Feminids.

There's been a bit of an outcry in recent years about the lack of female representation in gaming miniatures. 

A lot of this is based on some idea that to be female, the model has to have cleavage, whether exposed, corsetted or shielded by totally impractical boob-plate, have long hair and wear high heels. The old Sisters of Battle managed to tick every box. They were, however, far from the only Range with a significant female membership, more just an opposite number to the marines.

Anyway, this post, as ever, isn't about the gender of models, but gender stereotypes in the wider hobby.

For more than 20 years I've been aware of a hobby that has a fairly even gender representation. Despite this, the archetype gamer that most people will imagine is a single, socially awkward, male. We see it a lot, from The Big Bang Theory to Fresh Meat. It's nice to see that the archetypal, all-American Riverdale, in its TV incarnation at least, isn't sticking to that, having 2 generations at least of players of Gryphons and Gargoyles be a mixed sex demographic. They do, however, play on the devil-worship scare that beset D&D in the '80s, so let's not hail the redeeming depiction too strongly. 

What actually triggered this post, beyond wanting to check the armament layouts I'd planned for the Imperial Guard Landspeeders, was receiving a voucher for 25% off RRP on licensed merchandise. It reminded me of a friend's wedding, when his wife gave him a T-shirt with the slogan "My wife lets me play Warhammer." Simple, straightforward, and clearly saying that he has checked with his spouse that  he has time play.

But that, in and of itself, feeds the gender/sex stereotype: he needs permission from his wife to be allowed to play, implying that it's time away from time with her.

That led to the thought, of what people would assume if any of the hundreds of female gamers I've known and gamed with over the years were to wear a similar slogan on a T-shirt. Said T-shirt would, of course, have to be pink, cropped and with a plunging neckline. 😜 So, rather than rattle on, I'll just leave you with the rhetorical question of what you'd take from a woman wearing a T-shirt proclaiming:

"My husband lets me play Warhammer!"?

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