What the hell does it matter what gender said characters identify as? Why would it matter if we had all types of Space Marines (yeah, yeah, lore, yadda-yadda, but c’mon…the Rubicon Primaris itself contradicts a whole lotta lore… it’s 40k, its lore is as stable as melted cheese), or trans characters, or agender, or anything else?
Approaching it from the opposite direction, 40k is supposed to be a dystopia, why would you want gender equality and all that nice stuff in a dystopia, unless you thought it was dystopian?
I have a single, objective reason: narrative integrity. To expand upon this, the more varied the people who are utterly suffering, the more it underlines and amplifies that suffering and the context which generates it. That should be enough even just from a literary perspective.
Approaching it from the opposite direction, 40k is supposed to be a dystopia, why would you want gender equality and all that nice stuff in a dystopia, unless you thought it was dystopian?
Representation is not about being moral, it’s about being audience-inclusive. If there’s no reason not to be inclusive of a sector of your audience, then refusing to do so simply makes large portions of the audience feel less welcome enjoying the work.
Approaching it from the opposite direction, 40k is supposed to be a dystopia, why would you want gender equality and all that nice stuff in a dystopia, unless you thought it was dystopian?
I have a single, objective reason: narrative integrity. To expand upon this, the more varied the people who are utterly suffering, the more it underlines and amplifies that suffering and the context which generates it. That should be enough even just from a literary perspective.
Or if you are stuck between orks on the south and tyranids on the north, do you really care about bathrooms at that point?
If that’s your situation, the bathroom is your pants.
Representation is not about being moral, it’s about being audience-inclusive. If there’s no reason not to be inclusive of a sector of your audience, then refusing to do so simply makes large portions of the audience feel less welcome enjoying the work.