Trigger Warning - I have nothing unique to say. This piece will not solve the issue. I’m an impotent commentator, just like you.
Fans (and tourists) of Warhammer 40k have been raging about the topic of Female Space Marines for a while now. Despite the digital vitriol that’s being spat over the topic, I feel like the conversation has mutated beyond the issue itself to become just another field of battle for the culture war. People have chosen their sides and dug their heels in, and they’ve pre-emtively decided to ignore everything the other side says. Hell, a few tragic souls have crafted their entire online personas around this issue… they’re so invested that they literally cannot give it up, or they will cease to exist.
On the surface it seems as though there are two unified sides to this issue, those for Female Space Marines and those against Female Space Marines. (Also, I’m just going to write FSM from now on… fuck off, I’ve got other shit to do.) While both sides of the conflict are factious, they do the usual thing where they steelman their own position while strawmanning their opponent’s viewpoints. Totally mature and reasonable antics. Who would’ve guessed nerds with toy soldiers could be so immature?
As far as I can tell, these appear to be the factions that comprise each side in the conflict.
For Female Space Marines -
Why not? - These people don’t really care, they just can’t think of a good enough reason to not have FSM in the story. They’ve probably got enough of a liberal mindset that the lore reasons against it aren’t that big of a deal to them. They’d be fine with FSM as long as it doesn’t wreck the narrative too much.
Feminists - These people, men or women, generally see something that men have but women don’t, and want to create equality. The established narrative of Warhammer 40k matters less than an having a level playing field in terms of men and women, and they’re willing to bend the former to reach the latter.
Chicks who want to be Transhuman Super Soldiers - Remember the days when “Tomboys” were a thing? Some women just want to run and gun with the boys.
Anti-Right - These fans picked this side simply because the Right mostly picked the other.
Progressive Subversives - These people see the reach and influence that Warhammer 40k has and they want to twist it to their ends or destroy it. If bringing in FSM works, then they win, but if it destroys the franchise then they’ll write it off as burning down a safezone for their ideological enemies. Once they get FSM in, they’ll keep twisting the franchise to their own ends until it’s barely recognizable… and when it breaks, they’ll move onto the next opportunity without looking back.
Against Female Space Marines -
Why? - These people are fine with the setting just the way it is. They don’t hate women, they don’t think that only men deserve to be heroes, they’re aware that everything sucks for everyone in 40k. They see the presence of Sisters of Battle and female Imperial Guard (as well as all the other female models from other factions) as enough representation to qualify as “inclusive.” They’re fine with the setting as is, and don’t see enough of a need to change it.
Cannoneer - Equality doesn’t even factor into the equation with these people, the canon says there’s no FSM so there’s no FSM. If it were the other way around, they’d be fine with that too.
No-Politics - Remember the days when “No religion or politics” was a thing? These people just want to escape the real world for a bit and enjoy a game or two of Space Bugs vs Metal Skeletons. Real world politics ruins this escapism for them and so they’ll do whatever it takes to avoid it.
Anti-Left - These fans picked this side simply because the Left mostly picked the other.
Conservative Subversives - These people are actual assholes who view women as lesser and would never dream of accepting FSM and while they’re at it they would love to see the Sisters of Battle removed. Most of this group are people who’d love to go back to the days when all the space marines were white, and since they’re all white why don’t we just make the clubs for whites only as well? They look at the theocratic fascist Imperium and think unironically “yeah, I’d do well there.”
Both sides -
“Influencers” - There are influencers on both sides of this debate and they’ve built their entire brand and following off of their stance on the issue. If they change their minds, they lose everything. If they try to bridge the gap, they lose everything. If the issue is resolved, they lose everything. These people have built their entire online existence atop this issue and so have a fundamental interest in making sure the conflict rages bright and hot for as long as possible. They will argue the point till their dying breath, day after day, not because they care but because it is all they have.
Like I said, as far as I can tell those are largely the factions that make up each side of the FSM argument. There could be more, they could be different, I’m just a guy who’s not getting paid for this so wtf do I know? As you can see, though, there’s more than one opinion on each side and some are more reasonable than others. Sadly, I don’t think this argument is going away any time soon. As long as most people have too much free time and not enough real problems, and a few people are intrinsically invested in the topic, we’re going to be stuck with it.
Where do I stand on the issue? Why did I wait this long to actually mention where I stand on the matter of FSM?
I waited this long, “buried the lead” as the totally respected and still relevant journalists say, because if I opened with my position then half the potential readers would’ve checked out then and there. Call me a milquetoast fence-sitter all you want (which already reads as fascist to some) but I’m against the inclusion of FSM, with conditions.
First of all, I’m an storyteller. That’s what I am. For all you people out there who identify first and foremost as a member of some sort of gender, religion, politcial party, or racial group… get the fuck away from me you boring ass piece of shit. If the most interesting thing about you is your opinion, skin tone or what you like to rub your junk against then you’re a fucking loser. Go get a life.
I write stories, I care about how they’re crafted and what they can do for people. Crafting an emotional experience and connecting with another human being, potentially hundreds of years after I’m gone, that’s what I’m about. 40k has over 10,000 years of canon - all of which states that FSM can’t be a thing. I’ve got nothing against women but I’d rather keep all that lore in-tact than break it for the sake of forced and superfluous inclusivity.
And don’t come at me with that “Everything is canon, not everything is true” quote - it’s a throw-away line meant to allow and compensate for the mistakes and course-corrections of the dozens of authors who’ve worked on this setting for the past 40 years. 40k is an awe inspiring work of craftsmanship, the only other setting that comes close is Star Wars… and that’s only before Disney got it’s paws on it.
I have female warriors in my older books, I have a literal genocidal fascist female space marine in my latest book, and my next series has a group of female only super soldiers. I have nothing against the idea, it actually offers many interesting narrative opportunities, but it’s been established that they’re not a thing in 40k and so for me the matter is closed.
Now, if 40k were to be rebooted, like Age of Sigmar is the reboot of Warhammer Fantasy, then I think you could include them then. Get some great FSM characters in on the ground level, in a new setting, and build from there. I think, for most people, that would be a reasonable compromise - original 40k gets to stay as it is, while new 40k gets its FSM. Nothing gets broken and you get that diversity, it’s the best of both worlds. But then the problem is never the reasonable people, the problem is always the extremists.
The Progressive-Subversives would say that it’s not about creating an alternative setting, it’s about changing the current setting. They don’t just want to include FSM, they want to break the other side’s game and take it from them. The Conservative-Subversives would refuse to acknolwedge, let alone play, the new game. They’d call it woke, say it’s not “real 40k” and they’d grow bitter that Games Workshop sacrificed the old for the new.
You can’t win when there are extremists in play, they’re always the loudest, they get the most attention and they live for this sort of conflict. As much as everyone will hate reading this, there are actual Communists and Nazi’s involved in this debate and their presence does tend to set the tone of the side they’re fighting alongside. While you just want to relax and have a game, these people are battling over which kind of authoritarianism will be ushered in.
And so the extremists can’t allow you to simply have a good time, because while they may be the loudest they’re also the fewest in number. They need to rile up enough people to fight their battles for them, and that’s you. Just as you like to move your little toy soldiers around on the tabletop, the extremists on your “totally right and valid” side like to play you off against the other extremists’ “useful idiots.”
So the next time you’re at the club, instead of trying to suss out where the other person stands on the “absolutely pivotal, lynchpin issue” of FSM, maybe just relax and enjoy a game of 40k? Or maybe go punch them to impress that Influencer you have a parasocial relationship with… what the fuck do I know?