Regarding Lara Croft

When you think Lara Croft, the average gamer will quickly think of the woman who can duel wield pistols, crawls around jungles and exotic locales, all while dressing rather scantily in a pair of hot pants and a tank top. It is inevitable: Lara Croft is rather pleasing to the eye, no matter how many changes you make to her design. But there are people who take issue with her specifically BECAUSE of what she does and how she looks. There are those who oppose Lara's design, saying that her design undermines her as a strong, female character. The question is: does being sexy undermine being strong?

Let's consider the following argument: when it comes to a character's clothes, there is a marked difference between how a character would dress herself and how a designer dresses the character. What I mean is that many characters have their own characteristics, and thus would logically have their own taste in clothing. Take, for example, Bayonetta. She's designed to be sexy AND written as being aware of, and proud of, her sex appeal, to the point that she flaunts it continuously. But then look at Lara Croft; would a woman who traverse the jungle REALLY do so in hot pants and a tank top?

Therein lays one of the criticisms towards Lars Croft: she's physically designed to be pleasing to the eye rather than to project the idea of being a globe trotting woman. Because Lara's clothing choices come into question, her validity as a female role model does as well. If Lara's character design exists primarily as "fan service," then everything else about her is just gratuitous, because the core of her visualization exists for the sole purpose of being visually pleasing.

But what happens if you take away the physical design? You're left with a woman who:

1. Is rich but far from idle.
2. Is also highly passionate about archeology.
3. Has visited at least most countries on Earth, if not all of them.
4. Has a college education.
5. Chose not to be married, instead choosing to travel the world.
6. Funds her own adventures via writing.
7. Has made more archaeological discoveries than anyone in her field.
8. Can dual wield pistols.
9. Can also use any firearm with incredible proficiency.

And this is, of course, just the tip of the iceberg. Lara Croft has gone through so many iterations and reinterpretations that one could safely say there is no one true Lara; all Lara Crofts are equally valid interpretations of her character. There's the Lara Croft from the original games, Tomb Raider 1 through Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness. Then there's the Lara from Tomb Raider: Legends until the 2013 reboot. And of course, modern Lara, from 2013 and onwards.

But the point is that the core of Lara's character, that of the adventurous woman who travels the world in the name of discovery and adventure and packs guns for self defense (which never find themselves short of use) is always the same. So, why not focus on that?

Indeed, why not focus on the different ways in which Lara Croft is an amazing character? How about the fact that she's not married, a rarity for fictional female characters over 25? Or the fact that she's what society would call a "spinster" yet she's clearly not bothered by it because she's doing what she loves? Or how about the fact that she took on a Tyrannosaurus Rex (several, in fact) and came out on top?

And yet it's always her outfits and physical properties that seem to get attention, and often not positive. It MUST be pointed out, however, that Lara Croft actually changes outfits depending on the level; you won't find her wearing tank tops and hot pants in Antarctica, for example. As I stated before, the physical tends to distract from the personal.

This was the main impetus regarding Lara's redesign for the 2013 reboot of the franchise. Suddenly, Lara's bust shrinks a few cups, she no longer wears hot pants, and she's dirty and grimey instead of clean and glamorous. Suddenly, Lara looks "normal," "realistic" even.

But can this be considered body shaming? Consider the implication: the biggest change in 2013's Lara was reducing her cup size, which is what got the most attention, both negative and positive. Likewise, consider the implied body shaming in people who call 2013's Lara to be more "realistic" than classic (bustier) Lara. But consider that, though 2013 Lara is younger, the core of her character is still the same. She is STILL that adventure ready woman who is not afraid to defend herself.

Yet why do some people, particularly third wave feminists, shame and criticize Lara Croft? Again, we return to the topic of character design and clothing, and ask ourselves this question: would a woman like Lara Croft REALLY choose to wear hot pants and a tank top for the jungle? To answer that question, I needed to look up how people would dress for the jungle.

My research has led me to discover that, when traversing the rain forest, one needs to travel as lightly as possible. That means never pack more than two sets of clothes, one for the day, one for the night. They should not hold on too much water if they get wet, because you'll otherwise run the risk of getting gangrene. I look back at Lara's tank top and hot pants, and I come to this realization: her clothes fit the bill. As someone who lives in the tropics, I can also assure you that it gets hot and rainy quite often; a tank top and hot pants does wonders to keep you cool.

If Lara's hot pants and tank top are practical, and if she changes her outfits in accordance to where she goes, then it stands to reason that there's no rational argument against Lara's choice of clothing. That means that Lara's clothing choices are entirely in character for someone who is experienced in globe trotting.

When we take away the argument that Lara's clothing is more for fan service than anything practical, we then see all criticism of Lara's physique for what it is: body shaming. There is an unspoken amount of body shaming in saying that Lara's old body was "unrealistic" because she was well endowed.

Here's a question: why can't a woman with a large bust also be a globe trotting adventurer? If the answer is "I take issue with how she's designed" ask yourself "why?" If the issue is that Lara's design is a "Male Sex Fantasy" (because she has a nice bust) ask yourself this question: why does that take away from Lara being all around awesome?

Lara is one of the most recognizable women in gaming, and one of the few, if not the ONLY woman in  gaming to expand her franchise outside of gaming, even starring in a hit Hollywood movie, as well as a pretty damn good sequel. She's an icon AND a role model, someone to look up to and emulate. If you think Lara is nothing but boobs, or if her boobs distract you from the awesomeness of her character, YOU are the one with the problem.

And for those of you who are thinking of trekking the jungle, here's a link to a guide for how to dress for the trip: http://travelfashiongirl.com/the-ultimate-jungle-trekking-gear-packing-list/