skchsan wrote:So it's completely OK for
SoB to not include male models in their rank-and-file because [LORE], but it's not OK for
SM to not include female models in their rank-and-file because it's 21st century and that's against inclusivity and political correctness because the lore does not specifically "prohibit" females from enlisting into
SM legion.
I'm reading this post in the voice of an angry dude in sunglasses recording a video in his truck, posted under the title "Skchsan DESTROYS "woke" hobbyist."
Of course, as an argument, it's riddled with flaws. First, it wildly misstates the goal of nearly all people actually converting or building FSMs, which is they just like the idea. I'm sure some are drawn to an ideology, but in my experience, most people going out of their way to include or convert female models just think it's neat. (It's similar to including people of color. I dont' have Black guardsmen in my army because I'm making a political statement, but because it looks good and Black skin is often easier to paint)
Second, this argument falsely makes an "apples to apples" comparison, which isn't appropriate. Codex: Adeptus Sororitas includes multiple male models, just not as "Sisters of Battle." Conversely, There are Five Codexes and another ten supplements that feature Space marines, and there are zero female models in any of them. I get that the point being made is that "Space Marines" are boys, while "Sister of Battle" are girls, and if one can flip, so can the other.
And I guess the answer is, sure, why not? Seriously, who actually cares? If somebody really, really wanted to build the Misters of Battle, whatever, go nuts. (for the record, I find the obsession with female space marines baffling. Having any opinion on it other than "whatever" seems like a waste of emotion that could be spent on anything else.) From a narrative standpoint, Space Marines are genetically engineered super soldiers that operate with essentially zero oversight, so the only barrier to having female marines is made up science. Sisters of Battle,
OTOH, are a much more centralized organization that is obsessed with rules. It's probably more of a stretch to say that a convent began inducing men, and recieved support from the central order, and continues to operate with the authority of the Ecchlesiarchy despite violating the Decree Passive, but whatever man. the galaxy is a big space.
As a weird aside, the difference we're talking about is a matter of what is possible vs. a matter of what is allowed. In a sci fi setting, very little is impossible, but all societies have rules, so many things are possible, but not allowed. Look at history: it's full of examples of women fighting in combat, sometimes openly, sometimes while posing as men, but the idea that women "cannot" fight in combat has been proven wrong again and again. Which is why a WWII army in the right circumstances could include women, particularly on the Eastern Front. On the flip side, US doctrine was that all units be segregated by race. Almost nobody today thinks that Black men can't be fighter pilots or rangers or sub crew, it's not just possible it's common now. However, including a Black man in a white unit in Bolt Action would be jarringly ahistorical, because it literally would not be allowed.
And that's the key. Women becoming space marines seems desperate and strange, but each chapter does their own thing. The Church fielding "men at arms" is something that would never happen openly, if at all.
