Liana Kerzner is a television personality, blogger, cosplayer, and fan. She previously co-hosted Canadian institution Ed & Red’s Night Party, and is now a freelance writer and commentator. When I heard about Electronic Arts’ Sin To Win contest surrounding the release of Dante’s Inferno, and the controversy surrounding it, I knew I had to ask her opinion.

Well damn it, the one year I don’t go to Comic-Con, I miss out on being officially designated the hottest girl there!

I’m referring (jokingly) to Dante’s Inferno’s now notorious “Sin to Win” contest in San Diego. Yes, an apology has been issued by EA. Yes, they completely misjudged their audience. But the whole debacle opened up a can of worms that’s actually offended me more than the original contest did.

Check out this quote from Destructoid, who denounced the contest with the headline “EA to prostitute its booth babes for you, the customer”, and tell me this isn’t part of the problem, instead of part of the solution:

One the one hand, the job description for “model” opens women up to this sort of thing: models exist, inherently, to be objectified and sell products. Obviously, these girls don’t have any moral opposition to it, or they wouldn’t have taken their clothes off and signed EA’s contract (not necessarily in that order.)

Great, so if you’re a convention model, you’re automatically a slut who is nothing but a collection of sex organs. Excuse me? This defends us how? And who said these women were naked?

Other headlines include “Harrass a Booth Babe” (Mashable) “be a ‘willing’ victim of mass acts of sexual harassment” (Geek Girls Rule), and “EA puts sexual bounty on the heads of its own booth babes” (Ars Technica)
To all you well-meaning “champions” of us booth babes and cosplayers, kiss my half-naked, metal-bikini-clad ass.

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