Female Experiment -Nada

You'll have to bear with me. The description is long.

I didn't do anything technical/art-wise that's any different from normal, so I'll skip that bit. I'll get to who she is in a minute.

The important thing here is the physical makeup of the character herself.

The whole argument about what's "feminine" and what's not is enough to split my skull sometimes. (I am not here to argue about it or have others define it for me in the comments, by the way ... so please don't. I've heard it all by now.) What I have noticed is that what's feminine or female seems to be defined by breasts and the existence thereof. Even when it comes to aliens. If she's going to be attractive then she *must* have boobs, big ones of course. It doesn't matter if it makes no sense. (I will expand this to include AI and Robotic characters as well.) In real life, breasts have one purpose: To produce milk for offspring. If the species isn't mammalian ... then there really isn't a physical need for them. Not really. For aesthetics, perhaps ... but even that is debatable.

So the challenge I set for myself was to create a female character/species that is visually similar to humans, noticeably female, and could be interpreted as "feminine" without relying on breasts to do the job for me. This species (Terrian) aren't mammals. They lay eggs, have gills, and have feathers instead of hair. I fell into that booby trap (pun intended, and I'm not sorry at all), and kept trying to come up with an excuse to give the females breasts. And then it occurred to me that there was no logical reason to include them except to cater to the idea that a female cannot be clearly defined as female without boobs, which is, in and of itself, patently stupid. Is a woman who has to have a breast reduction less of a woman? No. Does a woman who has had a double mastectomy become un-female after her surgery and struggle with cancer? Hell no! Are those amazing drag queens who were born without them in the first place, less woman than I am? Obviously not! Two deposits of tissue, fat, and flesh don't make a woman. So why limit my character design that way?

In this black and white internet society, I know this will be interpreted is "if you put boobs on a character, you're bad/wrong!" That's not it at all. Do what you like with them. They're your characters, concepts, and species. There is no right or wrong way to make a female character, only some that people do or do not entirely agree with or find appealing/comfortable. *That* is the statement I want to make.

Whether or not I've been successful is, of course, debatable as well. But so far as I'm concerned, I like the final idea. Still female, still feminine. No breasts. Just some spots. Challenge complete.

*** Character Information You Don't Have to Read ***

It's a damned shame you can't see her arm-spines here. They're really nice ... Ha! It's a family trait.

This is Yenada "Nada" Merentah. One of the many terrians I'm dusting off and reworking.

Her back story is in a bit of a cloud. I have the general shape of things, but I needed to see her face before I could really get things in focus. I'll have more info next time. All I can give you is other character context right now.

Other terrians and how they relate to her:
Friends/teammates Asha and Janus:


Brother Meren:


Husband Anton: