Long wall of text which is justified not because of the recent changes regarding the Custodes fraction in Warhammer 40K but because it is indicative of larger cultural trends.
So now we have female Custodes in Warhammer 40K. Or rather, we always had. (Quite an Orwellian turn of events, if you think about it.)
The reaction is obviously quite vocal, as is the reaction to the reaction. On one part people are swearing that they will quit the hobby, make dramatic statements, get into flamewars into other people who gloat about this whole thing, and call everyone who are critical of this move an incel.
So why is this a problem, regardless of incels or not? (I am sure there are some sexists in this crowd, but then again, I have not met them. I only saw a bunch of angry nerds, and boy, nerds are people you do not want to piss off.)
There are a couple of issues; some pertain our real world, and the trends we see, some pertain the sacred, inviolate lore.
So the real world issues.
1. Pandering to the DEI crowd
Let’s consider a hypothetical scenario. There is a small town somewhere in the countryside which is, for any reason, an attractive tourist destination. You have a pub there, which the locals love, and have been going there for decades. You now turn this pub into a club where rave parties are thrown, in the hopes of attracting the tourists with their big money, and tell the locals who grumble about you taking their favorite spot away that they are a bunch of in-bred bigots. (Especially that this happened to other pubs in the area, too.) And then you see your income fall, because –pikachu face- tourists are not as committed to your establishment as the regulars. This happened to countless franchises: Star Wars, Star Trek, Witcher, Wheel of Time, Rings of Power, Marvels, Dr Who, Indiana Jones… and the list is long. Not to mention the computer gaming industry. People who have no real interest in the franchise –and more importantly, no knowledge- demand changes. The franchise is changed, and nobody cares about it any more, since it is fundamentally different from what it was, AND it insults the original customers either directly or indirectly, or the franchise runners do it (or both).
One thing that really irks people (and annoys me as well) is the mindless pandering. This is a franchise that is highly nerdy, hence mostly the interest for boys (and boys who grew up to be adult men). Like it or not, nerdy stuff was not sexy back then, and you were an outcast in „normal circles” if you professed your love of Star Wars, Warhammer, whatever. Star Trek was kind of an outlier in this respect, but still – „cool kids” were not into these things. Neither „grown adults”. Fort he people who demand inclusivity for the missing female-base: do try to ask a girl out for a date, and talk to her about wargaming; there is no better way to avoid ever getting laid. Let’s face it: the number of people with large gametes (those would be the menstruators we are talking about) are not exactly drawn to these hobbies. The reason for this –and I am going to be highly controversial here, and probably would be arrested in Scotland for saying this- men and women have different interests when it comes to a hobby. (Among other things.) The fact that women were not in doves in this hobby was not due to the fact that they were chased away; normally women are not reading books about interstellar conflicts of space demons, supersoldiers and god-emperors if they can help it, and they are also not very much inclined to paint little miniatures with which they would play wargames using elaborate rules which require almost an autistic-level of concentration and devotion.
So the hobby is redominantly male, and despite of this, has several fractions that are either mixed, or female-only, just as the books have several incredibly well written female characters. So ”representation” was never an issue. People now are celebrating that finally in Warhammer you have female representation, which kind of shows how little they know about this franchise. (Not to mention the Custodes fraction was significantly nerfed in the same time, so now you can make an argument that the two things are connected… All in all, nobody (who actually was into the hobby) wanted your stupid identity politics in this game, and yet, it was pushed onto the fan base by a small, vocal crowd, who will not make up for the income lost by alienating the fans. This lesson has been taught to Disney, Netflix and other „woke” companies; time will tell if WG will see any monetary reprecussions. (They can always chalk losses up to 3D printing, though; they are resolutely resisting the new technologies, only embracing new, divisive ideologies.)
2. The one-sidedness
While this is a wider issue, but in recent decades we see a systematic destruction of male-only spaces, and a constant attempt to change male-oriented products. (Let’s face it; WH40K is a product – it is there to sell plastic toys priced in their weight in gold). And we do not see any similar attempt to „diversify” female-focused ones. Why is it a problem to have a franchise that serves predominantly boys and men who have interest in a weird, grim-dark fantasy setting in space? If you are a woman, and like it, great; play or read or paint. You will be welcomed; nerds are very happy when someone, who does not have a penis, shares their interests. I dare say you will even get marriage proposals in tournaments. But why do you want to twist it to fit your own taste? Why do you have to go in a house and demand that they redecorate the way you want them to? All those who demand that computer gaming, WH40K, Star Wars, etc. be changed to conform a certain ideology–do they demand similar changes in products aimed at women and girls? Of course not. Are they creating wargames, computer games, etc. representing their ideology, rather than demand changes to existing ones? Of course not.
This double standard says a lot, and it also irks people. Make your own damned franchise; don’t destroy others’.
3. The usual accusations: fans are toxic.
Well, fuck right off. Nerds, who make up the fan base of comic books, Star Wars, WH40K, etc. are passionate people. They spend an awful lot of time and money on these things because it matters to them, more than it matters to the tourists (you remember the pub above?), or the ideologues who demand these changes. And passions will run high when you change anything, let alone make a change that is so fundamental and ideological, so go to hell with these very predictable accusations of sexism, racism and other isms that have been used to shame fans before, and shut them down (just look up Gamersgate if you don’t believe me). And listen to what Cavill has to say about them.
4. The way it was handled
As I said „it was always so” shows a significant similarity to “we have always been at war with Eastasia”. “He who controls the past controls the present, and he who controls the present controls the future”. Not only that, WG and unofficial channels ban anyone who expresses displeasure of this situation. ’Nuff said.
5. „It is not a big thing, why are you so upset?”
Well, if it is not a big thing, why do it at all?
Lore issues
1. Many suspects that the whole thing was done to appease two sides: one that demands female space marines, and one that does not. So now both sides –supposed to- have gotten something. (Or it is a first step to introduce female space marines.) Again: why is it a problem to have male-only fractions? Why is it NOT a problem to have female-only fractions? (The ongoing joke about having Misters of Battle now in the Sisters of Battle fractions is very much real.) So someone please explain it to me: why is it a problem to have male-only fractions? Why it is a problem to have male-oriented games?
2. Why not female Custodes? For one, they have always been male. Always. Pretending it was not so is idiotic.
Changing the lore here and there is not necessarily bad, and it happened before (and the resistance was always fierce), but this is a tad big even for that, you know. Plus where were they? There are lots of books, artwork, minis, and female custodes had not been seen ever since the creation of the Custodes. So where were they? Making sandwiches for the Emperor? Mopping the Palace floor? Why were Custodes always saying „brother”? Are the terms „broter” and „son” now gender neutral?
3. Biology also matters- Custodes are even bigger than Astrates, so imaging to create supersoldiers from women –who, by large are not really good at being large and muscular- instead of using a stock that is already better at it –you know, boys- is stupid. It takes a lot of work to create a person who looks like a male out of a female; so why bother? Not to mention Custodes and space marines are more of weapons rather than persons. They are essentially genderless, just as a sword is genderless. Their point is to fight and die; what residual sexual organ they have is irrelevant. More on this issue: the „brotherhood” between fighting men is very much a real thing, and in this setting, has been exploited by both the Emperor and his primarch sons; I think this is a profound message that can be taken to the real world as well. Throwing women in this mix is destroying this idea.
4. There is always the point of not creating a new species. If you want to create supersoldiers who are genetically modified it makes very good sense not to make male and female versions of it, because no matter what you do, sexual reproduction can happen (you can put in safeguards, but those always fail in the long run in biology), and then you will have a superrace of humans taking over from base line humanity. Not a good idea.
5. Plus, if you want to make female Custodes (and space marines) as effective as males, then you have to do away with all their female-specific things, like the female hormone system, skeletal structure, etc etc., effectively turning them into males. Congratulation, now you would not be able to tell the difference anyhow, as you have created a bunch of trans warriors. Boobs, long hair, female facial features, long, shapely legs and the rest of the stuff are out, you know. (Are these people really a mixture of ideologically driven activists and fetish porn consumers? You won’t have sexy space marines, no matter what, you know that, right?)
All in all, this is a serious fuckup on behalf of GW. It is a free market, you know; people can take their money to other wargames; they can print minis, pirate books, or even rulebooks – so actions will have consequences; the income can dry up. Publishers will –one day- learn that bringing divisive contemporary politics into their product will drive customers away to other products which do not do that. The comic book industry in the US is losing to Manga; Helldivers is winning over games in which Sweet Baby Inc. put their corrosive touch into; and other wargames –which are also cheaper- will gain serious customer base if this keeps up. They may think they should be pandering to appease the loud online activists, but the tourists, the „normies” will never make up for the lost income caused by alienating fans, and nobody is too big to fail –as Disney is refusing to learn this lesson over and over again. Social activists may be having a field day calling everyone a bigoted sexist incel over this, loudly declaring victory, signalling that incredible virtue, but the fact is that they are either not here as paying customers, and will move over to other franchises to destroy (hence never really were paying customer base to GW), OR they will also lose since their self-professed „favorite hobby” will wither, and they won’t be able to enjoy it much longer. A Pyrric victory over an idiotic ideology. Congratulation; well done.
