There's a related subject we need to discuss as an epilogue to last night's soap box about why virtually none of the lady Transformers toys are actually good Transformers toys:

We have to talk about Transformers and Sexy Robot Tiddy.

It's overdue. https://twitter.com/JenApparently/status/1318708271700676608

I'm going to say something controversial and maybe even unexpected:

Transformers with Sexy Robot Tiddies aren't inherently bad.

What is bad is that virtually every. single. character. model for lady Transformers characters fits in the same lithe, hourglass mold.

This thread isn't going to discuss how much of this is driven by The Male Gaze and it's impact on what we, as a culture, are told is sexy from predominantly cis heteronormative male notions behind the types of figures that come to mind when we think of "Sexy Robot Lady"

Also, we AREN'T going to really dissect the bias in many of us that Sexy Robot Lady is analogous for a lithe, petite, doe-eyed, curvaceous, hour-glassed cisgender-appearing woman.

Those are big topics that are VERY MUCH at play but beyond the scope of a Twit-O-Sphere rant.

What are talking about then? Let's talk about why all Transformers with Sexy Robot Tiddies aren't created equal and, more importantly, the effect of homogenous lady Transformers body types on the fandom (specifically fans of marginalized genders)...

When virtually every depiction of lady-coded Transformers depicts them in this same petite "Sexy Robot Lady" mold, that sends a powerful to everyone in the fandom who isn't a cis male about what is considered female/non-male.

That's the harm many of us get upset about when lady characters are reduced to eye candy in official media. And YES there is a difference between official media/toys and unofficial derivative works (3P toys/fan art & merch)

That's why, in my book, Flames Toys Windblade (an official product) was more upsetting and damaging than the Third Party Firebird Nicee (Arcee) with the VERY defined robot tiddies. They both are examples of objectification but one had Hasbro's stamp of approval.

"But Jenevieve! I heard Flame Toys Windblade was designed by a woman?" Okay. So what? It's a GOOD design and women (and anyone of marginalized genders) should be empowered to make sexy things. But Hasbro still signed off on it and that was sort of the problem.

Moving to the realm of Third Party toys, we have the other side of this problem. Virtually all of these companies are controlled by men and many of the designers are men (yes, there are some exceptions). They also know they're creating specialty product for adult collectors.

That's where the Sexy Robot Tiddy comes in. Can we all just agree that we'd like more lady bots of substance? I think there's a reason why it's impossible to get your hands on MMC's Titanika (Strika) but go on ebay and you're awash in 3P Arcees and variants.

That was the point of my other thread: Transformers collectors want GOOD TRANSFORMERS TOYS and none of the Third Party lady bots are good Transformers Toys except for MMC's Titanika (Strika).

Imagine if a third party company (or Hasbro/Takara) made an chonky Arcee a la Titans Return Arcee with the budget and engineering and MASS of MMC or Fanstoys Springer or MP Combiners out of Arcee's late IDW 1.0 design?

The problem with the homogeneity of lady Transformers designs is that it says to so many of us that the only thing this fandom or the people making toys for this fandom cares about in lady characters is lithe hourglass bombshells that are either sexual objects or caretakers.

Now. Back to my first point. There is nothing WRONG with Sexy Robot Tiddy. I'm a pretty sapphic woman myself and I like sexy ladies of ALL SHAPES (including the Sexy Robot Lady shape). But it's like food: you can't eat the same thing every day. It gets OLD.

There is also a particular subset that's separate from all of this: creators of marginalized genders. When someone who ISN'T a cis man creates art, merch, or toy designs of Sexy Robot Ladies it's a very different thing than when cis men do it.

It's why I LOVE following cosplayers and artists to make VERY VERY sexy robot (and other) ladies come to life. When someone of a marginalized gender makes something with Sexy Robot Ladies, there is agency that is not present when cis men do the same thing.

This probably sounds like a tightrope that I'm walking on (AND IT IS). But it's true. I have good friends of marginalized genders who make porn (robot and otherwise) with women characters who fit all the "Sexy Lady" stereotypes I just discussed above and I ***LOVE*** their art.

It's like how I, a transgender woman, can stand in a mirror, think I look particularly cute today, and joke to myself (in my best/worst Admiral Akbar voice) "IT'S A TRAP!"

But if a cisgender person says the same thing five minutes later THAT'S A SLUR.

Sorry. The world sucks.