Warhammer 40,000 is the world’s largest and most significant miniature wargame, with some of the highest-quality models produced in the industry. It is a hobby beloved by many fans of all ages and genders. In addition to the game, Warhammer 40,000 enjoys a wealth of novels released by the Black Library – a company dedicated entirely to printing Warhammer literature. Over the years, they have produced many books that have been critically received and created stories the fans can take into their hobby, building a robust online community of theory-crafters and model-painters. However, the hobby has a problem shared by different communities within the geek culture: sexism. In both the literature related to the hobby and the miniatures themselves, the female gender is often sexualised, misrepresented or not present at all. This leads to a very hostile community, lacking in both open feminist and academic discourse. In addition to the misrepresentation of the female gender, it is also clear that there is a blatant overuse of the hegemonic masculine stereotypes that poisons the representation of both genders, claiming the male to be superior to the female. This presentation analyses the representation of characters in the universe to shed some light on the issue.
Author bio
Oscar Anjou is an English and History teacher from Sweden with a long-lasting love for the Warhammer hobby.
