All the yes to the ‘Star Wars’ Facebook page for fighting sexism

The representation of women in action movies and video games is pretty bonkers, and not in a good way. Often, male characters are wearing thick armor from head to toe, while female characters are wearing midriff, low-cut tops and high heels that 1) would NOT be conducive to battling evil enemies and 2) just serve to sexualize and objectify.

That’s why we were so thrilled when yesterday, the official Star Wars Facebook page posted a totally awesome picture created by fan Seth Groves on their Facebook account. The picture featured commanding officer Captain Phasma, who will be in the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Played by Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie (!!!), it looks as though Captain Phasma’s armor will be something that actually makes sense for a chrome trooper to wear.

Check it out here.

Badass, right? The majority of commenters thought so. “Thank you!” one commenter wrote. “I am *so* tired of seeing “armor” on women in movies and games that would be about as effective as butt floss!” And we TOTALLY agree with that sentiment.

But one commenter wasn’t so thrilled. “Not to be sexist,” he wrote,”but it’s really hard to tell that’s female armor for me.”

Luckily, the Star Wars page came back with the best response ever. “It’s armor. On a woman. It doesn’t have to look feminine.” YAAAS. Quick, someone give the person running their social media a mic to drop!

When IGN executive editor Eric Goldman tweeted a screenshot of the comment, which has since been deleted, only five people liked Cody’s comment, as opposed to 314 for the page’s response. Looks like more people are on the side of equal representation and the rejection of gender norms.

We commend Star Wars and their social media team for doing their part to nip gender roles in the bud. We’re tired of seeing such ridiculous sexualization of women in pop culture, but thanks to efforts like these, the tides are slowly beginning to turn.

(LucasFilm)

Related:

The new Star Wars teaser just dropped. Commence freakout!

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