The Female Space Marine (FSM) divide in the community is a microcosm of modern political debate. It feels pointless. Each side is completely closed minded, straw mans the other, and assumes the worst in terms of motivation.

Ask yourself, is there any circumstance where you would find the opposing idea agreeable? Can you change your mind? If the answer is “no”, let’s not demonise each other - we need to be able to at least agree to disagree.

If you are pro-FSM, it doesn’t mean you are a manhater/simp, soy enthusiast. If you are Anti-FSM, it doesn’t mean you are a woman hating/internalised misogynist, basement dwelling incel, Nazi. Please, for the love of god, stop the ad hominem attacks.

Firstly, I think the terms need to be re-framed as they are kinda loaded. Pro-FSM is essentially Pro-Representation. Anti-FSM is basically Pro-Lore. Simple.

Pro-Representation. Representation is a good thing. Humans (and xenos) are diverse and this should be reflected on the tabletop. This would mean more minis. There is not a single member of this community who would object to this.

In terms of female representation, GW have released some real corkers, not just the re-launch of the Sisters range, but also a certain catachan sgt, an inquisitor, and commissar. These have all been universally well received. It’s a great start, and surely there is more to come.

Based on this, I’d argue that the vast majority of the community has no problem with women in the hobby – on tabletop or IRL. (Not to say that there aren't bad actors, there are).

There is a fine line between representation and tokenism. Its not enough to tick boxes. I’ve seen many clumsy attempts to address issues of representation and found that bad writing and committee thinking are ubiquitous.

Representation falls flat without a good story. You risk alienating everyone. Shoehorning representation in to appease political/social pressure never works. Story above everything. If a character is a black woman what does that tell you about how they think? Their motivations?

It is part of one’s identity, but it doesn’t tell you anything beyond that. You can inject all kinds of assumptions, yes, but you destroy the individual character and turn them into a stereotype. This brings me to my next point… The Lore.

Lore is context. It’s a common language for us to explore a universe. A history. The characters and events that inspire us are important because they capture a moment in time when, in one way or another, our minds were blown.

It’s reasonable that we would want this history given a certain amount of deference.

Over the years, there has been all kinds of lore tinkering. I know that FSMs are explored in Rogue Trader, however, for majority of 40k, Space Marines are all male. Whatever the reasons, and there are many both in-universe and IRL, a creative decision was made for SM to be male.

Why is this problematic? There’s an in-lore justification &, IMO, it shouldn’t be interpreted beyond that. However, IRL we can agree that it IS exclusionary. Limiting a person’s access to a group based on their sex/gender is unacceptable in our society. We can all agree on this.

Personally, I feel the Pro-Lore side boils down to protecting what makes 40k the grimdark horror we all know and love. If we change one aspect that offends our modern-day sensibilities, why stop there?

This is a universe where slavery exists on such as scale as to be the norm. Genocide is ordered by nigh unaccountable and, highly corruptible, individuals at will. Mutant apartheid. Human sacrifice (Blackships, anyone?), the list goes on… And that’s just the good guys!

In conclusion, 40k needs more representation. I think the consumer base demands it. I think it’s pretty good in the lore (always room for improvement) but lacking on tabletop. However, I don’t think FSMs are the answer.

I think we should have more female models everywhere else that is consistent with the lore; The Guard, more SoB, AdMech, Aeldari, GSCs, etc. Based on recent output, I think GW are on their way to addressing these shortcomings.

The hobby is changing. It is evolving. This is inevitable. However, we shouldn’t have change for its own sake. I don’t think we should lose sight of what makes 40k so compelling.

Apologies for the tweet storm. Thanks for reading.