And there are robots that are designed for roles that aren't precisely combat, and they aren't as "robust" as someone like Optimus Prime- like TFA's Prowl or BW's Rattrap. What makes Arcee a fembot? It's curves that resemble the tertiary sexual characteristics of a human female, which make no sense on a robot (unless they were some sort of bizarre ablative armor). If she ain't breastfeeding, she don't need titties. If she ain't poppin' out babies, she don't need wide hips. I was going to say "you don't see 'male' transformers with structures resembling human male genitalia" and then I remembered DotM Devastator... but the fact that no one complains about Arcee's robo-titties and pretty much everyone over the age of five complained about Devvy's wrecking balls.JediTricks wrote:I hear what you are saying, but if we really look into that idea that they're all combat and labor bots, the idea that a masculine build is the only build is nonsense, the best build would be purpose-built and there would be no need for altmodes, or at best there would be botmodes more heavily tied to altmodes such as the Constructicons in Revenge of the Fallen. The viewpoint also ignores the fact that not every combat job requires brute strength, some require stealth or speed such as a scout or an assassin.Almighty Unicron wrote:Here's the thing: Transformers, in ever continuity, are created beings with a purpose in mind. Almost always,that purpose is "combat", except for the G1 cartoon where some were developed for "heavy labor". In either case, a robust, dense build is the best suited for those jobs, assuming you have to stick to a humanoid configuration. Transformers resemble human males for the same reason that human males are more robust than females, because physiologically they are more suited to physical tasks.
Arcee resembling a human female is an aberration from an engineering perspective. Given the Cybertronian culture we know of in the IDW series, her sub-optimal configuration is something to grieve over. Through translating Cybertronian to English we map "resembles human females" to "being female", and thus see her angst as relating to the solely human construct of gender rather than the problem of engineering it is on Cybertron. Frankly, it makes no sense that a transformer should have identifiably feminine characteristics, and Arcee being a freak is well justified in my view.
Furthermore, I don't remember there being a brouhaha when TFA Red Alert was female. Or Override/Nitro Convoy in Cybertron.
The thing is, though, the "following the role" position was the norm in Cybetronian society and, correct me if I'm wrong (I haven't actually read any of the IDW comics), Arcee was made before that social movement really got going, no?The IDW universe, moreover, has made it clear that there is significant debate about following the role that one was built for vs finding one's own path. You have Ambulon, you have Rung, etc. And what benefit would Ratchet being a big burly guy-shape be for his role? And it's not like Arcee is in any way diminished as a fighter, so that idea doesn't hold either.
Cybertron was one of my favorite series', bro, though to be fair I remember the toys more fondly than the show and it was good in comparison to Energon (which wasn't hard to achieve)... and I was like fourteen or so when it was on. Regardless!TFA Red Alert wasn't a major character, and TFA had already changed a lot of stuff. Nobody gave a fuck about Cybertron and Nitro Convoy because TF:C was a trainwreck... actually, I do remember some of our gang making a fuss about it.
I think fembots have their place, in a series where Transformers were created by organics (like G1 Cartoon- I *think* the Quintessons were organic beings, yes?) or where they have beast forms that incorporate cellular structure from organic creatures. The way I see it, Scott is just pandering to the Tumblr crowd to prop up her notoriety, causing false controversy where there is none, to get the Jezebel readers and the SRS groupies to buy her comic. I should know, as a literary agent I've had a few clients pull this same tactic. It's viral marketing 101.
