WH40K: Designing female Astartes and/or Primarchs

Sorry for the off-Topic but do we really know the Imperium's stance on gender equality and the woman's role in society? I always assumed that the main reason for Space Marines, the Primarchs and most other significant characters being male was that 40K was created in the late 1980s when the idea of a powerful and independent action girl was laughable if not obscene compared to today.

I ♥ the VRS

I didn't think that all authors felt this way in the 1980's, since a lot of female superheroines and villainesses were kicking butt back then just like today. But I can see your point.

I totally hate my avatar. Just saying.

Warhammer 40k is essentially Renaissance Europe IN SPACE! Patriarchy comes with the territory. A part of the whole Grimdark thing.

Swordsman Troper — Reclaiming The Blade — Watch

@ Madass Alex

But what isn't IN SPACE anymore?

I totally hate my avatar. Just saying.

Well, the point is more EUROPEAN RENAISSANCE than IN SPACE. It's meant to be socially twisted and backwards, thus misogyny and patriarchy.

Swordsman Troper — Reclaiming The Blade — Watch

@ Madass Alex

I knew that, I'm just making a joke about how a lot of series eventually go IN SPACE!

I totally hate my avatar. Just saying.

Regarding the Imperial stance on gender equality, I believe that the official policy (i.e. at the higher levels of the Imperial government and organizations) is opposed to gender-based discrimination. Consider the fact that the Imperial Guard (in lore, anyway) is just as likely to recruit women as to recruit men, provided that said women do pass the IG's requirements for "able-bodied Imperial citizens"; and then consider the fact that the Inquisition has female Inquisitors, and I've yet to hear of any of those suffering setbacks due to their sex. And there's the Adepta Sororitas and their Chamber-Militant, the Sisters of Battle.

Regarding the Galacsome: Yeah, milk production. My concept for it was that it initially gets implanted into the breasts, and over time it develops and eventually generates a whole network of vessels and "sub-organs" throughout the body. The purpose of this system is to process a portion of the excess nutrients that the female Astartes ingests, and forms them into a concentrated melange that is stored in the (by now heavily altered) mammary glands, from which they can be secreted with a miniature breast-pump built into the Powered Armor, and then passed through a retractable tube (with a reinforced hatch protecting it from the outside when not in use, of course) and into either an outside container or.... well, any waiting mouth.

And no, the stuff that comes out is not milk-like in constitution. It's closer to the "tapioca-like goop" of The Matrix.

@post 21: Hmmmm, that's interesting. When I talked about "female biology", however, I was mostly referring to the different organs and such.

To give you an idea, I was thinking of how Progenoid Glands could be... adapted... to working with the female sex organs, for augmented Gene-Seed reproduction. Imagine being able to get a dozen or so Gene-Seed sets instead of just two per Astartes.... That would be extremely helpful for the Chapter's recruitment/casualty replenishment rate!

Well, duh. Of course I am.

edited 28th Aug '11 11:29:16 AM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

@ Marq

Sorry, I just need more sleep lately :P Should've known you would be doing this, lol. Can you let me know when it's complete?

I totally hate my avatar. Just saying.

Okay, though I'll warn you now that progress is going at a snail's pace, no thanks to my own perfectionist approach to most of the stuff that I work on, a presistent writer's block on most of my fanfic WIP projects, needing to catch up on many sites and stuff that I've neglected for between just a few months and a few years, as well as the inevitable and (for me) too-frequent Real Life interferences.

PS: .... You don't think I've gone too far with the new Gene-Seed stuff that I've mentioned until now, do you?

edited 28th Aug '11 6:53:14 PM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

@ Marq

Well, I hope you get it finished :)

As for the going too far, I think you'll be fine...it still seems somewhat plausible and it is a work of fiction.

I totally hate my avatar. Just saying.

I was actually thinking of having female "Space Marines" in a DIY chapter. However, they weren't much more than psychic Sisters of Battle (i.e. no geneseed).

Just my two cents (for now): To everyone saying that Sisters of Battle are female SpaceMarines: They are NOT. Sisters of battle are a military arm of Adepta Sororotas - Daughters of the Emperor, which are ordinary human females clad in powered armor. They were never enhanced by genetic engineering (that we know of). While the 3rd and 4th editions made them quite similar in play, in 5th they showed many differences, first and foremost being the Acts of Faith.

Und wenn du lange in einen Abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein.