Can someone explain to me why one of the new human female hairstyles is a historical hairstyle for MEN?

[Substance E.4852]

On 12/1/2021 at 4:01 AM, moxxi.1902 said:

And? The reference taken is from real life. Cantha may not be real but the original source for these references are part of real life.

Life from 300 years ago maybe

No one in modern South Korea still wears their hair like that and the hairstyle isn't even legal in North Korea

[Tazer.2157]

Great example when wokeness eats itself. Can't be "inclusive" and "diverse" at the same time. This is where we are playing it safe, checking to cause the least offense. Its stifling creativity and  quite frankly childish. All I can say to both sides is to get over it or we will all be arguing in circles about what is allowed and what is not. 

[Tenol.3249]

 its really common that girls in ancient china use those male hairstyle when they go out.

[The Greyhawk.9107]

10 hours ago, Ameepa.6793 said:

It's a hairstyle in a game. relax.

Sounds boring.

[Astralporing.1957]

7 hours ago, The Greyhawk.9107 said:

Sounds boring.

You should try Real Life then, it offers a much bigger hairstyle selection. And all limitations are completely player-based.

[TheQuickFox.3826]

We live in 2021. Gender diversity is a thing now. It is nice to have choices, and you don't have to select the ones that don't fit the character style that you like.

[The Greyhawk.9107]

3 hours ago, Astralporing.1957 said:

You should try Real Life then, it offers a much bigger hairstyle selection. And all limitations are completely player-based.

Naw, I've tried that a few times.  The graphics suck, the grinding is worse than a Korean MMO, and don't get me started on the balancing.

[Hashberry.4510]

7 minutes ago, The Greyhawk.9107 said:

Naw, I've tried that a few times.  The graphics suck, the grinding is worse than a Korean MMO, and don't get me started on the balancing.

nerf Dad pls

[Obfuscate.6430]

On 12/1/2021 at 4:33 AM, moxxi.1902 said:

First things first and I want to say I'm all for inclusivity. But this has absolutely nothing to do with that. But it is something I want to bring more attention to cause quite frankly it's an embarassing oversight and quite frankly shows the lack of respect towards asian (or more specifically korean) culture.

 

I'm talking about the human female hairstyle with topknot and a headband. This one.
The hairstyle is actually a historical korean hairstyle, worn by men, called sangtu. The headband is called manggeon and is exclusively worn by men, mostly used to keep sangtu, as well as possible headgear (such as gat), in place. Here is a great example illustration about how the hairstyle worked and how it was used under different headgear!
It was considered a bad thing to cut your hair, so men would tie up theirs. Women mostly braided theirs. Sangtu was specifically worn by men after marriage or coming-of-age - it was the whole symbolism to growing into a man from a boy. The only situation a woman would wear a topknot with manggeon would be if she was dressing up as a man.

 

Details aside, even a brief research would've brought up the fact that only men wear this hairstyle. There are so many amazing historical asian hairstyles for women, so why are human females getting a one that is historically a male one? Why is it not an option for human males instead? Even if this was some weird attempt to be incredibly woke and unisex, why is it female only then?

Things like these might not matter to some people and lot of people will probably just go past it not caring, but for some of us it is part of the history and has meaning. It's just disrespectful. I love GW2 and it just makes me sad to see them put so little effort to this, especially after PoF where we got lots of fantastic looking options to have more varied looking characters from different cultures.

Also here are some great reads about the history of the topknot for anyone who is interested more about the subject.

 

EDIT// Because some people don't seem to understand, I just want to emphasize that I'm only trying to bring some light to the issue in hopes that Arena.net notices and can actually fix their error.

Firstly, thank you for bringing this cultural insight to us. I wondered what the headbands were for.

 

Secondly, the game is known to have two Canon Trans characters that I know of. The devs and many players in the community are also a part of or in support of  LGBQTA. 

 

Might it be more likely that including this male coded hairstyle, they are allowing people more freedom in their gender expression? 

 

The game has since inception, promised that you could be who you wanted to be in this game. It's just unfortunate that this appears to be appropriation in this case. Many fantasy games take aspects of world cultures and call it fantasy. 

 

Cantha is no exception, nor was Elona. 

[Gibson.4036]

Can someone please explain to me why this thread is still going?

 

[Hashberry.4510]

Someone sure has a lot o’splaining to do.

Edited December 4, 2021 by Hashberry.4510

[The Greyhawk.9107]

8 hours ago, Gibson.4036 said:

Can someone please explain to me why this thread is still going?

 

Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answers?

[Gibson.4036]

9 hours ago, The Greyhawk.9107 said:

Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answers?

For humor’s sake. My question reflected the topic title. 
 

You could have at least followed suit for humor factor. “Can someone please explain to me why you bumped the thread?” or “Can someone please explain to me why you ask questions when you know the answer?”😀

[TheLadyOfTheRings.9148]

19 hours ago, Obfuscate.6430 said:

 

Secondly, the game is known to have two Canon Trans characters that I know of. The devs and many players in the community are also a part of or in support of  LGBQTA. 

 

Might it be more likely that including this male coded hairstyle, they are allowing people more freedom in their gender expression? 

 

I totally agree with that, in fact I think every hairstyle should be available to both sexes.