There is a Hierophant in the hobby room that needs to be discussed:
Transphobia and bigotry in the Warhammer community.
We all know that Warhammer itself is satirical of humanity’s worst characteristics, but do we need to model that behavior in our community?
Warhammer is a wonderfully weird hobby that should be open to every single weird and awesome person who wants to play/paint it. Creating a space that is hateful and bigoted in the hobby is not going to grow the hobby. It will shrink it down. Stagnant it.
I know I am not alone in this thinking; many people often feel the same way. Do you know how many trans-hobbyists come to me with how uncomfortable and unwanted they feel? How many women feel uncomfortable? It is terrible.
It is incredibly infuriating and ironic that some of these people participate in Warhammer, see the satire, and do not realize that their behavior is what is being satirized.
(Looking at the folks wearing Nazi uniforms to events, is gross.)
There are a lot of folks who are scared to enter Warhammer because they see some of these behaviors and it is very off-putting. It is what made me stay out of the hobby until I found my local to be a very accepting place. Unfortunately, not everyone will find a place like this.
The amount of this that I have witnessed over the years is appalling.
I hate the folks that go “It’s grimdark, it doesn’t have to be happy and accepting”. No one is upset about the setting. We all know it shit filled with more shit like genocide and war. We get it. It is about how others in this hobby treat each other. Not every Warhammer meme, discord, Facebook group, or so on needs to be sexist, transphobic, or racist. It just does not need to happen. Embarrassing honestly.
Warhammer hobbyists are vastly unique. Some hobbyists play Slaanesh. Some hobbyists believe that Horus did something wrong. Some others paint but do not play. All forms of hobbyists are important and valid. This includes LGBTQIA+ and POC hobbyists as well. The vast diversity of people is what makes Warhammer fun and interesting. I do not think I would have stayed in this hobby if it were not for these kindhearted, embracing, people.
GW needs to step up on this aspect as well. They need to set the tone for acceptable behaviors. More needs to get done on the local store level as well. Owners need to squash inappropriate behaviors.
You know they put out this:
But what are they doing? What actions are they taking? I mean, look at Josh Mallett and the lack of response from GW.
Will this be met with acrimonious comments? Probably as well as being labeled as “wokehammer”, which is okay. It needed to be said. The year is now 2023, so people should feel comfortable in their hobbies.
What can we do about this?
I think the first thing we can do is draw attention to these current issues. Drawing attention to these issues can raise discussions to create an environment that can foster everyone.
There have been a lot of great hobbyists stepping up to discuss this issue and be advocates. That is great!
People who are reading this, please do not get discouraged. The best thing I found to do on social media is to block the person and make some friends aware of the situation.
Either way, do not get discouraged to stay away from the hobby. It has been making strides and is far better than it was a couple of years ago.
What do you think? Drop a comment below and let me know, I’d love to hear it.
Happy first Tuesday of the year!
-J
Creeping for Scale Models 
New year, new out-of-touch article. Get off twitter, touch grass, stop being a Tate-grade grifter, who’s constantly being moved around by their elephant. For pete’s sake, all this talk about bigotry, despite most of the people, (including me) you claim to advocate for being like: who the heck is this stooge, who again and again tries imposing her unhinged worldview on anything in a 100-mile radius, retroactively claiming it’s for our own good.
The calls for female space marines are fundamentally transphobic, based on the fact that you impose a label of male on entities, which have gone way past being a biological male, through various processes.
Also, using buttress warhammer, a person, whose sole personality is strawmanning a random norwegian for “uwu notice me senpai” reasons.
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That sure is a wild amount of gymnastics.
Comparing her to someone arrested for sex trafficking and in the same article, then saying if someone wants female space marines, that is transphobic. I guess you’re not at all familiar with fanfiction where people bend canon to their own stories, for *fun*.
I’m guessing nobody feels comfortable telling you what they’ve dealt with because of your personality. I literally got vented to yesterday about not feeling welcome in our local Warhammer community because they were female. So you probably don’t ever see it.
The world changes, people will get what they want in their games. If you don’t like it, instead of a 3 paragraph rant, you can do start your campaign at the he-man table and if you’re right, you should have people to play with. If not, maybe it’s you that’s the problem. 🤷
Last I checked, it’s Creeping’s blog, not yours. It’s rich you think you can tell her what to do. If you felt this compelled to control someone else’s point of view, perhaps you need to go touch grass and spend more time practicing your NMM painting, bud.
I look forward to not reading your expected doofus response.
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whatever, white californian
the comparison is accurate, idgaf
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Congratulations, your bigoted and transphobic ramblings directly demonstrate the need for this article. “Don” is a good example of what happens when children spend too much time on 4Chan.
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Ah yes, a trans person(Don) can’t take issue with the collaterall damage done by the widespread disinformation and divide spread by such articles. You’re the bigot here
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What the fuck are you talking about?
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They’re fascist, obviously. Fascists saw the instagram post and came here to try to stir up shit.
Luckily for us, they’re idiots 😀
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Just an idiot trolling, btw ignore the person screaming fascism at everyone trolling. They have obviously never read Musselini’s work otherwise they wouldn’t be making that gaff
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Excellent points. I’ve always thought it was weird how 40K fans tend towards authoritarian/fascist worldviews despite the setting’s obvious warnings against them. I think it has to do with emotional maturity level; bigots’ inherent emotional immaturity means that they engage with the world (via media, politics, etc) at a purely superficial level. They can never dig past the surface to get to the underlying meanings of anything…so they pick the wrong sides most of the time. Emotional maturity is tricky because you actually have to have a certain level of emotional intelligence to understand that you are emotionally immature in the first place…so once these people start trending towards fascism and get wrapped up in their “anti-woke” safe spaces, it’s too late. They’re doomed by their own lack of self-awareness.
This is important because I noticed that you’ve picked up a fascist troll in your comment section! It’s always great when bigots decide to respond to something–if what you wrote makes a bigot angry, it needed to be said. And it’s also fun to watch bigots try to parrot “anti-woke” talking points…which inevitably make no sense (for example, look at that troll try to compare you to Andrew Tate, a known transphobe, because of your ANTI-transphobic views. I bet these “arguments” worked better when they were testing them out on other “anti-woke” bigots :D).
Keep on keeping on. This is all great work.
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Being Anti-woke isn’t being bigotted though I have seen some bigots hide behind it.
Just like I’ve seen more hiding behind the Woke movement.
Needless to say these points, examples, and arguments are either incorrect, bad, or just straight up misinformation.
All I am going to say is: Leave 40k alone. It’s not meant to be nice, fluffy, or represent modern issues. It’s supposed to be dark, bloody, and horrid
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Sorry, but being “anti-woke” is being “pro-racism” by definition.
“Woke-ism” is generally defined by the right (hey, that’s your people!) as “the fight against bigotry and prejudice and the promotion of equality for all people.”
I think you’ve been woefully misinformed, potentially by the media you consume or by the safe spaces you frequent. Or both? Look, I don’t know your story. I just know you ended up siding with some questionable people (heck, your other comment on this post is about how it’s OK to wear pro-Nazi t-shirts…that’s pretty fucked up, right? Anything pro-Nazi is pretty damn evil. I’m actually disgusted that you’ve decided to align yourself with that side. Do you have any self-awareness left?).
Let’s put it this way: I hear from a lot of people who hold your views that people call them “racist” or “bigoted” ON THE REGULAR. I have a feeling that this is your experience, as well.
If you find that your worldview is generally considered bigoted, maybe it’s time that you stopped blaming the people pointing out your bigotry and start looking a bit more closely at your own worldview? A lot of you fascists don’t actually know that your worldviews fit the definition of “fascism.” And it’s not entirely your fault…I think a lot of you are just drawn towards authoritarianism/fascism by media or internet echo chambers which take advantage of your poor emotional intelligence.
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No it is not, you can be anti-woke and against racism and discrimination of all kinds.
It seems the Woke crowd acts the most sexist, racism, biggoted of all groups ESPECIALLY when it’s either against certain races (which has been actively recorded and many of these groups are being prosecuted for their acts of hate) or people that disagree with them. Like you to me.
Generally I want your politics and isanity to stay away from what is left of sci-fi and the arts. Not for any hatred for my fellow man, but because you people know only hate and insanity for those not in your cult.
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>vast diversity of The vast diversity of people
I dunno, 95% of the people who I see play warhammer are white and male.
Also you can point to that stupid “you will not be missed” message all you want, but it won’t make the hobby anymore yours to claim as much as you think it does. In the end it was just a virtue signaling fling in a year of convert or die and those “toxic white males” will always outnumber you.
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Gotta love comments like this. Fascists like “Zamir” here think white males own the world because they “outnumber everyone else.” Classic white supremacist talking points. It’s fascism, again. Surprise!
I wonder if these fascists actually know they’re fascist? The anti-woke agenda is, literally, fascism. “Zamir,” here, thinks that white males should be allowed to whatever they want beacuse…why? Oh, right, because they outnumber everyone else. Morality is a vote now.
Welcome to fascism, “Zamir.” Hope it treats you well.
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Seriously Fascism is the political ideology Musselini created prior to WW2. There is a book, you can read it. Please stop screaming Fascist at everything and everyone, it make you and everyone around you look ignorant.
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Okay so how to break this nightmare of a bad take down…
So for one, the reality of the individual wearing WW2 iconography? Yeah turned out to be a T-shirt not a full uniform.
Next the amount of actual Trans, Gay, Lesbian, Bi individuals whom I’ve talked to who have said that they are tired of people like you trying to derail the setting for a stupid grasp at faux representation and tokenization is frankly staggering. I had initially thought many people in these groups were in lockstep till that point.
Next, we already have Female Space Marines in the form of both the Sororitas and the Sisters of Silence. Not to mention that women have as much opportunity to lead within the Imperium as men so you can make any type of model shy of an Astartes or Primaris, without it being against the lore.
Trying to introduce Trans Marines is essentially trying to justify a Loyalist Slaneeshie Marine, which does not really work. Trying to introduce a female space marine renders the aforementioned female exclusive power armored factions redundant. Seriously leave us alone, the bulk of us do not want this. Not out of malice, but out of being tired of watching each and every one of, what were once successful and popular, IP’s fall to this gaggle of idiots screaming that we need to include modern issues in settings where often or not medical technology in said setting would render such issues non existent.
Arch grew up in a country whose culture never had any part of the Germans in WW2, never participated in slavery, so they never developed a cultural stigma against using or parodying those issues. So stop using him as a scarecrow, and stop imposing your world views on a person from a country whose culture doesn’t recognize yours a valid due to simply being successful without it.
Finally stop using misinformationo to scare people into your camp. 40k IS for everyone, no buts, just respect the geek culture that has made it so successful even if you think it’s evil.
This response has been brought to you by the Tech Priesthood of Mars
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Hahaha, sorry, but really? Defending someone wearing a Nazi t-shirt?
“No, you don’t understand. He wasn’t wearing a NAZI UNIFORM, he was just wearing a NAZI T-SHIRT. That’s fine, right? Nazi T-shirts are totally cool, it’s not like it was an entire UNIFORM. It was just a pro-Nazi t-shirt! Heck, Republicans wear those all the time, right? Doesn’t Kanye West hate Jewish people? It’s cool now, right? Btw, my mother never loved me.”
It makes me wonder whether you fascists actually KNOW you’re fascist, or if you have to find out from people like us?
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“hey google, what is a strawman?”
All seriousness, why go for the low hanging fruit of their argument? (not defending nazizm, gross, but you had an opportunity to dismantle a reasonable argument)
Also, why not just ignore the phobes and just do your own thing? It’s worked fine for me. Let the little hitler wannabes sit in their dark, twisted corner while you enjoy the rest of the room?
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Let me answer these in order:
1: Not defending it, correcting it. One reason this end of the community get’s openly mocked by everyone is how y’all take something and then escalate it to the point where it no longer resembles the truth.
2: I am neither a Nationalist Socialist nor a Fascist. I practice neither the ideology of WW2 Germany, or practice Mussolini’s. Btw Nationalist Socialist and Fascism are two different totalitarian ideologies, this is a good example as to why people think y’all are a tad disconnected from reality.
Also simply wishing for ones hobby not to be tainted by outside politics does not align with either political ideology and nor is it hateful. Again for every one of you chuckleheads that screams convert or die, one more person that would’ve supported you walks away and I hear about it.
How about y’all practice what you preach and show some tolerance and acceptance for the OG fanbase?
Ain’t gonna tell ya to not chase skin heads, brown shirts, ect those people are a menance to society. But not every dang thing needs to be infested with modern politics.
Seriously, make a homebrew but leave the greater setting alone. It’s what my community does. Someone wants to be an Imperial Ork? Sure. Someone wants to tame and use Nids as weapons? Go right ahead. You want female super soldiers that do not rely on Geneseed to reach similar capabilities as First born Astartes?
I am your man, I did a lore dive so deep for a buddy who wanted that I came up with a hybrid of the Glad War Vet augmentations, the False Astartes augments from the Great Crusade, and an ingenous application of the in setting subdermal implants known as Electoo’s to create a female super soldier that is about 7ft tall, built like a female Catachan, can interface with Astartes grade power armor to about an 80-90% of Astartes capacity, and hit’s enemies like a truck.
That is the beauty of homebrew, anything can happen. Or maybe take this idea I dropped here and present it to GW to create a new unit for the Sororitas. Would not be the first time an idea of mine got poached by a company nor do I care.
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You answered my question in your follow-ups.
1) You don’t know what fascism is (i.e. a political stance which gains power by marginalizing othered ‘out-groups’ using the imagined veil of ‘conservatism’) and, as a result…
2) …you don’t know that you are repeating fascist talking points. Effectively, YOU are a fascist. Yikes.
It’s funny that you referenced Mussolini as the “definer” of fascist ideology. Maybe you should have been reading some actually relevant (like Umberto Eco) instead?
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Once again, you did not bother to actually address the argument made, in fact you doubled down on this misconception that by calling someone a fascist you automatically have rhetorical superiority and do not need to bother to answer the point presented.
Why not just stick to home-brew and make the universe as you want it?
Make a Fem-Marine codex and spread it via the platform you have clearly gained if this website is anything to go off of?
And finally, why any of this?
I don’t like this any more than you, but the fact of the matter is that GW is a for-profit business.
Their modus operands is to make money.
Guess who the target demographic is, and might always be, for warhammer.
I already saw the post you made about majority rule being fascism, but it’s also business.
but guess who buys the most kits, the most books, and the merchandise, and by extension gives GW the most return.
I hate to say it, but we are a part of the fan-base that GW can afford, financially, to loose.
And unless there’s a major swing in sales, it might stay that way for a while.
So I ask you this.
How would YOU make it FINANCIALLY beneficial for GW to make things your way?
Solve that and you can probably get them to do whatever you want.
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1: You are repeatedly making everyone you associate with look ignorant by screaming Facism without knowing what it IS.
2: Your argument boiled down to the: Everyone who disagrees with me is Hitler, meme.
Dear lord I didn’t think tone deaf people like you actually existed, like I thought it was either a meme or people exaggerating. Please stop talking till you read the book Musselini wrote outlining what Facism actually is. I feel like I lose braincells everytime you post. YIKES! 😬
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The comments you’re receiving simply indicate how much this resonates. If they didn’t feel so threatened by the message they wouldn’t be here (despite the bravado on display). Good work!
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Wouldn’t say threatened, just annoyed. It’s like dealing with spoiled children half the time, especially when you don’t agree with them and they scream insults they don’t understand at you in your face.
You guys are just a small end of the community, and tbh with GW’s bad business decisions I am guessing 40k MAY go open source so everyone can make their own iterations of the IP and they all be valid. Which tbh would be cool, would love to get more of those female super soldiers I helped make for a buddy for a homebrew to get some love.
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You’re like a walking Dunning-Kruger study 😀
“Damien” is a good example of the way emotional immaturity leads to fascism. They don’t know that they’re emotionally immature, so it’s highly unlikely that they’ll ever be self-aware enough to realize that they’re fascist.
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Mechagore is a prime example on how broken our education system is.
They are the person screaming Nazi at people seven years ago but then moved to this new word since it was the new IN thing to call people that disagree with them.
They are tone deaf and continue to misuse a term that has actual literature made by its creator defining what Fascism is.
Do not be Mechagenre, do your homework, don’t use buzzwords that are popular because it makes you look ignorant and foolish
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