a single boob someplace it doesn’t belong. Okay, this isn’t a perfect game idea — it's still a little misogynistic, because we really do oftentimes divorce a person from her tits — but I think someone more adroit a thinker than I am could make this idea work." Instead what matters to Frank is the reclaiming of breasts as more than just objects: "I think the private revelation that breasts are, uh, lumps of fat or milk factories or whatever, could go far in helping people accept that the people attached to breasts are, you know, people."

Boob Jam is a 'longjam,' meaning it will accept entries until September 30th. The express criteria being solely to "Make a game that talks about boobs without resorting to the "straight male gaze." Reactions have been mostly positive. "At first blush it is ridiculous and it’s supposed to be. It's supposed to be light-hearted without being idiotic and I hope by striking that timbre people will feel welcome."

By attempting to be as inclusive as possible, welcoming entries from designers of various orientations and genders, Frank hopes that Boob Jam broadens discussion and pluralizes our thinking about breasts. — TJD/VC, GMA News