She was made by a group of designers, writers, and programmers. And it’s really the only distinction that matters.Įlizabeth is not real. But there is one very important distinction between Elizabeth and a real woman.
There tend to be a lot of cries of, “But I thought feminists were against slut shaming!” or “She chose to wear that, so why are you bashing her!” when arguments like this are brought up. (You’re probably not going to find many women going out in public in only a bra today either.) The game is set in an alternate 1912, and women were definitely not running around town in their underwear. This is absolutely not period correct, as I’ve seen some people bizarrely argue. The biggest difference here being that Elizabeth’s corset is completely exposed. People wanted to be desirable when corsets were standard everyday wear just as much as people want to be desirable today. You know, so people can be more conventionally attractive. The main feature of her outfit is a corset, which is literally worn to shape and accentuate breasts, waist, and hips so that they appear to be more hourglass-shaped. Let’s get this out of the way, because I know a lot of people like to dispute this point: Elizabeth’s second outfit is absolutely sexualized. And the more I think about it, the more I believe they did. I started to wonder if maybe Irrational had designed Elizabeth’s dress for more than fanservice. While creating a game, hours are spent over the smallest details, and that’s especially true in a game as detailed and finely crafted as Bioshock Infinite. No cleavage or pinched waistline in sight. So I was surprised when I first met Elizabeth in-game and she was dressed conservatively. Here, I thought with Bioshock Infinite, was another that would be just a little bit lesser in my eyes because of a silly outfit choice. And, of course, games made with higher ambitions also fall prey to the one female character with enormous breasts or jeans so tight they double as a thong. If she was meant to be such a well-fleshed out character, why exactly was Irrational deciding to sexualize her? Those types of cheap tricks are used constantly in low-brow games that rely on safe thrills - lots of explosions and boobs - to make sales. Especially once Irrational Games, the developers, started to tout Elizabeth’s importance as a dynamic character that players would care about. When the first trailer for Bioshock Infinite was released, I wasn’t thrilled with Elizabeth’s character design. Don’t do this to yourself if you haven’t played the game. WARNING: This post contains spoilers for Bioshock Infinite. Bioshock Infinite: Part Two, Part Three, Part Four
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