Feminism, Diversity, and Social Politics in Warhammer 40K: An introduction

Sadly lacking any women for true diversity...

Well, this topic has reared it's ugly head again, with the "Feminists"* leading the charge for this foray into the minefield.


That opening sentence itself has probably triggered all kinds of alarms, and even using the phrase triggered has possibly raised more red flags for others. Such is the tone of any conversation about these topics, where readers immediately rush to their side and ideas, determined to defend the honour of their philosophies.


So let me just settle everyone down with this statement: I am professionally obliged to not pick any side.


I am a teacher, and I am responsible for literally putting ideas in young people's heads. Unlike other teachers out there, I can see how phenomenally dangerous this is. And unlike a lot of other subject teachers, some of my more able students could potentially go on to build nuclear weapons. I am a Physics teacher, and when our students succeed they tend to do so by bending the stuff of nature to their will.


Suffice to say, I think the risk of educating the inventor of the next super weapon  is worth the benefit of cracking cold fusion and climate change, but I'm not going to indoctrinate anyone into any particular social philosophy. Well, beyond the Scientific method, but that's kind of what I'm paid for.


So when I say I'd like to look at this particular topic, it's going to be as objective as I can make it.


The problem that I have now is that objective view points become far more involved than ideological view points. There is no easy description for me, like where I can point at a bit of "boob plate" and say it's bad in the hope that a small sliver of my readership agree. I equally can't point to request to change lore and scream heresey for asking for Female Space Marines. It means that I cannot leave anything unsaid, since to do so would invite bias by omission.


What this means is that I cannot write one blog post and call it a day. The topic is just too huge for that, and to simply wrap everything up in a series of passive aggressive tweets or polemic video spats would not get us anywhere. So it needs to be a series.


As a matter of personal protection, and I'm sorry to say it has to be said, if you find anything objectionable or offensive then please write a comment which can be responded to. Please do not try to have me fired. I am the sole provider for my family, and I am taking an awful risk in providing you with something interesting (I hope!) to read. Know that I am human, and perhaps have a greater chance of being wrong than most people as I am a blogger on the internet.


Feed me ideas, rather than shut me down.


I will not be taking anything down that I've written, merely adding to it, and if you are eloquent enough I will simply add you in as a direct quote. The better, more objectively and rational you present your case, the likelier you are to be noticed.


I am not married to any of the ideas discussed here. I am, in fact, not these ideas at all. I may not even hold them. I merely present them for class discussion, and any leading of thought I do is simply to make chains of logic clear for anyone. This is what a teacher does... not tell you what to think, but help you to actually think.


Frankly as I write this all out, I wonder if it's worth the risk at all... but I do think it's interesting.


Basically, I would like everyone to simply drop their guard for a bit, and enjoy the ideas presented to you. If you find yourself getting angry at me, remember that I am not trying to persuade you of anything, and that all I have done is help you discover an idea you do not like. It's the idea you don't like, not the teacher behind the keyboard showing you ideas.


So, let's get started then... Female representation, diversity an social politics in Warhammer 40K. May the God-Emperor have mercy on us all...


Until next time!

*I've had to retroactively put this label in quotation marks, since the "Feminists" in question are not responding to requests to join their group. As such, I can't actually tell if they are Feminists or just very successful trolls.


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