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The reception of the new video has been surprisingly pleasant considering we said some of the no-no words in it, so first off: thank you all for being radical folks :)
However there& #39;s an idea I& #39;d like to discuss that was brought up in the & #39;mildly pissy& #39; section of comments...
However there& #39;s an idea I& #39;d like to discuss that was brought up in the & #39;mildly pissy& #39; section of comments...
Some say that the poor female representation in 40k (especially in the past) is fine because, canonically, the Imperium is a totalitarian nightmare and the repression of women in such a regime makes sense.
Which, whilst broadly true, I feel misses the point a little.
Which, whilst broadly true, I feel misses the point a little.
40k is not real. It only exists as a piece of media in our actual, real world. As such, it is not exempt from critique just because there& #39;s an in-universe explanation for it (it is, after all, a choice by the author), nor does such critique mean the authors are bad people.
Furthermore, these decisions made can have tangible, real world effects. For example: The decision to make Space Marines all male has lead to a lot of sexist sentiments in the fanbase like & #39;well women just aren& #39;t strong enough to be marines& #39;.
Which is basically just toxicity legitimised by canon. And also helped create an atmosphere that prevented a lot of women (and many others) from engaging with the media.
40k may (very broadly) be a satire but not everyone has got that message, after all.
40k may (very broadly) be a satire but not everyone has got that message, after all.
Am I saying that & #39;if there were female Space Marines from 40k& #39;s inception then there would be no toxicity in the fanbase& #39;? No, that would be silly.
But I am saying that uncritically accepting in-universe elements as self-justifying is not particularly useful.
But I am saying that uncritically accepting in-universe elements as self-justifying is not particularly useful.
As a side-note: I think this stuff is often why some people get upset with us being "political" in videos. We look at the tangible things like books and models, our perspective is more & #39;these things as media& #39; rather than & #39;what does this mean to the lore?& #39;
