40K and the Distinct Lack of the Feminine

[Shroom Man 777]

Hrm, come to think about it, aren't mythologies like the Bible and Greek shit full of testosterone as well? When did you ever read about a female Greek heroine wrestling a Space Hydra or punching a Space Moose in the face? You can probably list all of the main female Bible characters, as in the central protagonists of the stories they're in, with one hand. Like Esther and... I dunno.

[Connor MacLeod]

Good point. You can't wholly ignore the mythological aspect to 40K... but then its hard to ignore that 40K has drawn from a whole lot of different sources over the years despite its attempt to reinvent itself as original (Star Trek, Star Wars, Dune, fantasy especially Warhammer fantasy, etc...)

[NecronLord]

For the record, there are Necron Ladies. No, really.

Though there are a couple of pieces of art with yound and still pretty Sisters that manage to wear their brutal scars liek a fashion accessory. It's honestly kind of weird.

The Emperor Protects the Looks of His Daughters!

Of course, one could imagine they're duelling scars deliberately put there.

[NecronLord]

In the case of the Tau.. they're aliens. We dont know much about them. "male" and "female" to the tau would not neccesarily mean the same thing in the way humans do. Again we're ascribing a human perspective to something that may or may not apply. (Hell the same thign applies to the Eldar. They look human and female, to an extent, but that doesn't really tell us anything does it? They aren't human)

Gender equality does seem to be the order of the day among the Eldar. As for how Eldar court, this is covered in Path of the Warrior (which depicts a roughly 50/50 split among aspect warriors, striking scorpions included).

As for citing D&D as a counterargument..... um.. have you ever seen the artwork for some of the women in D&D? That's harldy what I'd call a compelling argument for a more "gender neutral" game, especially early on. (at least later on women got the ability to wear full body armor that was not neccesarily form fitting. )

If anything the current line of 40K RPGs suggests this is part of the nature of the beast. There are far more visible women in them even if they occasionally have steel toecaped high heels. Of course it does have some of the skin-tight latex outfits for female assassins. But it also has them for male assassins.

[andrewgpaul]

I think 40K is more 'sexist' out-of-universe than in. The imbalance appears to me to be one of omission, in that women are mostly absent rather than inferior.

There were a few female troopers in the early Imperial Army range - "lasgun 3" here and "lasgun 13", "lasgun 16" and "auto cannon" here. That was it until the Catachan trooper with grenade launcher which came out in 1995, and then one Tanith, 2 Last Chancers and a commissar subsequently.

Female Cadians are a reasonably common request on the Warseer fan forums, so I think the adolescents are growing up.

Eldar Guardians have male and female torsos and legs on the sprues, so you've got a choice of male, female or both when assembling them.

[Xess]

Eldar Guardians have male and female torsos and legs on the sprues, so you've got a choice of male, female or both when assembling them.

I didn't notice any specific female legs in my latest Guardian kit. They do have a female torso for every 4 male ones though.

[Bob the Gunslinger]

Some of the guardians have less of a ...bulge, I believe.Not that any of them are particularly bulgy.

[Stravo]

Some of the guardians have less of a ...bulge, I believe.Not that any of them are particularly bulgy.

Good lord, how did we go from such heady heights to ogglng Eldar bulges?

I stand corrected on the fluff points. My only non-Horus Heresy novel experience has been the Eisenhorn triology. The purely patriarchal background to the Imperium - The Emperor as father to us all. His children were all males. No mother at all. - created a situation where the females in the Imperium can lack an outlet. Look to current patriarchal religions for example the Catholic church has the Mary cult.

As an opposing example to the Imperium take the Eldar myth cycles. There is a heavy female representation. Sure you've got Khaine going around being dickish but there is Isha (IIRC) who was like a mother to the Eldar race and risked all to keep in touch with her children, It has a very maternal feel to it that is lacking in the Imperium background. There's not even a dark female like a Lillith in the Imperium culture (Say like a ex-wife to the Emperor who broke out on her own)

I'm not saying that the Imperial fluff needs a female presence just that it is interesting that it does lack it and I'm sure this has to do with the myths themselves that they were drawn from and the expected fanbase that is out there.

[Aaron]

On the other hand, theres a shitload of saints that are female in the IoM.

The fluff is definitely more balanced then the minis, though in RL there are not a whole hell of a lot of females in the Combat Arms, which make up the Imperial Guard roster. If they wanted to make some female IG minis that fit a little better then putting them in the tank, arty and flyer kits would make the most sense.