Monster Girls!

[sqbr]

So, over on my art blog I've started a meme to draw 30 Monster Girls.

Both to keep it interesting and for Great Justice I like the idea of moving beyond the fairly narrow box of typical depictions of "monster girls" (or female monsters, which aren't quite the same but are close enough for my purposes) you usually see eg as on fuckyeahmonstergirls. Thinking about what that box really is has been instructive, and I'd love to get some suggestions for things you guys would like to see (can't guarantee I'll draw them, but more inspiration is always good!)

So, my tentative theory is that there are three sets of relevant stereotypical traits:

"woman": narrow waist, large breasts, long hair, pale (and usually white!), short, traditionally feminine

"sexy" monster: angry, blood, violent, sexually aggressive, bdsm overtones (leather etc), super skinny, easily fetishised disability or disfigurement eg amputation

"unsexy" monster: old, fat, hairy, muscular, sickly, powerful, harder to fetishise disability or disfigurement eg burn scars

The two most common ways to create a "female" monster are to (a)take a male coded monster and add the traits of "woman" or (b) Take a female character/archetype and add the traits of a "sexy" monster.

The only time female monsters get to have any of the unsexy traits is when they're supposed to be entirely gross and unsympathetic, the femaleness making them extra unsettling (like the broodmothers in Dragon Age)

My aim is to make female monsters that don't fit neatly into these boxes, who are female but boxy/flat chested/bald/dark/tall/butch and who are sympathetic or attractive (but not necessarily both) while still having "unsexy" traits (and maybe some of the "sexy" ones too)

Thus far: a centaur with underarm hair and a missing boob, a friendly fat slime monster, cute bald nagi and trans mermaid. (I didn't describe her as trans in the image description since I like it being ambiguous. Maybe she's a cis woman with broad shoulders and no waist! She was also meant to be Indian but the colour scheme really doesn't make that clear)

I'll do some more traditional ones too if the idea feels right (like my scary old harpy)

So! Do you agree with my theory? What are some types of female monster (including not-so-monstrous fantasy characters like mermaids) that never gets drawn and you'd like to see?

nb I am feeling sooo ill right now, I hope this makes sense. And I have no idea how long it'll be before the novelty of this wears off and I give up on the idea.

EDIT: Managed seven! I plan to do more later. Anyway, some things from the comments and elsewhere:
Femaleness is personified by cuteness as well as sexiness.
The definition of monster and the way it's used really does tie into disability a lot.
Markers of biological femaleness for monsters and non-humans can differ dramatically from ours (a mane-less lion for example)
the seam of skin and scales is a trans woman talking about "a feminism of the monstrous".

Comments

[elf]

Don't forget the neotenous traits being coded as female: big eyes, small nose/mouth, rounded face. And the tumblr seems to very much focus on "human female FACE (and breasts); monster-ish body." And none of them are visibly pregnant, which is the easy way to code something as "female" without a narrow waist.

Cat-woman with a cat head and eight mostly-flat breasts with bright nipples and a cluster of kittens.

(Aaand now I've flashed back to Chicken Lady from Kids in the Hall.)

I'm fond of bugs. I'm aware many people squick over bugs, and some people get triggered by bug-heads on human bodies. (I'm fond of mantises and spiders. Less fond of ants. I like bees--and hey, wouldn't coding something as "bee" kinda imply female regardless of the shape? They have so few males.)

[sqbr]

Those are all very good points! When I got your comment I was already planning on doing a spider headed girl, but you inspired me to do a pregnant plant girl this morning.

You and capruini both make good points about markers of femaleness from other species that don't map onto ours neatly.

[holyschist]

I got nothing to add, but this is really interesting stuff to think about!

And I think your theory is spot-on.

[sqbr]

Thanks! Good to know it makes sense outside my head :)

[bunny_m]

I have a toon I play in City of Heroes that goes by the handle of Minnietaur, being an iddy-biddy female minotaur with a really big axe and a serious case of the angry.

If you feel like doing a version of her, let me know and I'll send you some screencaps.

Looking forward to seeing the ones you have done/will do.

[sqbr]

I'm trying to avoid doing any fanart for this challenge but may use her as an inspiration :D

[lea_hazel]

Most of my ideas about monsters are not visual in scope. They have more to do with the way female sexuality is handled and with things like single-gender monster types. Like the harpies, for example. A lot of these have mythical origins where they seduce men and then depart with their daughters. And, of course, any monster who is animal from the waist down has some pretty weird sexual subtext going on.

[sqbr]

All good points. I quite liked the harpies-as-feminists image I reblogged as a subversion of the gendered nature of the myth.

[capri0mni]

Hey, ho! jesse_the_k sent me, because I've been on a "monster kick" for a few years... Here (in case you're interested) is my most recent post on the topic: http://capriuni.dreamwidth.org/642614.html?replyto=2333238

Mostly, my references for monsters are Medieval sculpture Ancient Greek vase painting, when cultural codes for "Sexy female" were not as extreme as they are now.

Would you consider it "cheating" to draw a female monster that does not have any human female features (Such as the Chimera? which was explicitly identified as a she monster in the myths, but had an entirely lioness body)?

Or how about a dryad (female tree spirit) as an old and twisty gnarled tree?

Or going back to the mythic monsters of Greece, how about the serpent-haired Gorgons?

[sqbr]

Hi! Your post was fascinating. And I wouldn't consider it cheating at all, you have me thinking now...